Former Inspector General (IG) of Police Rodney Jose on Saturday sustained head injuries after being attacked by unknown assailants at Mapanga along the Limbe-Zomba Road in Blantyre.
The incident occurred around 7pm near Central Poultry, few metres from Mapanga Police Unit when Jose stopped by the roadside to relieve himself on his way from Zomba.
In an interview yesterday, he said after passing the police unit, he saw a truck parked on the roadside and thought it was a safe place for him to answer the call of nature.
Jose said he went in front of his vehicle to urinate, but few seconds later, he noticed three people running towards him.
He narrated: “As soon as I opened my zip, I saw that one person was advancing towards me and was shouting ‘give us money!’. I asked him, what money? That’s when I was hit by a panga on my forehead.
“When he tried to hit me again, by God’s grace, I grabbed his hand which carried the panga and pushed him away.
“I had to run into the tarmac road while shouting for help as I was oozing blood. Sadly, vehicles were just passing me and I was still running away from my car.”
Jose said a Police Mobile Service officer guarding at Central Poultry came to his rescue after hearing the shouts for help.
He said he was later taken to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital where
he was treated as an outpatient.
“They [thugs] haven’t stolen anything, but they just smashed the windscreen of my car,” said the former IG.
Jose said he rues the decision to stop by the roadside, saying it was “poor judgement” because a place he thought was safe turned to be unsafe; hence, appealed to motorists to be absolutely certain of security wherever they want to stop.
In a separate interview yesterday, South We s t Region Police Headquarters spokesperson Ramsey Mushani said police are yet to arrest any suspect in connection with Jose’s attack.
He said police investigation team is on the ground and expressed optimism that suspects will be arrested soon because there are some leads.
According to Jose, he went to Zomba to attend a tombstone unveiling ceremony. He said he was travelling alone to Blantyre to visit a relation in Nyambadwe
