The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer commanding Bulawayo camps, Superintendent Pilate Moyo, allegedly threatened to kill officials from the Deputy Sheriff’s Office who wanted to attach property from his house.
The officials were executing a writ from the Bulawayo High Court giving a former detective, Bazil Nyapokoto, the green light to attach property from Moyo and his bosses as damages for unlawful arrest and eviction from police lodgings.
This came to light in a correspondence written by the Deputy Sheriff to Nyapokoto’s lawyer, Tanaka Muganyi, which is also in a High Court file.
Nyapokoto was arrested two years ago and evicted from Ross Camp after he testified against the police in an inquest into the murder of two suspected armed robbers.
He told the inquest the suspects were killed by police detectives while in custody.
Nyapokoto was awarded over $56 000 in damages in a lawsuit that also sucked in Home Affairs co-ministers Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone as well as Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri.
According to the Return of Service correspondence dated February 20, the officials approached Moyo at his residence at No 208 L Takawira Avenue seeking to attach his property.
Moyo was allegedly hostile and threatened to harm them.
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He allegedly said: “Wait, I want to show you that I can finish you all” before he jumped into his car and started reversing it.
“Go and get the policemen otherwise I will kill you all,” he allegedly shouted.
“He further stated that because ‘you have shown respect by moving away from the premises, you can go, but had you stood your ground there would have been very serious violence’.”
Moyo reportedly told the officials that his lawyer had told him about the planned property seizure, but boasted that nothing would happen to him.
But yesterday, he denied making the death threats saying he was a law-abiding citizen.
“There is nothing like that which happened,” he said. “How could I have done that? What happened is that I asked them why they were coming to me when I acted on orders from my superiors.”
He said he followed court orders when he evicted Nyapokoto.
“I am surprised now that they want to attach my property,” he said.
“What wrong did I do?
“I told them that according to the Police Act we comply with orders and that is what I did and asked them to go and get the police since they were in civilian clothes.
“I asked them how I would know they were not criminals and advised them to come with the police so that I would allow them to do what they wanted.”
The Deputy Sheriff was also prevented from attaching Chief Superintendent Mavis Nkomo’s property. Nkomo is the officer commanding the Criminal Investigation Department in Bulawayo who was cited as the fifth defendant in the lawsuit.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha in December last year granted a writ of execution allowing Nyapokoto to attach movable property from Mohadi, Makone, Chihuri and police officers who were involved in Nyapokoto’s “persecution”.
