Top cop faces arrest

By The NewsDay | Feb. 12, 2013 | 2 Min read

BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda has ordered Bulawayo police commander Senior Assistant Commissioner Steven Mutamba to arrest his subordinate, Superintendent Pilate Moyo.

BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda has ordered Bulawayo police commander Senior Assistant Commissioner Steven Mutamba to arrest his subordinate, Superintendent Pilate Moyo, and immediately deliver him to the nearest prison so that he could start serving his 90-day jail term for defying a court order.

Report by Richard Muponde

The order, which was handed down last Friday, follows Moyo’s refusal to have his property attached by the Deputy Sheriff after he lost a court case where he was being sued by his subordinate, Detective Bazil Nyapokoto, for work-related victimisation.

Nyapokoto had been kicked out of his official residence at Ross Camp after he testified against fellow police officers during an inquest into the murder of two suspected armed robbers three years ago.

When Nyapokoto took the matter back to court in January last year, High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha ruled in his favour and awarded him $56 000 damages. Moyo, who is in charge of police camps, was cited as the one who ordered Nyapokoto’s eviction.

Following the ruling, the Deputy Sheriff attempted to attach Moyo’s property, but the latter resisted the move, leading to the latest order.

Part of Justice Cheda’s order reads: “Whereupon after perusing all the documents filed of record and hearing the parties, it is ordered that 1st respondent (Supt Moyo) be and is hereby declared to be in contempt of court.

“That the Deputy Sheriff be and is hereby authorised and directed to apprehend 1st respondent, Superintendent Pilate Moyo, with the assistance of Senior Assistant Commissioner Mutamba, the officer commanding Bulawayo province, or his assistant and lodge him to the nearest prison and this shall be her/his warrant. That the officer in charge of the prison shall detain the 1st respondent for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days or until such time they purge their contempt and this shall be his warrant.”