MUTARE businessman, Tendai Blessing Mangwiro, who for over five years, has been fighting to recover his $1,5 million seized by the police in 2008, has written a letter to the Attorney-General (AG) Prince Machaya, complaining about the State’s decision to challenge his bid to garnish the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)’s accounts.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Mangwiro has approached the court numerous times and obtained several court orders compelling the ZRP to pay him his money. Through his lawyers, Mahuni Gidiri Law Chambers, and about four months ago, Mangwiro approached the High Court seeking incarceration of the then Home Affairs minister, Ignatius Chombo, over contempt of court after he had persistently defied an earlier court order compelling him to pay the businessman.
However, Chombo was later spared from jail time after he supplied the court with letters indicating he had instructed the Finance ministry to comply with the order.
After several failed follow-ups, Mangwiro then approached the High Court seeking to garnish the ZRP’s bank accounts, but the State, for some reasons, decided to challenge his application prompting him to approach the AG through a letter dated November 30, 2017.“It would seem that your office, in particular (AG), should exhibit a trajectory in which you advise your constituency to uphold the rule of law by abiding with court orders. The State Liabilities Act was enacted at a time when the regime at the time was bound by the rule of law,” Mangwiro’s lawyers said.
“It was never contemplated that government officials would abuse their offices to the detriment and prejudice of the ordinary citizens. In this matter, our client lost money to State functionaries and to date his family has been suffering because simply the State wields power in which they can decide whether or not to comply with court rulings.”
The lawyers further said the continued challenging of their client’s application for a garnish order, was not only an abuse of State power, but an abuse of the court process adding the State was likely to incur more expenses in the form of interests and costs.
