A Bulawayo senior police officer, Superintendent Dario Mapiye, accused of defying a court order to pay for his son’s tuition fees, escaped censure yesterday after he paid up his arrears.
Mapiye advised the court that he had not intentionally defaulted in paying the $625 required for his son’s university tuition fees, but was out of town on other business, prompting magistrate Sithembiso Ncube to cancel a warrant of arrest issued against him.
Mapiye’s son, Trust, who is at the National University of Science and Technology, had on March 6 filed an affidavit with the court seeking his father’s arrest to force him to pay $625 due to him.
The following day, Ncube issued a warrant of arrest against Mapiye and ordered the police to bring him to court.
But Mapiye pre-empted the arrest order after he reported to the courtroom on his own. Mapiye was last year sued by his son Trust and his estranged wife Pamhayi. Pamhayi wanted $170 for her upkeep while Trust wanted $625.
However, the court ordered him to pay $70 to the wife and tuition fees for Trust until he finished his degree programme and also contribute to his medical expenses.
The pair claimed Mapiye was a businessman and could manage to pay the claims.
Mapiye told the court his wife could cater for herself since she was running her private business entity which he helped her set up.
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The senior police officer accused his wife of abusing him as she was allegedly of a violent disposition and always locked him outside the matrimonial home. Mapiye said the maintenance claim was only meant to tarnish his image as a senior police officer and cripple him financially.
