Businessman petitions Matanga over arrest

By Tendai Kamhungira

A Harare businessman has petitioned police commissioner- general Godwin Matanga, accusing the police of failing to act in terms of the law, when they arrested him at his Borrowdale home.

According to court papers, the businessman Last Mapuranga is facing domestic violence and resisting arrest charges, which he has since denied having committed.

According to his petition to Matanga dated February 25, 2019, Mapuranga said the police visited his house in Borrowdale on February 19 in the evening using an unregistered black Mercedes Benz.

“I demanded that they must identify themselves and advise me of the charge which I was facing in line with Chapter 4 of the Zimbabwe Constitution Section 50 (1) (a) ‘any person who is arrested must be informed at the time of the arrest of the reason for the arrest as read with (ii) and must be informed of his right promptly. Unfortunately, they started harassing me and subsequently left,” Mapuranga said.

He said after realising that the police conduct was not consistent with the law, he together with his 13-year-old son, decided to go and report the matter at Borrowdale Police Station.

The businessman said upon his arrival at the police station he was not attended to for an hour, before he was handcuffed and thrown into the holding cells.

Mapuranga said he was detained together with his son, who later sneaked out at around 3am to go home.

“At around 13:45 hours, Wednesday, February 20 2019, I was released and whisked to court on form 242 ‘request for remand’ inscribed bail not opposed,” he said, adding that at the time of being taken to the court, he had not been advised of the charge he was facing and had not signed a warned and cautioned statement.

However, he also sought audience with the officer-in-charge only identified as Maripita in a bid to file criminal charges of criminal abuse of office against the police officers that arrested him only identified as sergeant Gumbi, constables Mudenda and Hondonga.

“After a serious heated argument, he (Maripita) reluctantly ordered one sergeant to allow me to open the reports (under) RRB No. 3890221 and RRB No. 3890222. I would like to aver that the arrest and detention of myself and of the minor is unlawful and it was a clear violation of the supreme law of the land, the Constitution of Zimbabwe and a serious abuse of public office,” he said. Matanga has not yet responded to the letter. DailyNews