Top banker takes on police over fake warrant of arrest

Harare- TOP banker and former chairman of Fidelity Life Assurance Lawrence Tamayi has escalated his ‘arbitrary’ arrest case and filed a letter of complaint against police last week, Express Mail Zim can report.

The dubious arrest was effected at the Harare Civil court in November 2022 by police details using a fake warrant of arrest which was proven to be not authentic by the Magistrate’s court.

Tamayi took up the matter and wrote to the police general headquarters seeking answers over the origins of the warrant.

Circumstances are that on November 28 2022,one Costable Osmond Manjoro approached Tamayi and produced the fake warrant arrest of arrest.

Tamayi claimed that Manjoro, who was in the company of controversial businessman Malvern Chimutashu and Abel Bvocho, acted in connivance with the duo to arrest him for sinister reasons.

Tamayi had visited the court where he was embroiled in two cases against Chimutashu whom he accused of defaulting paying rentals for over a year at his Mt Pleasant Property.
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In a desparate attempt to evade liability, Chimutashu counter alleged that Tamayi trespassed at the property and stole some injectors.

This matter was withdrawn by the court last week before plea while Tamayi was granted an execution to attach Chimutashu’s property equivalent to rent arrears and to evict him from his property.
Chimutashu is a director for EBA Insurance and was renting at Tamayi’s property which he used as his company offices.

Tamayi has also since lodged complaints with both the Magistrate’s court and the police over the fake warrant or arrest.

The now tobacco farmer accused the Harare Magistrate Court (criminal) officials of engaging in underhand dealings and illegally releasing official documents to third parties which are then used for criminal acts..

In a letter of complaint to the Judicial Service Commission, Tamayi pleaded with the commission to investigate the origins of the dubious warrant of arrest used to arrest him at the Harare Civil Court on November 28, 2022.

According to the letter of complaint to JSC, Tamayi alleges that he was illegally arrested by one Constable Osmond Manjoro from Harare Central Police Station who was in the company of Malvern Chimutashu.

The letter partly reads:

“On 28 November 2022, when I went for the final day of the trial under case 700/22, I was arrested by a Constable Manjoro under instruction of Malvern Chimutashu who represents the defaulting EBA Insurance (which is his company).
“My concern in the arrest is mainly based on the fact that the police detail – Constable Manjoro was using a fake warrant of arrest which he had been given by Chimutashu who does not work for the law enforcement agency.
“The fake warrant of arrest was questioned by senior police officers at Harare Central Police Station when there was an attempt to get me locked up,” he wrote to JSC.
JSC confirmed receiving the complaint and expeditiously acted upon it and produced a report of its finding seen by Express Mail Zim.

According to the JSC report, there was no warrant of arrest issued against Tamayi on November 28, 2022.

“On the issue of the fraudulent warrant of arrest being issued at the Criminal Court, our records show that there is only one warrant of arrest issued against you on November 10 under case number CRB10176/22. This warrant was issued after your legal practitioner from Tanyanyiwa and Associates advised that you were unwell and could not attend court. “The warrant was subsequently cancelled on November 10 2022.
“We do not have any records of any other warrant of arrest issued against you.”

The response was signed off by one B Makwende.

This publication is reliably informed that the police general headquarters is seized with the matter and has opened investigations into the conduct of Manjoro and how he obtained the fake warrant of arrest.