The High Court has dismissed a contempt of court application filed by former police officer Tatenda Shiri, who sought to have top police officials, including Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba, jailed for allegedly defying a reinstatement order.
Justice Fatima Maxwell sitting at the Harare High Court ruled that Shiri's application was "without merit," finding that the police bosses could not be held in contempt because they lacked the authority to reinstate him, and because the order he relied on was under legal challenge.
"First and second respondents do not have the authority to reinstate the applicant. They cannot be committed to civil imprisonment for failing to do an act which is beyond their mandates," said the judge.
Shiri, who once served under the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), had been discharged after being convicted of violating the Police Act [Chapter 11:10].
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He appealed his dismissal, arguing he was never given a fair hearing, and later won a default court order reinstating him to the force "without loss of salary and benefits."
However, despite the court order, the ZRP and the Police Service Commission allegedly failed to act, prompting Shiri to file for contempt, accusing the police leadership of being in "wilful and mala fide defiance" of a lawful order.
Through his lawyer Mugiya, Shiri argued that "civil contempt is the wilful and mala fide refusal or failure to comply with a court order," insisting that the respondents were deliberately ignoring the judgment.
But the police, represented by F. Chimunoko from the Attorney General's Office, opposed the bid, said the reinstatement order was a default judgment and had since been challenged through an application for rescission.
"It is ill-advised for the applicant to seek to enforce an order which is being challenged," the police argued, warning that executing the order "would impede justice if it is successfully rescinded."
Maxwell agreed, noting that the pending rescission proceedings meant the police could not be said to have acted in bad faith.
"The existence of a court case challenging the very order they are alleged to be in contempt of removes the mala fides. If their application for rescission fails and they still do not comply, then the respondents would indeed be acting wilfully and mala fide," he ruled.
The judge further said the contempt application was procedurally defective, as Shiri had failed to personally serve the respondents as required by law.
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Shiri, who was dismissed following disciplinary proceedings within the police force, has been fighting to regain his job since last year.
His reinstatement order -- granted in HCH 1269/24 -- remains suspended pending the outcome of the rescission applications filed by the ZRP and the Police Service Commission.
