MUZABAZI v JAMBAWU & ORS 1992 (2) ZLR 314 (H)

Flynote

Delict — unlawful arrest and detention — whether reasonable suspicion for arrest

Headnote

The plaintiff was arrested and detained for two nights in the cells at a police station. She was arrested on suspicion that she had been involved in a murderous attack by a group of women upon the complainant. She sued the police officers who arrested and detained her and the Ministry of Home Affairs for damages for unlawful arrest and detention. The court dismissed the claim, holding that the police had had good grounds for holding a reasonable suspicion that she had been involved in the attempted murder of the complainant. The court found that the police had had a reasonable suspicion that the plaintiff was involved because

• two informers who were apparently reliable had told the police that she was one of the attackers;

• the police had definite evidence that Mrs Chikowore had been one of the attackers and the plaintiff was a friend of Mrs Chikowore and both worked together in the same office for the CIO;

• on the day the attack had been carried out by Mrs Chikowore and other women, the plaintiff had left the office in the company of Mrs Chikowore and had gone to the latter's home;

• a friend of the plaintiff had telephoned her to ask her about the attack and had expressed the hope that the plaintiff had not been involved.