Overzealous police boss slapped with US$500 fine

A POLICE boss stationed in Kamativi, Matabeleland North province, who was perhaps a tad too serious with his duties, landed himself in trouble after exercising his boxing skills on a female subordinate.

The State managed to prove that on February 22 this year, the 44-year-old Stanley Siampongo was incensed when his female subordinate, aged 44, reported for duty two hours late.

He duly summoned the officer to explain her seeming truancy.

After deeming the explanation unsatisfactory, the police boss decided to channel his inner Mike Tyson spirit by raining some heavy blows on the supposedly offending officer until she fell down.

Sensing danger, she quickly picked herself up and ran for dear life towards the administration block.

But Siampongo was determined.

He pursued her to continue the beating.

But the assaulted subordinate did not take this lying down, literally.

Since she worked at a police station, she probably had the easiest of tasks reporting the incident.

To cut the long story short, for taking the law into his own hands, Siampongo was arrested, hauled before the courts and convicted.

Last week, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, of which six months were suspended on condition he pays a US$500 fine.

A further six months was also suspended on condition he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.

For his moment of moemish, he now has to stump up US$500 from his salary, and that should be painful.

Hopefully, next time — and that is if at all there will be a next time for him — he will learn to handle disciplinary matters by the book.