Details from inquest into Mujuru death: Day 1

HARARE- The inquest into the death of General Solomon Mujuru opened at the Harare Magistrates Courts on Monday with six witnesses testifying in what is expected to be a big cover up of an assassination plotted within army ranks.

The state is said to have presented forensic evidence that no trace of explosives or inflammable liquids had been found. Gen Mujuru died in an inferno at his farm in Beatrice in August last year.

Vice President Joice Mujuru, her two daughters, friends and relatives attended the hearing, presided over by provincial magistrate Mr Walter Chikwanha. According to a police report submitted to the inquest, on August 15 last year Gen Mujuru left his home driving an Isuzu KB250 double cab truck, registration number ABT0266.

He arrived at Beatrice Motel at about 5:30pm and drank four tots of Johnny Walker Black Label whisky, which was diluted with soda water. At around 8pm, the General arrived at his farm and Clemence Runhare, who was the guard on duty, opened the gate for him. There was no electricity on that day.

There were three ZRP officers on duty – Augustinos Chinyoka, Obert Mark and Lazarus Handikatari. Mark opened the inner gate as the General drove into the yard. Five minutes later, he returned to the gate and the General drove to the eastern gate where another security guard, Samuel Lewis opened the gate leading to the Ruzambo Shopping Complex.

Gen Mujuru returned from the complex and another guard, Ernest Nyamanja, opened the gate for him as he went to Rosemary Short’s cottage where he collected keys to the farmhouse. He returned to his house at 8:58pm. Police officers say electricity was re-stored at that time.

At around 2am, Chinyoka saw smo-ke billowing and discovered that the house was on fire and alerted Mark and Handikatari who in turn informed the farm workers. Mr Tawanda Madondo switched off the electricity at the mains. People salvaged property from un-damaged rooms and peeping through the window, one of the firefighters saw a burning body.

State exhibits included a post-mor-tem report by Dr Gabriel Alvero a pathologist, a fire brigade report, a Zesa report and a report by the ZRP forensic department. The State also submitted three reports by South African forensic experts.

According to Mrs Sharon Fero, who was presenting the State’s information and was assisted by Mr Clemence Chimbare, Zesa said the fire was not caused by an electrical fault. Zesa officials said there was no evidence that electrical systems in the house were not properly working be-fore the inferno.

She said on September 10 last year, South African forensic experts who came to investigate, took samples of debris, the curtains, and skin and tissue samples from the body for examination. On October 12, the South African experts ruled that no flammable liquid or explosives were used. She then produced the reports as exhibits.

First to give evidence was Gen Mujuru’s driver, Mr Enock Talapenzi. He told the court that he had been driving the General since 2002. On the fateful day, Mr Talapenzi said he saw the General at his Chisipite home in Harare and did errands in town. Mr Talapenzi said his wife called him at around 2:50am saying she was trying to call VP Mujuru, but no one was responding.

Mr Talapenzi said his wife told him that the main house at Ruzambo Farm (Gen Mujuru’s farm) was on fire. He called a worker at the Chisipite home who gave him Vice President Mujuru’s number and he passed on the message. They drove to the farm with the Vice President and found the house still burning.

Ms Portia Kamvura, a bartender at Beatrice Motel, in her testimony, said on August 15 Gen Mujuru arrived at the bar around 5pm. He parked his vehicle at his usual spot. “He ordered two tots of Black Label Whiskey and a soda water before ordering a pilsener for another patron,” she said.

Ms Kamvura said the General, who came alone, requested two more tots, and intimated that he did not intend to drink much because he had a journey the following morning.

“I overheard him say he wanted to pass through Beitbridge and around 7pm he bade farewell. As he was leaving, Mr (Blessing) Madzivire, Mr Nyakunu and I accompanied him out,” she said. She said the General paid her US$23 for the whisky and the pilseners.

Ms Kamvura said the General was not drunk when he left the motel. Gen Mujuru’s nephew, Mr Antony Mujuru, who was in the gallery, asked Ms Kamvura if she noticed the vehicle he was driving and she said it was a white Isuzu double-cab truck. The police report confirmed this.

Gen Mujuru’s elder brother Joel asked the time the other patrons left the bar and she said, “They remained in the bar for quite some time and they left one-by-one”. She said she was familiar with all the patrons that night as they were regulars. Mr Madzivire, a farmer in the area, said on August 15 he drank with the General and there were no new faces in the bar.

He said everyone was jovial in the bar and Gen Mujuru left around 5:20pm. He said he accompanied the Gen to his car with Mr Nyakunu from Zesa and the bar lady. Mr James Mushore, the late General’s nephew, asked if there was electricity at the motel, and was told there was none. Mr Madzivire said he left before power was restored.

Another nephew, Mudiwa Mundawarara, asked if there was power when he got to his farm and Mr Madzivire answered: “Not immediately on my arrival, but at least five minutes later around 8:55pm”. The fourth witness, Tongai Chimuka of Blackstone Farm, said Gen Mujuru was their family friend since 1990 although he had known him for five to six years.

He said when he got to Beatrice Motel, he saw the General sitting in his “usual place” in a jovial mood. Mr Chimuka left the motel around 9pm to 10pm. He said the General was not drunk when he left. The fifth witness was Clemence Runhare, a security guard who was manning one of the farm’s main gates on his own. He said Gen Mujuru arrived at the farm around 8:05pm and he opened the gate for him.

“Before I opened the gate, I saw that he was in the company of another person. I did not identify who the other person was because we got information to the effect that his other driver had gone to Harare so I assumed it was him,” he said. He said after five minutes, he saw the vehicle lights going towards Gen Mujuru’s shop and he did not see the vehicle return.

Around midnight, he heard noise like exploding bullets from the direction of the main farm house. He said later, another farm guard came to him and told him that there was fire at Gen Mujuru’s house. They investigated and saw two policemen from Support Unit; one of them said they did not know where the “boss’s bedroom” was.

“The police told me they did not call the fire brigade as they said they did not have a cellphone. They also said the police radio had broken down,” he said. One of the employees found Gen Mujuru’s phone in his car and the maid called the Vice President. After the fire had been put out, some high-ranking officials from Beatrice Police pointed at the remains of Gen Mujuru near a door leading to the dining room.

Asked by Mrs Fero the identity of the other person in the car, he said he did not check because he assumed it was the driver. He said the General did not appear drunk. Magistrate Chikwanha asked if they had gone to the main house to investigate what was going on when they heard the noise and Runhare said he did not because they were not allowed to go to the main house.

He said at the time he thought the sound of gunshots was from poachers at the neighbouring farm. Mr Tendai Mundawarara, the General’s nephew, asked if he searched the backseat of the car and Runhare said he had not. After attending the fire, he thought the sounds he heard were from exploding asbestos.

When the hearing resumed after the lunch break, Constable Augustinos Chinyoka, who was providing security services for the Mujurus said he saw Gen Mujuru sometime around 8pm and Constable Mark opened the gate for him. He saw something like a suit hanging in his car.

Const Chinyoka said Gen Mujuru drove out after about 15 minutes and collected keys from the maid and told him that he was retiring to bed. He said there was no electricity at the farm at that time and it was restored some minutes before 9pm. He said he patrolled around the house three times while his two colleagues had gone to sleep.

Const Chinyoka said at around 2am, he saw that the roof was on fire and summoned his colleagues. They broke into the house and realised that the fire was intense in the main bedroom and when they got inside, they saw the smoke was getting thicker.

He sent Const Mark to call the maid so she could show them the main bedroom and when she came she told them that the bedroom had been destroyed by fire. Some people from the compound were called to help put out the fire, which had now engulfed the house, using buckets of water. They salvaged a few items, including sofas.

Under questioning by the family lawyer, Mr Takor Kewada of Scanlen and Holderness, who is holding a watching brief, Const Chinyoka said he and his colleagues could not access all the rooms as the intense smoke and ferocious fire that had engulfed the house overwhelmed them. Mr Kewada suggested to the witness that they did not do enough to save Gen Mujuru.

“I put it you that either you or your colleagues were sleeping, not doing your duty . . . as admitted by you that the fire started small and spread,” said Mr Kewada. Const Chinyoka said he could not tell the ferocity of the fire because it varies depending on the cause. Said Mr Kewada: “Neither you nor your colleagues tried hard enough to rescue the General.”

Mr Kewada continues questioning Const Chinyoka today. VP Mujuru and 10 other witnesses are expected to testify today. Mr Kewada complained to the magistrate in the morning before the hearing was adjourned for lunch that the State had not given him all the papers, but Mr Chimbare said the State did not know that the Mujuru family was represented.

Mr Keweda said he had also drafted another affidavit for the Vice President and the one drafted for her was inaccurate. Vice President Mujuru was concerned over the delay by the State to give her documents related to the investigation. VP Mujuru told journalists after the adjournment that she had not been served with the documents presented to the inquest until yesterday afternoon.

“We now have the papers. We still have time to look at the papers, we still have time to talk and give our input,” she said. VP Mujuru described the inquest as a good start.

“It was a good beginning, but in between the period of the inquest I was called by His Excellency the President (Cde Mugabe) since I am at work and then I came back later. Therefore some of the witnesses had already finished their business. It’s going on very well. I am sure the truth will come out,” she said.

Mr Kewada, said the family had none of the documents presented to the inquest until lunch hour yesterday, apart from a letter from the police on the statement recorded from VP Mujuru.

“That statement was incorrect, not factual. When I have a watching brief I make notes and report to my client. However, the court said relatives can ask questions that’s why I had to grill the witnesses though totally unprepared,” said Mr Kewada

He said he was in a difficult situation. “It’s like putting me into a boxing ring with my hands tied on my back. My client has not seen some of the statements,” he said. Mr Kewada said the family was co-operating with the police and everybody involved in the inquest.

“We are not here to score points but to get to the bottom of the matter,” said Mr Kewada. “My client wants to know what transpired to her husband. There is a lot of suspicion in the minds of the public because he (Gen Mujuru) was a seasoned fighter, who had lived in the bush, who could escape in such situations.”