Inquest evidence points to Mujuru murder

By Xolisani Ncube

HARARE – As the inquest into the death of General Solomon Mujuru comes to a close, evidence tendered in court so far has left most people that have been following proceedings to suspect “murder most foul”.

A request by the Mujuru family for the body of the late five-star general to be exhumed has further fuelled suspicion that Mujuru could have died in a planned attack rather than a normal fire that reduced his once giant body to ashes.

Indeed, after going through 37 witnesses in a 12-day drama-filled inquest, so many questions remain unanswered as to whether authorities can say with confidence that foul play was or was not the cause of Mujuru’s death.

One thing is for sure though, from farm guards to a maid, to police officers and local and foreign forensic experts, the testimonies of all these people have left observers spellbound.

What has fuelled Harare’s famed rumour mill about Mujuru’s premature death is that he was a man of vast business and political interests, which could have meant that he had many enemies.

Vice President Joice Mujuru has for the past three weeks religiously attended the inquest at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts, hoping to get answers over her husband’s death.

The foul smell continuously coming out of unattended toilets at the court complex has failed to deter her and many others from attending the inquest, and at times participating by way of questioning witnesses. However, more questions have arisen with each witness.

Contradictions have taken centre stage at the inquest; all pointing to something amiss, but none pointing to a specific corner where the hit could have come from if the late retired general was indeed murdered.

From contradicting statements on gunshots, to blue flames seen coming from Mujuru’s body by two police officers based at Beatrice Police Station, the death of Zimbabwe’s first black army commander and one of the most influential political players remains a mystery.

Private security guard Clemence Runhare and Mujuru’s maid Rosemary Short testified in court that they heard what sounded like gunshots, but police “protecting” the general disputed this.

According to Short and Runhare, two gunshots were heard on the night Mujuru died at his Beatrice farm.

Police officers Lazarus Handikatari and Augustinos Chinyoka, tasked with protecting Mujuru, told the court that there were no gunshots, insisting that the sound that was heard was that of asbestos sheets breaking as a result of the fire.

Then there is the stranger who allegedly arrived with Mujuru on that night. According to Runhare, the stammering five-star general arrived at the farm in the company of an unidentified person in his vehicle. But Handikatari and Chinyoka claimed he was alone.

So heart-rending have been the testimonies that Mujuru’s brother, Joel, at one time had to leave the courtroom in tears following revelations by Short that the late retired general could have sensed death was coming on the night he is said to have died.

According to Short, Mujuru had a premonition of his death. Short claimed that the general told her that he was pondering sleeping in his vehicle on the fateful night without clarifying why and explaining the context of his intention to do so.

The maid further told the court that the late retired general had visited her living quarters, located three and half kilometres away from the farmhouse, to collect a set of spare keys claiming to have forgotten his own set in Harare.

Yet a bunch of keys that Short positively identified as belonging to Mujuru were produced in court by prosecutor Clemence Chimbari, saying they were picked in the late general’s bedroom by police officers investigating the matter.

The keys to his vehicle are still to be located. Short said the vehicle was left unlocked. According to Short, it was unusual for Mujuru to leave groceries and a cellphone in an unlocked vehicle, but in this case, the late retired general left the vehicle open.

Short said Mujuru had warned her to take care of her own security matters because he had frosty relations with police officers guarding the farm. With no more witnesses expected, the exact cause of Mujuru’s death appears yet to be told as specialists toy with the inconclusive findings.

Bethwell Mutandiro, a forensic expert from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, told the court that Mujuru’s supposed body that was found in his mini lounge could have been lying in that position before the fire progressed.

However, a Cuban expatriate pathologist who examined the body said Mujuru could have died from being choked by smoke from the fire, which could have started when he was still alive.

Gabriel Gonzales Alvero told the court that he belongs to the Cuban Medical Brigade but was unregistered with the local regulatory authority, the Zimbabwe Medical Association. Although Alvero told the court that Mujuru could have died from choking, he also said that this was inconclusive.

On the other hand, Reggie Perumal, a South African pathologist hired by the Mujuru family, disputed Alvero’s claims saying the autopsy conducted by the government pathologist was shoddy.

“According to my forensic expert (Perumal), your findings are wrong,” said Thakor Kewada the Mujuru lawyer to Alvero. “I put it to you that you hurried to conduct this post-mortem even when you did not have enough equipment,” said Kewada.

Alvero, who admitted that he did not have enough tools for the job, said his findings were the best in the circumstances considering the state of the body. According to Alvero, Mujuru’s left arm was burnt beyond recognition.

But when asked by Kewada whether he had seen a wedding ring on a finger on the left arm, Alvero admitted seeing one. The Mujuru family remained unconvinced as to why the pathologist failed to carry out an X-ray which should be part of an autopsy.

This prompted the Mujuru family to apply for an exhumation of the late retired general’s remains so that Perumal could conduct an independent autopsy.

Police officers who conducted the investigations were told by South African forensic experts that the manner in which they collected exhibits from Mujuru’s burnt house was unprofessional.

According to Seonyatseng Jack Maine, a forensic expert with the South African Police Service (SAPS), the manner in which the exhibits were wrapped exposed them to heat, which could have affected the laboratory results. He said the packaging material as well as the collection manner of the exhibits left a lot to be desired.

“There are laid-down standard procedures to collect debris. There is a standard of collecting and packaging of exhibits,” said Maine.

“They (exhibits) were packaged in plastic bags and chances are that the samples could have been affected, but I am not concluding that this is what happened,” Maine said.

The Mujuru family raised questions around how authorities managed to identify the charred remains when no DNA test had been conducted. Evidence proffered in court suggests that the state buried the remains without clear confirmation that it was indeed Mujuru’s body.

Tests to establish whether the person interred at the National Heroes Acre was Mujuru were only conducted after he had been buried.

Questions also remain on how Mujuru’s intestines could have been burnt beyond retrieval while the carpet beneath his body which lay face down exhibited less damage.

According to Alvero and police officers, internal organs such as kidneys, liver, lungs and the heart were missing from Mujuru’s body. The development attracted vigorous questioning from family members, particularly after it emerged that photographs of the body showed a heart. Daily News