Solomon Mujuru death saga deepens

By Nkululeko Sibanda

HARARE – Investigations into the death of retired army commander Solomon “Rex Nhongo” Mujuru have taken a new twist with police seeking a court inquest to help determine circumstances that led to Mujuru’s demise.

Mujuru died at his Beatrice farmhouse two months ago and it is not clear whether he died before the fire or was killed by the inferno. The family, friends and the public suspect foul play.

Police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri told the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) on Tuesday that they had now handed over the probe to the courts for an inquest. An inquest is a judicial investigation in common law jurisdictions, conducted by a judge, or government-appointed official.

Legal experts said yesterday the matter could have been taken to the courts as part of efforts by the police to avoid being blamed for whatever is the outcome of their probe. “The police might refer the matter to the magistrate or the courts so that the enquiry into the death of an individual is probed at that level without them being at the centre of implicating any particular person as behind that death or incident.

“In that case, a magistrate or judge can then order, after listening to the evidence provided that there was foul play in the particular case or there is need for further thorough investigations into the matter. Due to the fact that the Mujuru death is highly political, if for instance the police found no evidence that he was murdered as what many people would want to believe, they just decide to run it through the courts so that they are not blamed for covering up,” explained one senior lawyer.

He said the court can direct the matter to the attorney general if they feel that there is a case to answer or direct the police to investigate further. “If the courts feel there is no foul play, they just dismiss it,” said the legal expert.

One such inquest was launched after Joanna Mafuyana, wife to the late veteran nationalist, vice president, and father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo died in July 2003. It was suspected there had been foul play in her death and an inquest was held. Police spokesperson assistant commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena recently said the police investigations into the Mujuru matter had been completed.

Acting senior police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka also confirmed to the Daily News yesterday the matter was now in the hands of the courts. “What the police commissioner-general (Chihuri) said when responding to ZBC questions is adequate. There is and there shall be nothing to the contrary. The commissioner-general was very clear and whatever he said is the position. The matter is now with the courts,” said Mandipaka.

Family members and sources close to the family said recently they were convinced the police investigations would draw blanks given the lack of capacity in the country’s police force. It is feared the investigations into Mujuru’s report were hampered by lack of requisite infrastructure and equipment that could facilitate the production of proper results into what could have happened to the late retired general.

The late army commander died in what is suspected to have been an inferno that gutted the family farmhouse in Beatrice. However, police details are said to have arrived at the scene of the incident late when some of the people who were first to arrive at the scene of the incident had apparently tampered with the scene of the incident.

This effectively means that some of the vital information that could have helped the police to get to a conclusion on the matter had already been removed when the police arrived. The scene was also not cordoned off to stop people from tampering with the scene and evidence.

According to informed sources, the police investigations’ outcome was at serious variance with the one produced by an independent investigator who was hired by the Mujuru family to get to the bottom of the matter. Vice President Mujuru has since the death of her husband been clamouring for “the true facts” of what happened.

She once told a delegation of the Mighty Warriors that went to comfort her at her Chisipite home that what had been given as an account of the circumstances of her husband’s death was not convincing. “We have not been told what happened between 8pm when he arrived at home until the next morning when the fire was discovered. We are just told that he was killed by a fire and that is it. There is nothing else that is said,” said the Vice President.

Moreover, Mujuru said it was not clear how Mujuru could fail to escape the fire through the windows when they were not even secured by burglar bars. “Our two grandsons used to come into our bedroom when we were sleeping using those windows. They could simply come through into the room. Now one wonders why a man with military training… a military man could fail to escape through those windows,” she said. Daily News