By John Nyashanu
The will of the late Retired Army General Solomon Mujuru, written 12 years ago, has reportedly disappeared amid reports his wife Vice-President Joice Mujuru and other family members are fighting over the control of his assets.
This, according to highly-placed sources, has resulted in the family of Zimbabwe’s most highly decorated army commander since independence in 1980, failing to appoint an executor for his estate, 15 months after his mysterious death in an unexplained inferno at his Alamein Farm in Beatrice.
Under normal circumstances, registration of estates where an executor is appointed can be done within 30 days of one’s death.
“The will was done around 2000, but from what we gather, it has gone missing. I do not know how, but we understand they once moved offices and maybe that is how it got lost,” the source said in Harare yesterday.
The sources close to the family also told NewsDay that identifying all assets belonging to the late Mujuru had not been easy although some headway had been made. “The family is trying to get things in order. They are trying to get a list of all his assets, which is not an easy process,” the source said.
It is believed that the difficulty in identifying Mujuru’s assets was because he used various business associates to front him and in some cases records at the deeds office do not bear his name as the rightful owner of the assets.
Contacted for comment, Mujuru’s lawyer, Thakor Kewada, refused to shed light, saying: “You know there is client confidentiality involved here, so my hands are tied. I would rather not comment on this issue.”
Mujuru’s daughter Maidei also refused to shed light. “I think the right person to comment would be my mother (Vice-President Mujuru). At the moment I am out of town and out of touch with latest developments on that case,” she said.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from VP Mujuru or her other daughter Kumbirai were unsuccessful on their mobile phones. Mujuru perished in an unexplained blaze in August last year.
An inquest into the death ruled out foul play, triggering the ire of the family who demanded that his remains be exhumed. The request was, however, turned down by the courts. | NewsDay |
