‘Unwell’ Marry remanded in custody for “attempting” to kill VP Chiwenga
On Monday things took a dramatic turn for Marry Chiwenga, the estranged wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, after prosecutors added stunning charges that she tried kill her husband, the VP, in addition to weekend charges of fraud, money laundering and misrepresentation.
Marry has been remanded in custody to 30 December after she appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts. The complainant in the matter is Vice President Chiwenga.
“On 22 June 2019, the complainant was airlifted to South Africa for emergency medical attention. However, upon arrival, the accused forced the complainant to stay at Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria.
“On 23 June, accused kept on denying complainant access to medical treatment and the security team had to force their way to take the complainant to Netcare Hospital,” the charge sheet reads.
Marry (nee Mubaiwa) is also accused of unlawfully removing a medical Intravenous Giving Set and Central Catheter inserted on VP Chiwenga forcing him to bleed “profusely”.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) alleges that Marry “externalised” US$1 million to South Africa and China and caused a magistrate to register a Chapter 5.11 marriage to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga without his consent.
Award winning human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has meanwhile revealed that her client was arrested whilst naked in her bathroom at her home in Borrowdale, Harare on Saturday.
“She was in the bathroom in her bedroom when the men suddenly opened the door while she was naked and told her that she was under arrest,” Mtetwa charged.
“They searched her bedroom without saying what they were looking for. She was taken to the police. After that they came back to the house and Marry’s mother who had accompanied her to the police was not allowed back into the house. She had her car parked at her daughter’s house.
“They had locksmiths with them who changed the keys to the house while Chiwenga’s lawyer, (Wellington) Pasipanodya — a partner at Manase and Manase Law Firm — was supervising the process,” Mtetwa told the independent local Daily News newspaper.
“It was a well-coordinated plot to lock her out if one considers that they came with locksmiths and that his (Chiwenga’s) lawyer was present, supervising everything. They also took away the couple’s three children and no one knows where they are right now,” Mtetwa said.
“But the laws of Zimbabwe are very clear that when a couple separates, the minors stay with their mother, but as it is, they have taken away Marry’s children from her,” she added.
Chiwenga is reported to have taken custody of their three children – two boys and a girl aged eight, seven and five. Two other children from Marry’s previous relationships were delivered to her mother.
“She is in a very bad state. She needs medication and we are trying to arrange something for her so that she is allowed access to medical care,” she said, adding that her doctors also appeared afraid to come and attend to her.
Police sources involved in the case have also disclosed that Marry is currently unwell and “her hands and feet are swollen, there’s stuff seeping out of there.” Nehanda Radio
