News / National
Mujuru pushes for second postmortem to find out what killed Gen Mujuru
12 May 2012 at 07:25hrs | Views
VICE President Joice Mujuru is set to intensify efforts to have her late husband Solomon Mujuru's remains exhumed to enable a second postmortem to be carried out as the family seeks to find out what killed the liberation war hero.
Family lawyer, Thakor Kewada who handled the family's case during a three week inquest into the retired general's death, said yesterday the Mujuru family was still pushing for exhumation as they were not satisfied with magistrate Walter Chikwanha's ruling into the matter.
Chikwanha ruled that there was no foul play in retired general Mujuru's death, instead saying he died of "carbonisation".
The Attorney-General's Office also upheld the coroner's findings.
"We certainly are pursuing the issue of exhumation, that is my understanding," said Kewada yesterday.
"The VP has been very busy so I am waiting for a call from her so that we can meet and chat the way forward," Kewada added.
According to the Inquests Act, it is the Minister of Home Affairs who can only order an exhumation.
Speaking at the memorial service of the late general on Saturday, President Robert Mugabe admitted that Mujuru's death in a fire was puzzling as he was a brave person whose high sense of alertness had saved him from similar disasters during the war of liberation.
"How could he burn like that without escaping?" he asked. "Maybe he was drunk, as a person who drank beer. Maybe he was deep in sleep when the fire started," said President Mugabe.
President Mugabe said Mujuru managed to escape death by a whisker a few times before, including in Switzerland in 1976 when his hotel room was engulfed by fire during the Geneva talks.
He said Mujuru managed to escape from the third floor through a window.
Speaking at the same event, Air Force of Zimbabwe commander, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, also expressed his doubts on how Mujuru died saying the death of his former commander was still a mystery up to today.
Shiri's insistence that Mujuru's death was still a mystery came as a surprise to many at the memorial, as the official position was in line with the coroner's findings that there was no foul play and that the cause of death was "carbonisation".
A relative who represented Mujuru's mother said she was not happy with the circumstances surrounding Mujuru's death before breaking down in tears.
Witnesses at the inquest early this year testified that the retired general went home sober and had drunk only two tots of whisky as he wanted to wake up early in the morning of the fateful day, August 15 last year, to go to Beitbridge.
The late Mujuru died in August last year in a fire at his farm in Beatrice under unclear circumstances.
While the results of the inquest into his death have ruled that he died of "carbonisation", varying testimonies made during the inquest have raised doubts.
Mujuru's maid, for example, reported hearing gunshots well before the fire broke out. Private security guards about 300 metres from the house also thought that they had heard shots, but could not be sure.
Family lawyer, Thakor Kewada who handled the family's case during a three week inquest into the retired general's death, said yesterday the Mujuru family was still pushing for exhumation as they were not satisfied with magistrate Walter Chikwanha's ruling into the matter.
Chikwanha ruled that there was no foul play in retired general Mujuru's death, instead saying he died of "carbonisation".
The Attorney-General's Office also upheld the coroner's findings.
"We certainly are pursuing the issue of exhumation, that is my understanding," said Kewada yesterday.
"The VP has been very busy so I am waiting for a call from her so that we can meet and chat the way forward," Kewada added.
According to the Inquests Act, it is the Minister of Home Affairs who can only order an exhumation.
Speaking at the memorial service of the late general on Saturday, President Robert Mugabe admitted that Mujuru's death in a fire was puzzling as he was a brave person whose high sense of alertness had saved him from similar disasters during the war of liberation.
"How could he burn like that without escaping?" he asked. "Maybe he was drunk, as a person who drank beer. Maybe he was deep in sleep when the fire started," said President Mugabe.
President Mugabe said Mujuru managed to escape death by a whisker a few times before, including in Switzerland in 1976 when his hotel room was engulfed by fire during the Geneva talks.
He said Mujuru managed to escape from the third floor through a window.
Speaking at the same event, Air Force of Zimbabwe commander, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, also expressed his doubts on how Mujuru died saying the death of his former commander was still a mystery up to today.
Shiri's insistence that Mujuru's death was still a mystery came as a surprise to many at the memorial, as the official position was in line with the coroner's findings that there was no foul play and that the cause of death was "carbonisation".
A relative who represented Mujuru's mother said she was not happy with the circumstances surrounding Mujuru's death before breaking down in tears.
Witnesses at the inquest early this year testified that the retired general went home sober and had drunk only two tots of whisky as he wanted to wake up early in the morning of the fateful day, August 15 last year, to go to Beitbridge.
The late Mujuru died in August last year in a fire at his farm in Beatrice under unclear circumstances.
While the results of the inquest into his death have ruled that he died of "carbonisation", varying testimonies made during the inquest have raised doubts.
Mujuru's maid, for example, reported hearing gunshots well before the fire broke out. Private security guards about 300 metres from the house also thought that they had heard shots, but could not be sure.
Source - fingaz
