News / Local
High Court throws out Ginimbi will
26 Feb 2022 at 13:21hrs | Views
RELATIVES of the late socialite and businessman Genius "Ginimbi" Kadungure will now share his wealth to the exclusion of friends and other outsiders after the High Court nullified the dubious will that bequeathed his Lamborghini to a questionable character identified as Kit-Kat.
Proceedings in the distribution of Ginimbi's estate will now start afresh after the High Court nullified the will as dubious and relieved the executor Ms Patricia Darangwa of her duties citing irregularities.
Ms Darangwa was appointed executor based on an unsigned will that also bequeathed Ginimbi's Lamborghini to "Kit-Kat".
Kit-Kat later turned out to be one Nomatter Zinyengere, who was in some documents, identified as Nomatter Zinyengerere.
The will in question had no signature of the deceased neither was it dated.
Ms Darangwa became an executor to an estate where she was also benefiting.
Although the defective will had been accepted by the Master of High Court and the Kadungure family members, the executor had to be stopped when she was about to distribute the Lamborghini to Kit Kat before winding up of the estate.
The rush to hand over the vehicle to Kit Kat raised eyebrows, sparking a legal battle that led to the nullification of the will and as well as Ms Darangwa's appointment.
Ginimbi's sisters — Juliet and Neria together with their father Anderson — sought review of the Master of High Court's decision to accept the questionable will as well as the appointment of Ms Darangwa as executor on the basis of the same defective document.
Ms Darangwa, the Master of High Court and Kit Kat were listed as respondents in the review application.
High Court judge Justice Amy Tsanga ruled in favour of the Kadungure family. She declared that Ginimbi died intestate and his family can inherit.
"In the circumstances, the late Genius Kadungure popularly known as Ginimbi, indeed died intestate. This is not a bad thing, his family gets to inherit," ruled Justice Tsanga.
"It is hereby declared that:
1 the document registered with the second respondent (Master) on November 25 2020 under DRNumber 1771/20 as the will of the late Genuis Kadungure who died on November 8 2020, is null and void.
2 The deceased died intestate."
The judge further set aside the decision by the Master to register and accept that document for the purposes of administering the estate.
She added: "The second respondent's appointment of the first respondent (Ms Darangwa) on 2 December 2020 as the testamentary execvutrix of the estate of the deceased and all acts done by the first respondent under and by virtue of such appointment be and are hereby declared null and void".
The Master of High Court, according to the court, shall convene another meeting to appoint an executor.
The officers who dealt with the matter since 2020 were barred from handling it, a development that calls for allocation of the case to a new pair of hands in the Master of High Court's office.
Ms Darangwa and Kit Kat were slapped with an order to pay costs of the suit. The court said Ms Darangwa drafted the will illegally.
"It is not in dispute that the will was never authored by the testator himself but by the first respondent Ms Patricia Darangwa."
"It is also common cause that it was not attested to in the sense of anyone subscribing to it as a witness. There was therefore no basis upon which the Master could have accepted it as a valid will in terms of Section 8(5) of the Wills Act.
"It was indeed a nullity and nothing can stand on it, including the Master's appointment of first respondent as an executor," ruled Justice Tsanga.
After the death of Ginimbi, Kit-Kat, claiming to be Ginimbi's best friend, registered the deceased's estate and unsuccessfully tried to push the Master of High Court into immediately accepting the unsigned will.
Although Ginimbi's father Mr Anderson Kadungure and sisters Juliet and Neria were listed as possible beneficiaries of the estate in that defective will, Kit Kat has been leading the legal process.
The nullified document showed that Kadungure owned the Domboshava mansion, a company called Infinity Gas, an undisclosed fleet of vehicles and several other companies.
The custodians of the unsigned will, Ranros Estate Administrators, wrote a cover letter seeking the speedy acceptance of the unsigned document as the actual last will and testament for the distribution of the estate.
They argued that some of Kadungure's companies in Botswana had stopped operating since that country requires an estate to be reported to the authorities before operations can resume.
"The deceased died before signing his last will and testament. We are therefore kindly asking your office to urgently convene a meeting with all beneficiaries so that you can accept the will and issue the court sealed letters of administration.
"The deceased had a running business in Botswana and it stopped operations on November 9, 2020. The laws of that country require the estate to be reported to the Master of High Court within 14 days so that operations will resume.
"The major fear of the beneficiaries is that the business partners of the deceased in Botswana might take advantage and vandalise the assets of the deceased," reads part of the letter.
However, the Office of the Master through a letter signed by K F Chigomararwa, an Additional Master of High Court in-charge of the Deceased Estates, refused to be pushed into accepting the unsigned will.
Instead, she asked the Kadungure family members and other beneficiaries to attend a meeting.
The unsigned will stated the Domboshava mansion, while part of the proposed trust, should be turned into a hotel to be run by the trustees.
When the family attended the meeting, they accepted the document as the official will of the deceased resulting in the Master of High Court registering it.
The family later made a U-turn when pressure for the immediate release of the lamborghini was now coming from the executor before the winding up of the estate.
They successfully sought review of the decision at the High Court.
Ginimbi died on the spot on November 8 2020 along Liberation Legacy Way in Harare when his speeding Rolls Royce collided head-on with a Honda Fit.
It veered off the road and hit a tree before catching fire. He was with two foreigners who had come for the Saturday night party of a friend Mitchelle Amuli.
Limumba Karim of Malawi and a Mozambican, who was only identified as Alishia and the birthday girl, Mitchelle were burnt beyond recognition after the doors of the Rolls Royce jammed on impact and it took many hours for police and the Fire Brigade to retrieve their remains from the wreckage.
Proceedings in the distribution of Ginimbi's estate will now start afresh after the High Court nullified the will as dubious and relieved the executor Ms Patricia Darangwa of her duties citing irregularities.
Ms Darangwa was appointed executor based on an unsigned will that also bequeathed Ginimbi's Lamborghini to "Kit-Kat".
Kit-Kat later turned out to be one Nomatter Zinyengere, who was in some documents, identified as Nomatter Zinyengerere.
The will in question had no signature of the deceased neither was it dated.
Ms Darangwa became an executor to an estate where she was also benefiting.
Although the defective will had been accepted by the Master of High Court and the Kadungure family members, the executor had to be stopped when she was about to distribute the Lamborghini to Kit Kat before winding up of the estate.
The rush to hand over the vehicle to Kit Kat raised eyebrows, sparking a legal battle that led to the nullification of the will and as well as Ms Darangwa's appointment.
Ginimbi's sisters — Juliet and Neria together with their father Anderson — sought review of the Master of High Court's decision to accept the questionable will as well as the appointment of Ms Darangwa as executor on the basis of the same defective document.
Ms Darangwa, the Master of High Court and Kit Kat were listed as respondents in the review application.
High Court judge Justice Amy Tsanga ruled in favour of the Kadungure family. She declared that Ginimbi died intestate and his family can inherit.
"In the circumstances, the late Genius Kadungure popularly known as Ginimbi, indeed died intestate. This is not a bad thing, his family gets to inherit," ruled Justice Tsanga.
"It is hereby declared that:
1 the document registered with the second respondent (Master) on November 25 2020 under DRNumber 1771/20 as the will of the late Genuis Kadungure who died on November 8 2020, is null and void.
2 The deceased died intestate."
The judge further set aside the decision by the Master to register and accept that document for the purposes of administering the estate.
She added: "The second respondent's appointment of the first respondent (Ms Darangwa) on 2 December 2020 as the testamentary execvutrix of the estate of the deceased and all acts done by the first respondent under and by virtue of such appointment be and are hereby declared null and void".
The Master of High Court, according to the court, shall convene another meeting to appoint an executor.
The officers who dealt with the matter since 2020 were barred from handling it, a development that calls for allocation of the case to a new pair of hands in the Master of High Court's office.
Ms Darangwa and Kit Kat were slapped with an order to pay costs of the suit. The court said Ms Darangwa drafted the will illegally.
"It is not in dispute that the will was never authored by the testator himself but by the first respondent Ms Patricia Darangwa."
"It is also common cause that it was not attested to in the sense of anyone subscribing to it as a witness. There was therefore no basis upon which the Master could have accepted it as a valid will in terms of Section 8(5) of the Wills Act.
"It was indeed a nullity and nothing can stand on it, including the Master's appointment of first respondent as an executor," ruled Justice Tsanga.
After the death of Ginimbi, Kit-Kat, claiming to be Ginimbi's best friend, registered the deceased's estate and unsuccessfully tried to push the Master of High Court into immediately accepting the unsigned will.
Although Ginimbi's father Mr Anderson Kadungure and sisters Juliet and Neria were listed as possible beneficiaries of the estate in that defective will, Kit Kat has been leading the legal process.
The nullified document showed that Kadungure owned the Domboshava mansion, a company called Infinity Gas, an undisclosed fleet of vehicles and several other companies.
The custodians of the unsigned will, Ranros Estate Administrators, wrote a cover letter seeking the speedy acceptance of the unsigned document as the actual last will and testament for the distribution of the estate.
They argued that some of Kadungure's companies in Botswana had stopped operating since that country requires an estate to be reported to the authorities before operations can resume.
"The deceased died before signing his last will and testament. We are therefore kindly asking your office to urgently convene a meeting with all beneficiaries so that you can accept the will and issue the court sealed letters of administration.
"The deceased had a running business in Botswana and it stopped operations on November 9, 2020. The laws of that country require the estate to be reported to the Master of High Court within 14 days so that operations will resume.
"The major fear of the beneficiaries is that the business partners of the deceased in Botswana might take advantage and vandalise the assets of the deceased," reads part of the letter.
However, the Office of the Master through a letter signed by K F Chigomararwa, an Additional Master of High Court in-charge of the Deceased Estates, refused to be pushed into accepting the unsigned will.
Instead, she asked the Kadungure family members and other beneficiaries to attend a meeting.
The unsigned will stated the Domboshava mansion, while part of the proposed trust, should be turned into a hotel to be run by the trustees.
When the family attended the meeting, they accepted the document as the official will of the deceased resulting in the Master of High Court registering it.
The family later made a U-turn when pressure for the immediate release of the lamborghini was now coming from the executor before the winding up of the estate.
They successfully sought review of the decision at the High Court.
Ginimbi died on the spot on November 8 2020 along Liberation Legacy Way in Harare when his speeding Rolls Royce collided head-on with a Honda Fit.
It veered off the road and hit a tree before catching fire. He was with two foreigners who had come for the Saturday night party of a friend Mitchelle Amuli.
Limumba Karim of Malawi and a Mozambican, who was only identified as Alishia and the birthday girl, Mitchelle were burnt beyond recognition after the doors of the Rolls Royce jammed on impact and it took many hours for police and the Fire Brigade to retrieve their remains from the wreckage.
Source - The Herald
