Chiwenga's former mother in-law opens up

HELGA Mubaiwa, mother to Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga's former wife, Marry Mubaiwa, has opened up on her daughter's ordeal saying she is surviving through God's grace as she goes through a very rough patch.

Marry, who is bed-ridden, has been dragged to court on allegations of forging her marriage to Chiwenga, plotting to kill the VP while he was sick and admitted at a hospital in South Africa, money laundering and assaulting her maid, among several other allegations.

She was issued with a warrant of arrest for failing to climb the court stairs to attend a hearing after she came to court in an ambulance. She was later wheeled into court on a stretcher.

She is suffering from cancer, which has severely affected her arms and legs.

Helga told Alpha Media Holdings' Heart & Soul Television (HStv) last Thursday during the Freetalk programme that her daughter was being victimised as evidenced by the selective application of the law.

She said Marry, who is visibly sick was receiving harsh treatment from the courts.

"Currently, she is not feeling well. I can say she is critically ill; and she is not speaking. Even yesterday (last Wednesday) at court, she was in a wheelchair, she was drowsy and she didn't even know where she was. But because we had to take her to court, we had to find means to do so," Helga said.

"My daughter's predicament is a difficult one; and seeing her in this helpless state breaks my heart. Her hand is, indeed, lifeless, but we couldn't consent on her behalf. We are trying to talk to her to get it removed. She is not in the right state of mind. It is difficult even to persuade her to do so," she said.

Marry's mother said she felt let down by the country's justice system as her daughter was being deprived of  basic human rights.

"Every human being deserves the same treatment, rich or poor. For Marry, I don't think she is getting enough fairness in everything," she said.

Helga said they were unable to voice their plight because they were powerless, voiceless and helpless.

Before she lost favour with Chiwenga, and soon after he became VP, Marry was in the headlines for referring to her office as the office of the Second Lady of Zimbabwe.

Further asked about her daughter's constitutional rights, Helga said: "I don't know about that, and I don't know whether there is anything of that sort. Marry is being treated differently and it's difficult in her situation. There is some acknowledgement because they do not put her in the dock as usual; they just do the court proceedings while she is in the wheelchair, which means they know and acknowledge that she is not well."

She said Marry currently had no source of income as her bank accounts were frozen and has no access to her businesses.

Helga feels that if Marry receives treatment outside the country, she may recover.

"I am sure going to South Africa would help. Doctors attending to her here have tried their best, but it is not enough," she said.

Last week, opposition MPs grilled acting leader of the House in the National Assembly, Monica Mutsvangwa over Marry's continued arraignment before the courts when she is visibly ill.

Mutsvangwa could not give a satisfactory answer.

Human rights groups and women pressure groups have been criticised for their silence on her ordeal.