Defence Ministry, Air Force ordered to pay widow US$116,000

The Ministry of Defence and the Air Force of Zimbabwe have been ordered to pay more than US$116 000 in damages to a widow whose husband died after being struck by a vehicle driven by an air force employee.

Harare High Court judge Justice Never Katiyo ruled that the ministry and the Air Force were liable for the 2019 crash which claimed the life of Mudavanhu Manjengwa. The court found that the authorities had allowed an unlicensed officer to control a fleet of vehicles without proper supervision.

The victim's widow, Lucia Manjengwa, had approached the court seeking damages for loss of support following her husband's death from injuries sustained in the December 21, 2019 accident.

In a judgment delivered on February 11, Justice Katiyo found the driver, Matthew Mushinga, negligent but held his employers vicariously liable after concluding that he had been entrusted with a service vehicle despite lacking a valid military driving licence.

"The defendants, by issuing a service vehicle and placing it under the control of an unlicensed officer, created a foreseeable risk to the public," the judge said.

The court apportioned liability at 95 percent to the Ministry of Defence and the Air Force of Zimbabwe, and five percent to the driver, who was described as the primary wrongdoer.

Evidence presented before the court showed that the deceased, who was 44 at the time of his death, earned about US$931 per month and would likely have continued working for another 11 years.

Justice Katiyo ruled that the widow was entitled to compensation for loss of support and awarded her US$116 772.48, or the equivalent in local currency at the prevailing exchange rate, plus interest from the date summons was filed until full payment.