High Court blocks exhumation of Johanne Masowe's remains

The High Court of Zimbabwe has stopped the planned exhumation of revered apostolic sect founder Johanne Masowe, ruling that the process used to authorise the removal of his remains from a shrine in Rusape was unlawful.

Justice Regis Dembure declared that the March 10 decision granting authority to exhume the remains of Peter Jack Masedza, popularly known as Baba Johanne Masowe, violated the Administrative Justice Act and had to be set aside.

"It is declared that the decision… giving authority to third and fourth respondents to exhume the remains… is in violation of section 3(1) of the Administrative Justice Act and is accordingly set aside," ruled Justice Dembure.

The legal dispute pits Gospel of God Church International against Masowe's sons, Magaga and Reuben Masedza, who have spent years seeking to rebury their father away from the church shrine at Gandanzara in Rusape, where he was buried in 1973.

The court found that the Registrar who authorised the exhumation acted unlawfully after incorrectly believing previous court rulings had already approved the removal of the late church leader's remains.

"There was no such order; the courts had merely confirmed the third and fourth respondents' procedural right to seek exhumation before the Minister, subject to due process being followed," Dembure said.

The judge ruled that mandatory procedures under the Cemeteries Act had not been complied with, including the requirement to publish notices in the Government Gazette and newspapers for three consecutive months.

"The provisions of s38(5) of the Cemeteries Act are peremptory. The law is clear that anything done contrary to peremptory statutory provisions is a nullity," the judge ruled.

The court also criticised a public notice issued by one of Masowe's sons inviting objections within 30 days, saying the procedure did not comply with the law.

"That is not the process undertaken in terms of s38(5) of the Cemeteries Act," Dembure said.

The exhumation had been scheduled for April 2 before the church urgently approached the court seeking an order to stop the process.

The dispute over the influential preacher's burial site has stretched on for more than two decades.

In 2003, one of the sons unsuccessfully sought access to the shrine to visit his father's grave, while fresh litigation emerged in 2023 after the family sought permission to exhume and rebury the remains.

Justice Dembure ruled that the matter must now return to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage for a lawful determination after all parties are heard.

The sons were also ordered to pay legal costs.