Neutral executor for estate

Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
The Master of the High Court has appointed a neutral executor to administer the estate of the late Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chief elections officer Lovemore Chipunza Sekeramayi after family members failed to agree.
Mr Sekeramayi died on June 4 in Lesotho where he had gone to attend a meeting of chief elections officers for electoral management bodies in the Sadc region. He is survived by his wife Esther Sekeramayi nee Dzvowa.

The Master of the High Court office has appointed lawyer Mrs Priscilla Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa of Munangati and Gonese law firm as an independent executor of Mr Sekeramayi’s estate.

This follows an edict meeting held on July 30 2014 where parties in attendance failed to agree on a person among themselves to be appointed as an executor, resulting in the presiding officer invoking Section 26(ii) of the Administration of Estates Acts.

The Acts empower the Master of the High Court to appoint a neutral executor to administer estates plagued with disagreements.
Mrs Munangati-Manongwa yesterday said her law firm accepted the executorship of Mr Sekeramayi’s estate.

“It is common for the Master of the High Court to appoint an executor where parties fail to agree on an executor or how the estate should be administered,” said Mrs Munangati-Manongwa.

“We are running on the matter. We are going to assess the interest of all the parties involved and intend to distribute the estate accordingly in terms of the law.”
Mrs Munangati-Manongwa said so far no dispute had been brought to their attention by the parties.

According to the initial inventory filed at the Master of the High Court’s office by the surviving spouse, the estate includes a house in Chisipite and a top-of -the-range vehicle.