admin– to challenge her eviction from the Borrowdale matrimonial house after it emerged that she had cited the wrong respondents.
Mrs Elizabeth Mahachi claimed her sisters-in-law – Mrs Nyasha Madzika and Mrs Tsungai Muguti – had evicted her from the house a day after burial and that her brother-in-law, Mr Fungai Mahachi had taken away her family vehicle.
But it turned out in court that an earlier report to the Master of High Court by Mrs Mahachi implicated a family elder Mr Peter Mahachi as the one who initiated the alleged eviction, hence a contradiction that made it difficult for the court to grant the relief sought.
The alleged eviction, if it really happened, could have been ordered by the late national hero’s brother Mr (Peter) Mahachi who was never cited as a respondent in the urgent chamber application.
Mrs Mahachi did not cite the driver who was in possession of the vehicle as a respondent, but instead, she cited Fungai, brother to the late Zvenyika.
The matter was heard in Justice Alfas Chitakunye’s chambers, but The Herald talked to lawyers representing both parties on the outcome.
Mr Simplicio Bhebhe, who represented Fungai and his two sisters – Mrs Muguti and Mrs Madzika – said the ruling was made in his clients’ favour.
“The application by Mrs Elizabeth Mahachi was dismissed. The court agreed with us that Mrs Mahachi was proceeding against the wrong people.
“The letter of complaint written by Mrs Mahachi to the Master of High Court showed that it was Mr Peter Mahachi who initiated her movement out of the matrimonial home and not Mrs Muguti and Mrs Madzika.
“The vehicle was not even in the possession of the cited respondents and she did not cite the driver who had the car.
“Failure to disclose some of the material information in the chamber application was fatal to her case,” said Mr Bhebhe.
Mrs Mahachi’s lawyer Mr Zivai Kamusasa confirmed the dismissal of the case on the same basis saying his client was considering filing a criminal case against the family members.
The trio that was being accused of evicting their late brother’s widow from a Borrowdale house and grabbing property from her dismissed the allegations in their notice of opposition.
Fungai denied grabbing the vehicle saying the driver only surrendered it to him after a family resolution.
At the family meeting, it is claimed, the elders mandated Fungai with the responsibility of managing the welfare of his late brother’s family as “sara pavana” (surrogate father) pending further decisions on June 25 when the memorial service would be held.
Mrs Muguti and Mrs Madzika denied evicting Mrs Mahachi saying she moved to her parents for consolation as per tradition.
The move, the two said, was agreed on in the presence of elders from both the Mahachi and Matare families.
The court also heard that the late Zvenyika had two other wives and four children and that Mrs Mahachi was not the only spouse.
The sisters further disclosed that the house in dispute was never the property of the late Zvenyika as it belonged to the family trust.
Ms Madzika described Mrs Mahachi as a “gold digger” who was only interested in material things and bent on tarnishing the family’s good image.
The potato crop, Mrs Madzika said, belonged to Muzoro Holdings, a company formed by the late Minister Moven Mahachi and was registered under the family trust.
Mrs Madzika said she was not even staying at the disputed house adding that she was staying with her family at their own house.
Zvenyika Mahachi died on May 8 on his way from Nyanga and was buried on May 12.
The widow Mrs (Elizabeth) Mahachi claims his late husband’s two sisters – Mrs Nyasha Madzika and Mrs Tsungai Muguti – ejected her from 52 William Powlett Drive, Hogerty Hill in Borrowdale a day after her husband’s burial.
She also claimed that Fungai took away her late husband’s Nissan NP300 vehicle.
Mrs Mahachi also claims the relatives had harvested her one-hectare potato field in Nyanga and converted the proceeds to their own use during the time of bereavement.
Online Reporter