No justice for injured police widow

Zvikomborero Paunganwas predicament, which has sucked in political heavyweights, top civil servants and eminent lawyers, has become more complicated with each day. There have been court hearings, threats and intimidation and judgements that fly in the face of legal precedent.

Observers say that Paunganwas case has been made all but impossible because of hidden political hands behind the scenes. Paunganwas crime, they say, could have been the high-profile domestic squabbles with her late husband and top cop, Assistant Commissioner Thomson Todd Jangara.

Her brutal beating received massive publicity in both private and government controlled media. This may not have gone down well with some senior politicians, who regarded Jangara as a sacred cow. Jangara (52) died in June before the completion of the court case, in which he was accused of violence against his wife.

Following constant beating, Paunganwa sustained multiple skull fractures, which resulted in her developing epilepsy. She has needed monthly treatment since May last year.

The case created bad blood between Paunganwa and her in-laws, who refused to help her get identification documents for eight-month-old Talent. The documents were needed so that the baby could travel with her mother to South Africa for medical treatment.

The key seems to be that the same documents would also make the child eligible to inherit a share of Jangaras estate.

Following an article in The Zimbabwean highlighting Paunganwas ordeal at the hands of Jangara, a well-wisher in South Africa offered to meet her medical expenses. Without the birth certificate and passport for Talent, however, Paunganwa was unable to travel and take up the generous offer.

I last visited the hospital in February 2010 and have never returned due to financial problems. I experienced severe headaches and fits due to head injuries sustained when I was physically assaulted by my late husband, saud Paunganwa.

The Registrar General advised me to approach the court for an order directing the Registrar to issue the birth certificate. I sought legal representation from a company of lawyers since there were indications that the required birth certificate and passport would not be issued easily.

Andrew Makoni made representations in the Harare High Court on behalf of Paunganwa in November. In his submissions, Makoni, indicated: The applicants health has seriously deteriorated since her last medical review. She has a breast-feeding minor who needs identity particulars to enable her travel outside Zimbabwean jurisdiction. Unless the applicant is issued with the minor childs birth certificate and travelling documents, it will be impossible for her to undergo medical reviews. It is impossible to separate the baby from its mother given that she is only seven months old. The judge, however, described Paunganwas application as not urgent.

The decision is unusual given that there is a legal precedent. The firm Mbidzo, Muchadehama and Makoni, representing Paunganwa in her High Court submissions, cited the Margaret Dongo case versus the Registrar General and the Attorney General. Dongo won permission for married women and single female parents to apply for their childrens identity particulars and travelling documents in the absence of the male guardian or parent. Following a landmark judgement, this right was written into law.

Dongo had approached the Registrar Generals offices in January 2006 to obtain a passport for her child, but was turned away as the husband was the only parent authorised to seek travel and identity particulars for a child. She took her case to the High Court and finally won a historic victory for mothers across the country. I feel the Bill of Rights in the constitution has been violated in relation to my case. I am being discriminated against on the basis of my gender and marital status, Dongo argued at the time.

Giving judgement, the court ruled that: The court has come to the conclusion that an application for a passport is not a juristic act and that the exclusive assistance of the minors guardian is not a legal requirement. On that basis, the first respondent erred in disallowing the applicant from assisting the minor child to apply for a passport and insisting that only the childs father to assist. Both parents of a minor can assist a child to obtain a birth certificate or passport.

Paunganwa has been to the top in her appeal for justice, including visiting the ministry of home affairs and the Presidents office.

When approached for his help, Zanu (PF) senior minister Didymus Mutasa wrote a letter of appeal to Registrar General Tobayiwa Mudedes office, pleading for him to issue the requested documents. Part of Mutasas letter read: May you please assist Zvikomborero Paunganwa with a birth certificate for her daughter to enable her to apply for a travelling document. She is supposed to go to South Africa for a medical check-up.

Sources at the Registrar Generals office claimed Tobayiwa Mudede said he did not report to Mutasa and the Zanu (PF) minister had nothing to do with the issuing of birth certificates and passports. Paunganwas lawyers have also written to the Zimbabwe Republic Police Chaplains office, which is compiling a list of Jangaras dependents. The correspondence reads: Our client further advises that you are compiling a list of the deceaseds dependents who are supposed to benefit from his estate. We are further advised that the minor child Nelly Talent Jangara has been left out of the list.

We are instructed to demand, as we hereby do, that you include the said child on the list of dependents or beneficiaries, particularly children who are supposed to benefit from all the amounts in custody of police, which are due and payable to the deceaseds children.

The office replied that they would include the child, but only when they had her birth certificate and Zvikomborero Paunganwas identification documents and bank account details. While the saga continue, Paunganwa has also claimed that her personal belongings were removed from Police Rose Camp in Bulawayo without her knowledge, and that she has been threatened by one of Jangaras sons, Tinashe Jangara (25), who continued harassing her despite a police protection order.