Court officials told Radio VOP Monday that the inquest, expected to last a week, will go ahead as scheduled.
Deputy Secretary for the Judicial Services Commission Rex Shana said: “The results of the inquest are not for the courts they are only there to make a finding of what caused the death of the late General and if the findings are indeterminate and need further investigations then the relevant authority will do so.”
The opening of the inquest is set to open a Pandora box on how the country’s most decorated army general died last August.
“Kingmaker” as Mujuru was regarded in his Zanu (PF) party, was the husband of Vice-President Joice Mujuru and considered a powerful politician who led one of the main factions in the party which is currently faced with internecine battles to take over from President Robert Mugabe.
The late army chief’s widow, Vice President Joice Mujuru, has been pressing police to give her answers over her husband’s death, but investigators opted for the inquest route.
Mujuru’s widow speaking for the first time after the death of her husband at her home during a visit by the Mighty Warriors, Zimbabwe’s female national team said she wondered how a man of his calibre could have failed to escape the inferno that is said to have blazed his Beatrice Farm.
A magistrate will question witnesses and lead evidence in open court. About 42 witnesses are expected to testify as well as a team of South African forensic experts who will offer expert opinions according to court officials.
Scores of the late general’s political and business associates are expected to pack the Harare Magistrates court when the inquest kicks off this morning. There are also reports that there will be massive police presence to avoid any incidents at what is likely to be an emotion charged court session.
Post published in: News