The family of the late former Air Force of Zimbabwe commander Perrance Shiri has questioned the authenticity of documents used by the Master of the High Court Eldard Mutasa to handle his estate.
Shiri became Agriculture minister soon after President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in a November 2017 military coup and served in that capacity until he succumbed to COVID-19 on 29 July last year.
Some of his children have, through their lawyers, written to Mutasa on several occasions, arguing that the estate administration documents were not authentic.
Shiri’s estate beneficiaries also challenged Mutasa’s appointment of former Attorney-General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele as executor when the late Agriculture minister had a family trust with its own executor.
They claimed that Gula-Ndebele had shown bias in executing the estate as he had unprocedurally given authority to undeserving relatives to use Shiri’s property.
Shiri’s nephew, Bornwell Chitanda, is now staying at the deceased’s property in Borrowdale after moving out of his Hatcliffe home to occupy the house which had key documents and family safes. But speaking to NewsDay on Thursday, Chitanda said:
I was asked to stay at the late minister’s house because there was no relative staying with him at the time of his death.
I am just looking after the property. I know nothing about the late minister’s documents to do with his estate.
I wouldn’t concern myself with his estate because I am not a beneficiary anyway.
The matter is now being investigated by police under reference ER5/2021 with the hope that the estate does not fall into wrong hands.
Shiri’s children argued that Mutasa had used a 1995 will, which the late minister had disregarded after registering a family trust with one of his children Rufaro Stephanie Shiri as executor.
Now some family members are reportedly striving to deprive Stephanie of her inheritance.
Rufaro Stephanie reportedly with the support from sisters Tatenda and Cynthia, accused the Master’s office of using fraudulent documents to deprive them of their inheritance. In one of the documents seen by NewsDay, Stephanie queried:
The estate issue has ceased to be a family issue as portrayed to the public and government. People are using government letterheads and offices to execute their fraudulent activities. Mr Gula-Ndebele was appointed executor both dative and testamentary, was the Master’s Office confused on what role to give to him since the family trust has its own executor?
His (Mutasa) letter appointing him as administrator was stamped on August 20, 2020, but signed on August 21. Was the stamp stolen on the 20th and someone who was not supposed to sign signed his letters of administration?