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OpenCourt Blocks Headman's Request To Inspect Mugabe's Grave
A Chinhoyi magistrate, Kudzanai Mahaso, blocked a Zvimba headman, Tinos Manongovere, from inspecting the gravesite of former President Robert Mugabe, reported NewsDay.
Manongovere’s request for an “inspection in loco” was opposed by Mugabe’s children, Bona, Robert Jr., and Bellarmine Chatunga, who argued the application lacked procedural and substantive compliance.
In a December 20, 2024 ruling, Magistrate Mahaso noted the children’s opposition. The magistrate subsequently granted Manongovere leave to file a response to this opposition, with a deadline of December 31, 2024. Said Mahaso:
Unfortunately, nothing was filed of record in response. Be that as it may, I am constrained to make a ruling on the application based on the papers filed of record.
Manongovere argued that Mugabe’s burial inside a house violated Zvimba traditions and customs, asserting that an on-site inspection (“inspection in loco”) was essential to resolving this factual dispute. Said Mahaso:
According to the respondent, the basis of the application is to enable the court to observe real evidence in addition to oral evidence and ascertain whether or not the late former president was buried inside a house or not.
Following the application filed by the respondent, the appellants raised a preliminary objection to the effect that the application for the inspection in loco is defective…
An inspection in loco remains at the discretion of the court. It is not automatic that when a litigant requests for an inspection, such an application is granted.
There are no factual nor legal reasons established by the appellant to show that the judicial officer had predetermined the matter simply because she dismissed an application for an inspection in loco.
An inspection in loco is, indeed, at the discretion of the court. It should be noted that the previous inspection in loco was not done at a private property.
Last month, the court visited the empty mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre, intended for Mugabe’s burial.
Magistrate Mahaso noted that Manongovere’s request for an “inspection in loco” pertained to a private residence, not a public site. He said:
This, in my view, should be conducted with the full consent of the property owner in order not to infringe property rights.
Such an infringement may cause undue prejudice to the appellants.
This is so because entering someone’s property without permission amounts to trespass.
In any event, there are alternative means of obtaining such evidence, for example, through evidence from witnesses in order to resolve the factual dispute.
I also wish to add that inasmuch as the inspection in loco may be germane to the resolution of a factual dispute, the right to privacy is fundamental and ought to be respected.
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