Maravi

(HERALD) Mujuru wanted to sleep in car: Maid

Mujuru wanted to sleep in car: Maid
Thursday, 19 January 2012 00:00
Lovemore Chikova and Innocent Ruwende

A STAR witness in the ongoing inquest into the death of General Solomon Mujuru yesterday told the court that the General sometimes slept in his car and had contemplated doing so the day he died in an inferno that gutted his house.

Gen Mujuru's maid, Ms Rosemary Short, said when the General left the farm on August 11, he said was going to Harare. He returned on August 15, and died that night in the inferno.

She had knocked off early that day because she was unwell, but a child told her around 8pm that there was a vehicle outside her house, which was in the workers' compound about 3km from the farmhouse.

"I saw the vehicle and it belonged to Gen Mujuru. He told me he had forgotten his keys in Harare and asked for the ones I used," she said.

"I went back into the house and brought out my keys, which I handed over to him."

Gen Mujuru told Ms Short that he had been thinking of sleeping in the car that night and even showed her how he could do that by opening the door and moving the seat up and down.
Ms Short said Gen Mujuru sometimes slept in the car, especially when he came to the farm drunk.

But the General, Ms Short said, was not drunk that night, as he was in control of his faculties.

After Gen Mujuru bade her farewell, Ms Short retired to bed, but around 2:45am - her brother Mr Petros Jaison - who works as a general hand at the farm, phoned her to say the main house was on fire.

Ms Short was among the General's workers who testified at the inquest yesterday.

She said it had been impossible to enter the blazing house to rescue the General because the fire that engulfed the house was so intense.
She broke down as she recounted telling Vice President Joice Mujuru over the phone about the fire, triggering further weeping from Gen Mujuru's elder brother, Joel, and sister Mrs Elizabeth Marowa.

Mr Joel Mujuru briefly left the court to compose himself.

Mr Clemence Chimbari of the Attorney General's Office, who was leading Ms Short in her evidence, suggested that the hearing presided over by provincial magistrate Mr Walter Chikwanha at Harare Magistrates Courts adjourns to give Ms Short a break, but she insisted that she was fit to continue giving evidence.

A policeman, Const Obert Mark, who has already given evidence, arrived at her house with the same message.

She asked him why the police did not break the window or door to the bedroom to rescue Gen Mujuru.

Const Mark told her that they did not know which one was Gen Mujuru's bedroom.
His own evidence told of a similar dilemma.

She asked Const Mark if the police had called for help, but he said he did not have airtime.

Ms Short said Const Mark told her that the fire came from a geyser, but he could not tell which one exactly.

She then phoned VP Mujuru and told her of the inferno.

VP Mujuru told her to rush over to the house and see what was happening.

"When I arrived at the farmhouse, I realised that the house had been utterly destroyed and the policemen told me that they could not locate the General," said Ms Short.

She said there were two windows in Gen Mujuru's bedroom, totalling about three metres.
Ms Short said there was a small candle in the bedroom, but she did not put any matches out because she did not think that Gen Mujuru would visit the farm that day.

She said Gen Mujuru sometimes used a candle when there was no electricity at the farmhouse, although there was a generator; the general usually asked for the generator to be switched on when he wanted to watch television.

There were three doors used to access Gen Mujuru's bedroom, she said.

Ms Short said the bedroom held a bed, headboard, dressing table, a television set, three sofas, a chest of drawers, two fitted wardrobes, a desk table, a chair, a safe and a coffee table.

After the fire had been fought with the help of Harare Fire Brigade, which arrived at around 5am, Ms Short said the Officer-in-Charge at Beatrice who had arrived earlier told them that he had located Gen Mujuru's remains in the house.
"I started crying," said Ms Short.

"We were looking at the remains through the window, but I did not see them properly because it was dark. I only saw a burnt object."

Ms Short said there were chemicals to treat cattle, a safe, a gun cabinet, shoes, electricity transformer boxes and water glasses in the room where the remains were found.

She said Gen Mujuru's vehicle was parked near the swimming pool where he did not usually park it.

Mr Albert Alufandika, who worked at the farm as a groundsman, said he was woken up by a police officer at around 2:26am and told that there was fire at the main house.

When he arrived at the house, they pushed Gen Mujuru's car, whose windows were not locked, about 5 metres.

Alufandika said a cellphone which was in the car rung and he answered to find that it was VP Mujuru who asked him if they had found the General.

Mr Jaison broke a window to the sitting room and those there started moving out property, salvaging sofas in the process.

Mr Alufandika said he looked for Gen Mujuru around the garden, but could not find him, only to return after he heard that his remains had been discovered in the house.
"We heard that there was a body next to the window, but I was gripped with fear and could not take a look," he said.

Quizzed by VP Mujuru on why the car was parked in an unusual place, Mr Alufandika said it was also surprising to him that the vehicle was parked at the back of the house.

He said Gen Mujuru had parked his car at the back only twice before.

"It is said that he collected keys for the house from the maid, this means that he did not have keys to the bedroom door," said VP Mujuru.

"I think the obvious thing is that he should have parked the car on the usual place near the kitchen door because that is the door for which he colleted keys from the maid."

Mr Jaison told the court that he was told by a police officer at around 2:30am that the main house was on fire.

When they arrived at the house, Mr Jaison said he broke the window to the sitting room and used a torch to look for Gen Mujuru.

The fire was intense in other rooms and after failing to locate him in the sitting room, he started throwing out sofas.

He then rushed out and brought a water bowser and the people who had gathered started dousing the flame using buckets.

He said the Officer-in-Charge at Beatrice arrived later and called the fire brigade.

"Gen Mujuru's body was found in a room next to the door leading to the verandah," said Mr Jaison. "I was told to bring some water so that it could be poured on the body to stop it from burning further."

Under questioning from the Mujuru family lawyer, Mr Takor Keweda, Mr Jaison said he knew where Gen Mujuru's bedroom was, but did not make any effort to break the door and the windows because the fire was intense that side of the house.

"I tried all I could to save Gen Mujuru, but I could not because of the fire," he said.

One of the three police officers assigned to guard Gen Mujuru's house, Constable Lazarus Handikatari, said he was not on duty when the fire broke out.

He said they had a duty roaster and it was Constable Augustinos Chinyoka's turn to guard the house.

Const Handikatari said when he heard that fire had broken out, he teamed up with the other police officers to look for Gen Mujuru around the house.

"Const Chinyoka smashed one of the windows, but we did could not go far inside the house because we were choked by smoke," he said.

"I asked for reinforcements from workers in the compound, but we could do nothing because the fire was intense."

Const Handikatari said VP Mujuru arrived at the house around 4am and one of the workers was able to go into the house because the fire had subsidised and discovered the body of Gen Mujuru.

He said there had been some explosions from the asbestos sheets on the house because of the fire.

Const Handikatari said there was no electricity at the farm around 8pm when he went to rest and the room where he was resting was not part of the guardroom.
Mr Chikwanha adjourned the proceedings to today, with Ms Short expected to continue giving her evidence.b

Labels: COURTS, JOICE MUJURU

posted by MrK @ 12:44 PM