Magistrate frees Marry Mubaiwa after seven years on remand as she recounts losses of children, limbs and property
HARARE — Marry Mubaiwa has been removed from remand in the attempted-murder case brought against her after the breakdown of her marriage to Zimbabwean Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, ending the current proceedings after almost seven years of delays.
Regional magistrate Musaiona Shortgame made the ruling in Harare on Tuesday after prosecutors asked for the trial to be postponed until 25 November to give them more time to engage witnesses. The magistrate said Mubaiwa had suffered mental, physical and financial prejudice during the lengthy case.
The order means she is no longer required to return to court under the existing remand process. The prosecution can still seek to revive the case by summons, but would have to begin again before a new magistrate. The trial had already reached an advanced stage before the judicial officer who had been hearing it was promoted to the High Court.
Mubaiwa’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, welcomed the ruling but said it came after years in which her client’s health had deteriorated and the case remained unresolved. “So, yes, it is a victory but it is a victory which feels very hollow because it came so, so late in the day,” she said.
Mubaiwa, who was wheeled from court, also spoke of the relief she felt. “We won. Ms B [Mtetwa] has done a lot of work. She’s done very well. It’s been unfair, but today we got justice. I’m so proud of her,” she said.
The case centred on events in July 2019, when Chiwenga was receiving treatment in Pretoria, South Africa. Mubaiwa was accused of trying to interfere with his medical care and kill him by disconnecting equipment while he was seriously ill. Chiwenga was later taken to China for further treatment, where he spent several months.
During earlier proceedings, John Mangwiro, Chiwenga’s personal doctor and a former deputy health minister, testified that he heard Chiwenga crying out in pain after an intravenous tube was allegedly pulled from his chest. Mangwiro told the court medical staff rushed into the room. He said the incident did not cause serious damage and that he had reported his concerns to the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Mtetwa challenged that account in court. The defence questioned why the alleged incident did not appear in hospital records and raised questions about the absence of forensic results relating to blood said to have been found on Chiwenga’s clothing. Chiwenga had been expected to testify after Mangwiro completed his evidence, but the change of magistrate meant prosecutors sought to restart the matter with witnesses called again.
The arrest in December 2019 marked the start of a series of court appearances that continued as Mubaiwa’s health worsened. She has had her right arm and left leg amputated and has appeared in court in a wheelchair. Her illness has been described as a lymphatic condition. In 2022, shortly before her arm was amputated, she told a court that bail and travel restrictions had made it difficult to obtain specialist treatment outside Zimbabwe.
The physical losses have unfolded alongside a painful separation from her children and a bitter dispute over the family’s future. Chiwenga and Mubaiwa have three children together. Mubaiwa has said she went years without seeing or speaking to them. In a recent interview, she described the losses in personal terms: “I just want my children, my house and cars.”
The family’s custody and property questions have been dealt with in separate court proceedings. A High Court ruling in 2022 declared that the couple’s customary marriage had ended in 2019, after a traditional divorce token was delivered. The court left related issues of custody, maintenance and property rights for later determination. That history means the question of what Mubaiwa has lost should not be confused with a final ruling resolving every claim over the family home, vehicles or other assets.
The split also led to a separate case over paperwork connected to the couple’s relationship. In April 2022, Mubaiwa was convicted of making a false statement in an attempt to formalise the customary marriage as a civil marriage. Because of her health, she avoided a prison sentence and was fined. In another matter, she was acquitted of assaulting a former maid in October 2022.
Mubaiwa has also faced money-laundering allegations relating to funds and property said to be connected with South Africa. Those allegations formed part of the wider legal battles that followed her arrest, alongside fraud and attempted-murder charges. Her physical condition and restrictions on travel repeatedly surfaced as she sought access to medical care.
Her recent account of the marriage offered a glimpse of how she views the years before the arrest. “Wherever he is, Chiwenga knows I never tried to kill him,” she said. She also described the end of the relationship as painful and said she wanted to rebuild contact with her children and regain what she considered hers.
The court decision closes a long and difficult chapter in the attempted-murder proceedings as they stood before Shortgame. It does not erase the years Mubaiwa spent answering the charge, the medical procedures she has undergone or the family disputes that remain unresolved. For now, she leaves court free from the existing remand order, while any next step in the case would have to be taken through a fresh process.