Pretoria – Paramedics wheeled Marry Mubaiwa, estranged wife of Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, to appear before Harare Magistrate Ngoni Nduna after the same magistrate had earlier issued a warrant for her arrest.
State-owned The Herald newspaper reported that Mubaiwa was brought to court in an ambulance, carried into the building on a stretcher and then pushed into the courtroom in a wheelchair while on an intravenous injection, after a warrant of arrest was issued against her for failing to attend a court remand hearing on charges of attempted murder and externalising foreign currency.
The publication reported that Nduna issued a warrant of arrest during a mid-morning hearing on the application by the State, although Mubaiwa’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said she was unable to be present in court for health reasons.
Mubaiwa is accused of attempting to kill Chiwenga when he was admitted to hospital in South Africa, and externalising foreign currency from Zimbabwe.
Allegations before the courts are that in June 2019, when Chiwenga was airlifted to South Africa for treatment last year, his wife first tried to dissuade him from going to hospital. Mubaiwa allegedly suggested he stay at the Sheraton Pretoria hotel instead.
Then, at the hospital, Mubaiwa allegedly requested her husband’s security detail to leave the room before allegedly unhooking his intravenous lines. She then allegedly forced him out of bed and tried to lead him out of the hospital before security officials stopped her.
It is alleged that after Mubaiwa removed the intravenous lines, Chiwenga bled profusely. A few days later, Chiwenga was airlifted to China, where he reportedly recovered fully.
On Monday, Mubaiwa’s warrant of arrest was later cancelled after she appeared in court aided by two paramedics.
In January, Mubaiwa, was granted ZIM$ 50 000 (R2 000) bail pending trial on fraud, money laundering and foreign currency externalisation charges.
The Harare High Court ordered Mubaiwa to surrender title deeds to a 3 642-square metre property located in Highlands registered in her father, Keni Mubaiwa’s KM Auctions company’s name and to hand over her diplomatic passport to the clerk of the court as part of her bail conditions, The Herald reported.
African News Agency (ANA)