BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE A FIGHT over the estate of the late Zanu PF apologist and soil scientist Isheunesu Mpepereki pitting his surviving spouse and a daughter from his first marriage spilled into the High Court yesterday.
Mpepereki’s spouse Otilia Mpepereki nee Tsvenda filed an application at the High Court against Diana Nyaradzo Mpepereki accusing her of acquiring a fraudulent death certificate to register the estate.
Otilia cited Diana and the Master of the High Court as first and second respondents, respectively. Otilia, who is represented by Knowledge Maeresera, is seeking an order declaring the registration of the estate null and void.
She is also seeking a ruling declaring the disposal of assets such as agricultural equipment and machinery at Mpepereki’s Wavaruka Farm, three vehicles and two housing stands in Harare, null and void.
Otilia submitted that she was the surviving spouse, adding that they had been married for 27 years. Their marriage was solemnised on December 20, 2019, court papers read.
“Unbeknown to me as the surviving spouse of the deceased, the first respondent fraudulently acquired another death certificate of the deceased a copy of which I attach hereto as Annexure “C”. I obtained the copy in question from an application filed by the first respondent in HC 183/22,” she submitted.
“A perusal of the death certificate in possession of the first respondent shows that its serial number is 657216.The only explanation for the issuance of another death certificate for the same deceased person is that it was improperly or fraudulently acquired for improper or fraudulent use.”
Mupepereki, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer, succumbed to COVID-19 in July 2021.
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He was 70.
“I submit that the registration of the deceased’s estate was done through an improperly or fraudulently acquired death certificate of the deceased since I was in possession of the properly acquired death certificate.
Otilia said she became aware of the registration and administration of the estate when she was served with a notice of set-down of an urgent chamber application filed by Nyaradzo on Wednesday last week.
“The application was issued on the 12th of January 2022 but not served on me. A copy of the application was obtained from the Registrar by my legal practitioners on the 21 of January 2022,” she said.
Mupepereki is also known for his ZBC-TV programme Murimi Wanhasi and Zvavanhu which he co-hosted with academics like Tafataona Mahoso.
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