A MAJOR row has erupted among relatives of the late national hero and Cabinet minister, Perrance Shiri, as they fight to benefit from his significant estate, the Daily News can reveal.
This comes as it has emerged that the former Lands, Agriculture,
Water and Rural Resettlement minister left behind several children — with many
of them who were not previously known, and whose filial links to Shiri are
disputed, now coming forward to be part of the would-be beneficiaries.
Shiri, a former military commander and distinguished
liberation struggle fighter, was born Bigboy Samson Chikerema before changing
his name when he joined Zimbabwe’s war for independence in the 1970s. He died
at the end of July after contracting the lethal coronavirus, which also killed
one of his aides.
Members of his family confirmed to the Daily News at the
weekend that a nasty fight had erupted among his relatives and political associates over
how his estate should be administered — with some of the family members
claiming that certain relatives wanted to elbow out some of Shiri’s children
from the inheritance.
One of the aggrieved family members said Shiri had left
behind a sizeable estate which included a host of properties — including a
house in Borrowdale and a farm in Bindura that had chalets — as well as a fleet
of top-of-the range vehicles, several
buses and a trucking company.
Another family member also said he had interests in a
thriving local tile manufacturing firm. The fight for Shiri’s wealth, the
insiders said, was pitting — in the main — the late minister’s siblings against
his “many children”, whose exact number could not be ascertained.
They added that the ugly battle was raging despite the fact
that Shiri, who was not married, had left a will bequeathing a large chunk of
his wealth to his children and a few close family members.
So serious has the family feud become that his maternal
uncle — a retired lieutenant colonel only identified as Chigwedu, and who stays
at the late former Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) commander’s farm in Chegutu’s
Pickstone area — is said to have now been roped in to try to mediate the
differences.
Approached by the Daily News to shed more light on the
matter, one of the late Shiri’s relatives, Benjamin Chikerema — who acted as
family spokesperson when he died — was tight-lipped.
“Whoever is telling you that probably has more information.
There are people who are looking into the matter of his estate and those are
better placed to give you information.
“The same also goes with his memorial. There are people
organising it,” was all he would say. Shiri’s brother, Peter Zimondi — who is
not related to former prisons boss Paradzai — also refused to comment on the
matter.
“I am only the guardian and not the family spokesperson.
You can talk to uncle Chikaka regarding those issues,” Zimondi said. Efforts by
the Daily News to locate the said Chikaka were unsuccessful.
But the insiders who spoke to the Daily News also said at
the weekend that some of the late Shiri’s friends and political associates had
allegedly joined the fight on the side of his sisters — who were allegedly
disputing the paternity of some of the late national hero’s children.
Shiri’s sisters are said to be demanding that DNA tests be
done to ascertain if the children are
indeed his. “He left
a will which articulated how his estate should be distributed. He allocated the
majority of his wealth to his children. “Some family members not included in
the will feel they are entitled to benefit, resulting in a clash. There are
also some family members calling for the dead hero’s wishes to give his
children what he sweated for.
“Others are, however, disputing the contents of the will,”
one of the family members told the Daily News. Another family member, who also
spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Daily News that some relatives were
allegedly refusing to surrender some
properties that were left in their custody in a bid to freeze out the late
hero’s children.
“There are eight trucks and 12 other vehicles which some
are trying to conceal. We know all about it. “These things are for the children
and they should benefit. Some are allocating themselves shares of the things he
left behind,” this other family member
said.
At the time of his death, Shiri was engaged in significant
efforts to try and revamp the country’s agriculture sector to boost production
through various projects and programmes — including the John Deere
mechanisation programme.
Shiri died at the end of July, a few days after his driver
succumbed to the lethal coronavirus that has killed millions of people around
the world. The late liberation stalwart is said to have endured a difficult and
lonely death in his car, as he tried in vain to drive himself to a hospital for
treatment. Daily News
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