High Court Judge Justice Jacob Manzunzu has removed from
the court roll Mrs Farai Chidyausiku (nee Kunaka), the widow of national hero Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku’s
case to allow the lawyers to put their papers in order.
Justice Manzunzu said the hearing could not proceed since
there was no order granted by the court that a fifth respondent, Mary
Chidyausiku be joined in the case except for a jointer application she made.
Farai’s lawyer, Mr Blessing Mutiro and Mary’s attorney, Mrs
Melissa Chinyangarara-Kaseke both failed to produce the order granted by the
court confirming her to be joined in the matter, causing the judge to strike it
from the roll.
Farai approached the High Court in June 2018 seeking an
order compelling the pension master to process and transfer into her bank
account, all the pension and terminal benefits of her late husband from the
Judiciary.
She cited Judicial Service Commission, Pension Master, Pay
Master and Minister of Justice and Legal Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi
as respondents.
However, another surviving spouse of the late jurist Mary
Chidyausiku who is also fighting to get the same benefits then filed a court
application seeking to be joined as the 5th respondent in the application under
case number HC 5754/18.
After being joined in terms of an order by Consent, she
filed her notice of opposition on 25 February 2019, but Farai failed to file an
answering affidavit or set the matter down within one month of having been
served with the notices of opposition.
In her founding affidavit, Mary argued that she was the one
entitled to get the full benefits as her pension form was accompanied by a
marriage certificate indicating she was lawfully married to the late
Chidyausiku at the time he passed on.
She further said Farai’s application was based on her false
allegation that she was the only surviving spouse which was untrue and
misleading.
Although Farai was not mentioned in the inheritance, she
claims that she was customarily married to the late jurist and that her brother
received US$1 000 as bride price from him in 2002.
She argued in her court papers that she even changed her
surname and started using the Chidyausiku family name. Herald
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