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Gunda’s widow leaves army property

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The widow of the late Zimbabwe National Army’s One Brigade commander and national hero Paul Armstrong Gunda, Tatenda Rangarirai, on Sunday hosted an emotional farewell party for her neighbours before she vacated a military house whose ownership she had contested and lost at the High Court. Gunda has been embroiled in a five- year legal […]

The widow of the late Zimbabwe National Army’s One Brigade commander and national hero Paul Armstrong Gunda, Tatenda Rangarirai, on Sunday hosted an emotional farewell party for her neighbours before she vacated a military house whose ownership she had contested and lost at the High Court.

Gunda has been embroiled in a five- year legal wrangle with the army over the two-storey house in the plush Suburbs area of Bulawayo.

She claimed her late husband had been granted the right to buy the property before his death in a road accident in 2007.

Addressing guests at the disputed house over the weekend, Gunda blamed Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa for her eviction.

“When two elephants fight, one has to fall. I fought since 2007. Everything has its own time.

“We won in the magistrates’ court and the case went to the High Court and eventually to the Supreme Court, but Mnangagwa chased us and said they were the owners of this country.

“We say God gave us time from 2007 to this year and it’s time to go. Some widows could have been evicted within 30 days.”

Gunda revealed she would be leaving Bulawayo for Victoria Falls where she has business interests. She also took time to counsel other widows and said they should preserve their integrity and not be promiscuous after the departure of their husbands.

Gunda then broke into a church song in which she lauded God as her saviour before breaking down in tears creating a sombre atmosphere leading to other guests sobbing as well.

On March 8, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha granted Mnangagwa leave to execute a judgment ordering Gunda’s widow to vacate the army house in Bulawayo within 10 days. The late hero’s family had stayed at the house since 2004.

Mnangagwa could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press last night.