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Chigwedere lawsuit rejected

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The witchcraft lawsuit against former Education minister Aeneas Chigwedere filed by his son, Magwiza, at the Harare Civil Court, was yesterday rejected on the basis of jurisdictional grounds.

The witchcraft lawsuit against former Education minister Aeneas Chigwedere filed by his son, Magwiza, at the Harare Civil Court, was yesterday rejected on the basis of jurisdictional grounds.

by NQOBILE NKIWANE

Presiding resident magistrate Brighton Pabwe said Chigwedere’s son ought to have filed the application in Marondera where both parties are permanently based.

“The Harare Civil Court cannot have jurisdiction to dwell on the matter because both parties reside in Marondera and the action happened in Marondera,” Pabwe said.

Chigwedere, through his lawyer Tendai Masawi, had last week challenged the hearing of the matter in Harare citing unprocedural flaws.

In his application, Masawi had argued the Harare Civil Court was not the correct one to deal with the case as both parties were based in Marondera.

AENIUS-CHIGWEDERE

He had also argued that Magwiza had raised constitutional issues in his application and, therefore, the matter would be best heard in the Constitutional Court.

But, in his response, Magwiza said he felt his application would be better held in Harare because he feared his father would tamper with the course of justice in Marondera.

However, in his ruling, the magistrate said the issue of Chigwedere being a figure of influence in Marondera was not significant in the matter.

“The application is dismissed on point of jurisdiction,” Pabwe said.

Mangwiza approached the courts late last year accusing Chigwedere of practicing witchcraft, claiming he had goblins that were terrorising other family members.

Chigwedere was being sued together with his wife, Emilia Zharare, who is Magwiza’s stepmother.