THE Supreme Court has set aside a recent High Court judgment and granted Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga custody of his three minor children following protracted legal battles with estranged wife, Mary Mubaiwa.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Before yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, High Court judge Justice Christopher Dube-Banda had granted Mubaiwa sole custody of the couple’s three children.
The Vice-President’s messy divorce with the ex-model started last year when the former army general was bed-ridden, taking several twists and turns, and in the process inadvertently exposing their health statuses, wealth and belief in rituals.
Through his lawyer Lewis Uriri, Chiwenga told the Supreme Court that Mubaiwa could not be given custody of their three minor children since she had admitted in a medical affidavit filed in court that she was mentally ill and in need of urgent psychiatric treatment.
“My Lords and lady, the applicant (Chiwenga) is worried that respondent (Mubaiwa) wants to have the children but she personally submitted a medical affidavit that stated that she was mentally unfit and needed to visit the doctor frequently which may not be prudent under the circumstances,” Uriri said.
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“The doctor concluded that Mubaiwa should be under the care of a physician, a surgeon and a psychiatrist.”
The matter was heard before a Supreme Court bench led by Deputy Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza assisted by Justices Paddington Garwe and Chinembiri Bhunu, who ruled in favour of the former military commander.