Ray Nkosi | President Robert Mugabe says he can annihilate any person and no one will ever know about it.

This has been the case since 1980 and many will never know of this legal loophole, until a loved one has mysteriously crossed over to the other side of eternity. All this was revealed by one of Mugabe’s senior officials in the Health Ministry last week.

Dr Maxwell Hove said since 1980 Zimbabwe has no capacity to professionally investigate murder cases. This means many murders or disappearances including those during Gukurahundi and other such notorious killings which took place inside Zimbabwe will never be discovered.

Hove said local doctors fear being grilled in courts hence they are reluctant to take forensic pathology. “We don’t have a Zimbabwean forensic pathologist because of the adversarial nature of the legal system. The lack of forensic pathologists has seen us relying on expatriates since 1980 who unfortunately are not obligated to appear before a court and give evidence.”

He narrated how foreign forensic pathologists from Namibia and Cuba have been frustrated by the local court procedures in giving evidence.

He said Cuba had to revisit its agreement with the Zim government after being frustrated in court during the inquest of the late General Solomon Mujuru, with the country now ensuring its nationals working in Zimbabwe are not forced to testify.

Hove was speaking during the Coroner’s Draft Bill stakeholders meeting.