The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
A WOMAN’S bid to bury her late husband without the involvement of his first wife and her children hit a brick wall after the latter secured an interim court order to stop her.
The Murimba family is embroiled in a battle over where the late Bishop Abisha Murimba, a founder and leader of Vapostori VaJesu Apostolic Sect, should be buried.
Bishop Murimba died at Rusape General Hospital on Monday and his second wife, Ms Eneresi Chizema, whom he was now staying with, wants him buried at their plot at Temaruru Village in Makoni.
However, the other Murimba family members who hail from Chegore Village in Marange wants him buried at a family graveyard as per their tradition.
The late bishop had 10 children with his first wife (name not availed), while he had seven children with Ms Chizema.
Bishop Murimba’s sons – Tendai and Elton – together with the deceased’s brothers Joseph and Langton dragged Ms Chizema, her two children Zivhu and Mildred, as well as a church elder only identified as Kupfuma, to Rusape Civil Court barring them from burying the bishop in Temaruru Village.
Through their lawyer, Mr Tendai Bvuma of Bvuma and Associates, they also cited Rusape General Hospital – where Bishop Murimba’s body is being held in the mortuary – as a respondent.
On Tuesday, Ms Chizema and her sons were blocked by Rusape General Hospital authorities from retrieving Bishop Murimba’s body from the mortuary pending the court outcome.
“The late Bishop Abisha Murimba expressed his wish to be buried at the family graveyard at Chegore Village in Marange.
In violation of the deceased’s dying wishes and the long standing family tradition and custom, Eneresi (Ms Chizema), her children and Kupfuma (a church elder) seek to have the now deceased buried at Village 36 in Temaruru.
“The family as a whole is still consulting over the issue. Respondents are violently trying to take the body to Temaruru and this will render the family consultations useless. The intervention of the court is now being sought so that Bishop Murimba’s body is not moved an inch from the mortuary until the family comes up with a determination on this matter.
“Other family members are still in Marange. The respondents fled with police reports, hospital papers and the deceased’s identity card. The respondents are determined to bury the deceased on their own,” said Mr Bvuma in the application.
Ms Chizema and her children have since engaged Mr Leonard Chigadza of Chigadza and Associates to challenge the interim order, arguing that Bishop Murimba had abandoned his Marange home in 1987 over irreconcilable differences with his first wife.
“I was customarily married to Abisha Murimba in 1987 when he relocated from Marange. We established our home at Village 37, Temaruru, where he was staying up to his death. We were blessed with seven children.
“Abisha (Bishop Murimba) had irreconcilable differences with the applicants, especially his son Tendai, who even assaulted him on many occasions. I have been with the deceased during his lifetime, illness and death. He indicated he wishes to be buried at his plot at Temaruru. He never communicated the alleged wish to be buried in Marange.
“The request by the applicants is based on cruelty and a desire to make me and my children suffer as is against our religious beliefs and customs. The period of grief should not be unnecessarily prolonged, especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. All burial documents have been obtained and the grave has been prepared.
“The deceased’s religious community is gathered to give him a befitting send-off according to his wishes,” argued Ms Chizema in her opposing affidavit.
The matter was set to be heard yesterday (Thursday) at Rusape Civil Court.
Ms Chizema has also filed a complaint against Bishop Murimba’s brothers and his sons at Chief Makoni’s court, arguing that they are violating traditional rites by stopping burial when a grave had already been prepared.
