Harare – A 47-year-old man, Tonderai Gabriel Mugabe, has launched a legal challenge, claiming to be the secret son of the late former President Robert Mugabe and demanding a share of his estate.
The case, currently before High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi, has ignited considerable public interest and raises questions about the late leader’s personal life.
Mr. Mugabe, who is suing Bona Mugabe – the executor of her father’s estate – along with the Registrar of Births and Deaths and the Master of the High Court, is seeking to reopen the estate. Central to his claim is the assertion that he was born in Chimoio, Mozambique, on April 20, 1977, to Hilda Maeka, who was in a relationship with the then-President Mugabe.
According to Mr. Mugabe’s court application, the relationship between his parents ended following the bombing of Chimoio, with Mugabe believing Maeka had perished. Despite this separation, he claims communication continued after Zimbabwe’s independence.
“However, for reasons unknown to me, my late father did not want it to be disclosed to the public that I am his son, until at a later stage,” Mr. Mugabe stated in his court documents. He added that his mother passed away before this disclosure could occur, leaving him facing significant challenges in gaining acceptance within the Mugabe family.
“I had a difficult time being accepted into the first family then given the fact that the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe was now married,” he explained.
“Although I would meet my father occasionally, he would maintain it a secret to the first family. However, I was in contact with my late father’s siblings, such as aunt Laurencia Machemedze Mugabe who deposed an affidavit to that effect.”
Mr. Mugabe further stated that his father’s death prevented a formal introduction to the Mugabe family. He detailed his attempts to obtain a birth certificate acknowledging his parentage, a process complicated by the Registrar of Births and Deaths’ request for DNA testing and insistence on participation from a Mugabe family member.
“I underwent DNA tests which confirmed 99.997871% probability of the relationship with my half sibling,” he submitted.
“This is evidence that I was fathered by the Mugabe parental lineage. However, through a notarial deed of change of name, I had changed my name from Tonderayi Maeka to Tonderayi Gabriel Mugabe, which name I have assumed since then.”
Despite the positive DNA results, the Registrar of Births and Deaths refused to issue him a birth certificate, a situation Mr. Mugabe attributes to the blank space in the father’s section on his existing birth certificate.
Following the advertisement of Mugabe’s estate, Mr. Mugabe approached the Master of the High Court, who reportedly referred him to Bona Mugabe’s lawyers, Messrs Hussein Ranchold and Company. However, his attempts to contact Bona Mugabe directly proved unsuccessful.
Mr. Mugabe argues that the estate’s closure was procedurally flawed, stating: “It was wrong and therefore unprocedural for the estate to be closed without looking into my claim and pronouncing a decision.”
He further contends that the evidence presented, particularly the DNA results, entitles him to Robert Mugabe’s death certificate, enabling the correction of his birth certificate.
“On that basis, the executor should be compelled to release the deceased’s death certificate to me for purposes of correcting my birth certificate as required by the registrar of births and deaths,” he stated in his application.
The case highlights the complexities surrounding inheritance and family secrets, particularly in high-profile cases. The late Robert Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years until his death in Singapore in September 2019, did not have children with his first wife, Sally, who died in 1992. He married Grace Mugabe in 1996, and they had three children: Bona, Robert Junior, and Chatunga. The outcome of this legal challenge remains to be seen, but it undoubtedly adds a new and unexpected chapter to the legacy of one of Africa’s most prominent figures.
