Harare – A 47-year-old man, Tonderai Robert Mugabe, has filed a High Court application claiming to be the secret son of the late Zimbabwean president, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, and is seeking a share of his estate.
This stunning revelation comes five years after Mugabe’s death in Singapore on 6 September 2019, about two years after his 37-year reign as Zimbabwe’s head of state.
Tonderai alleges he was born on April 20, 1977, at the Chimoio base in Mozambique during the liberation war, to Hilda Maeka and the late president. He claims his mother, whose Chimurenga name was Cde Paidamoyo, died in 1995 from hypertension-related complications and was posthumously accorded liberation hero status. Tonderai states that his mother’s secrecy surrounding his father’s identity stemmed from fears of upsetting Mugabe’s wife, Sally Mugabe.
According to Tonderai, his maternal grandfather, Thomas Maeka, attempted unsuccessfully to have the Mugabe family acknowledge Tonderai.
“Tonderai’s mother worked in one of the offices in Mozambique, that is when she met Robert Mugabe,” Thomas Maeka explained.
“We did not know the father of the baby she brought from the war because she was secretive about it. We only got to know about it when Tonderai met some senior party officials in Harare. From there, I had numerous interactions with one of Mugabe’s close relatives, but nothing materialised. He always promised me that he was going to talk to Mugabe about the issue, but he would get evasive each time I made follow-ups. We eventually kept quiet.”
Tonderai’s narrative details a challenging upbringing in Glen Norah after the war. He attended Shiriyedenga Primary School in Glen Norah A, initially supported by his mother, but later resorted to scrap metal trading to fund his education after her death.
He recounts his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit: “My mother was one of the first people to get into business after the war. She had a number of knitting machines which she used to generate income.”
The turning point came during a chance encounter at Zanu PF headquarters. His aunt, Bridget Mugabe, revealed his true parentage. In a statement recounted by Tonderai, Bridget stated that her daughter, Lawrencia, had also been involved in confirming the information.
Lawrencia, in an affidavit dated February 11, 2020, stated: “I, Lawrencia Machengedza Mugabe…declare that Tonderai Maeka was born at Chimoio base in Mozambique in 1977. I was there when he was born, Gabriel Tonderai Mugabe. We separated when the mother took him to Cde Fay Chung (who was in charge of the sub-camp). After the war, we thought he and his mother had died because we could not find them. Later on, he was found by Tete Bridget, who is my mother. He is the son of Robert Gabriel Mugabe,”
Tonderai further explains that the secret was kept to avoid upsetting Sally Mugabe.
“I was kept a secret because of fears that Amai Sally Mugabe could be angry at the President (Mugabe). Information that I have gathered shows that she was going to be receptive since she was unfortunate not to have children after Nhamodzenyika’s passing,” he stated.
Tonderai’s application to the High Court seeks to reopen Mugabe’s estate, citing Bona Mugabe, the appointed estate manager, the registrar of births and deaths, and the master of the High Court as respondents. He requires Mugabe’s death certificate to obtain a birth certificate acknowledging Mugabe as his father.
Tonderai’s attempts to contact Bona Mugabe through her lawyers, Messrs Hussein Ranchold and Company, have been unsuccessful. He argues that the estate was closed prematurely without considering his claim.
“It was wrong and therefore unprocedural for the estate to be closed without looking into my claim and pronouncing a decision,” he submitted.
“With the evidence adduced so far, in particular, the DNA results, I am entitled to the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe’s death certificate so that I get a corrected 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.”
The matter is currently before High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi. Mugabe’s first wife, Sally, died in 1992 without children. He married Grace in 1996, and they had three children: Bona, Robert Junior, and Chatunga. The legal battle over the inheritance of one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent figures is now underway.
