The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani News Editor
RETIRED High Court judge and former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Mutambanengwe who died in Namibia last Wednesday has been accorded a State assisted funeral.
Justice Mutambanengwe who died at Paramount Hospital in Windhoek, Namibia will be buried tomorrow (Saturday) at his rural home in Mutare District.
In an interview yesterday (Thursday), Zanu-PF provincial secretary for administration, Cde Kenneth Saruchera, said: “The late Justice Mutambanengwe was accorded a State assisted funeral and will be buried at his rural home in Mutare District on Saturday (tomorrow).
“As a party, we are saying we regret the sad loss of Justice Mutambanengwe who contributed immensely during the liberation struggle.
“We also appreciate the contributions he made to the legal sector as well the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission during his tenure as the chairman.”
At the time of his death, Justice Mutambanengwe was working as a legal consultant for the Namibian government after retiring from that country’s Supreme Court where he once served as acting Chief Justice.
He was born in Mutare in 1930 and attended Mutambara Mission and Goromonzi High School, after which he worked as a teacher at Hartzell High School for one year.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1959 before enrolling for a law degree at the Inner Temple in London and became an advocate in 1963.
He returned to Rhodesia and worked as an advocate until 1979. During that time he also served as Zanu secretary for foreign affairs.
From 1979, he worked as a lawyer in Zimbabwe until 1986 when he was appointed High Court Judge. In 1994, he was appointed to the Namibian High Court.
He was appointed chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on March 31, 2010 and served for three years before stepping down on health grounds.
Justice Mutambanengwe is survived by wife Juliana, three sons and 10 grandchildren.
