HARARE – The widow of prominent former University of Zimbabwe lecturer Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki has lost her legal battle to stop the sale of their house in Harare’s upmarket Glen Lorne suburb by his estate.

Otilia Mpepereki, nee Tsvanda, had taken her late husband’s daughter Diana Nyaradzo Mpepereki, who is the executor of the estate, to court complaining that she risked being prejudiced if a house in Glen Lorne was to be sold.

Tsvanda was the second wife of the late Mpepereki. Diana’s mother was Mpepereki’s first wife.

When Mpepereki died in July 2021, he left a will in terms of which Diana was named as the executor.

Mpepereki directed that his only immovable property in Glen Lorne be sold and that from the proceeds realised, US$50,000 be given to Tsvanda. The balance of the estate was bequeathed to Diana.

Tsvanda, through Women and Law in Southern Africa, wrote to the Master of the High Court on October 25, 2021, requesting spousal maintenance on the basis that the will did not provide any provision for her sustenance. She was turned down, triggering a series of legal actions, including a January 24, 2022, application for review seeking the setting aside of the registration of the estate.

On April 26, 2022, she issued summons for a declaratur seeking the setting aside of her husband’s will.

While that was pending, on October 5, 2022, she filed an urgent chamber application seeking an order impeding the administration of the deceased’s estate. The interim relief was granted on November 3, 2022.

She then sought confirmation of the provisional order, which has now been rejected by the Harare High Court.

Justice Fatima Maxwell said Tsvanda had failed to establish a clear right entitling her to the interdict sought.

The judge said she ought to establish that she was living at the property in question “immediately before” Mpepereki’s death.

Said the judge: “That is not possible, considering her statement in the founding affidavit that she was living in Westgate with the deceased.

“In any event, in the letter written on behalf of applicant on October 25, 2021, the provisions of the will were accepted.

“Women and Law Southern Africa in that letter indicated that the deceased left a will in which the applicant was to be given US$50,000 for the purchase of a new home.

“Clearly, the applicant cannot claim the immovable property but cash from the deceased’s estate. To then interdict the sale and transfer of the immovable property in these circumstances is not justified.”

Justice Maxwell said one cannot interdict a lawful process.

“Having accepted the will as the surviving spouse, the applicant (Tsvanda) cannot interdict the administration of the deceased’s estate by an executrix testamentary appointed in terms of the will.

“A position that is not consistent with the acceptance of the will is akin to blowing hot and cold water. This court cannot support such a position,” the judge added.

Tsvanda’s lawyers had insisted that she had a clear right in the matter as she was married to Mpepereki, who was chairman of the UZ’s Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, and their marriage was solemnised in 2019.

The lawyers also submitted that it was not disputed that Tsvanda was the surviving spouse.

They said if the interdict was not granted, Tsvanda would suffer irreparable harm in the event that the will is later found to be fraudulent.

“She would have lost the matrimonial home and residue of the estate as the immovable property would be transferred… there is no other fora to rectify the alleged illegalities perpetrated against the estate,” they said.

Diana however opposed the application arguing that Tsvanda accepted the validity of the will and the administrative actions sought to be impugned were taken on that basis.

She further argued that the legal fight was a disguised attempt to review out of time the acceptance of the will of her father.