HARARE – Marry Mubaiwa’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has inadvertently revealed her sense of guilt for drawing a princely cheque in legal services rendered to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s troubled ex-wife, who is also footing her hospital bills for a chronic ailment.
Mubaiwa faces a slew of charges within the courts, among them an attempted murder emanating from an alleged bid to finish off Chiwenga, who was battling for his own life in a South African hospital some three years ago.
Her troubles do not end there as she also has to foot a bill accruing from her lengthy hospitalisation for lymphoedema, a horrifying health condition that has ruthlessly been tearing flesh on her right forearm over a period.
The courts have not been any lenient with the once privileged ex-model either as they have adamantly demanded her presence even when it was apparent she was in pain.
One such case was last Friday when a Harare magistrate issued a warrant of arrest against her for allegedly skipping trial even when she had been brought to the court premises but failing to climb the stairs to where her court was sitting.
In a fierce outburst against the court decision, a teary Mtetwa blurted out personal concerns her continued invoicing of a woman who was evidently battling multiple challenges could be a moral violation on her part.
The human rights lawyer said she was emotionally disturbed seeing a client go through torment from the courts that have further blocked her attempt to seek advanced medical treatment abroad.
“It’s made me think whether we are stealing from our clients under the guise of providing them with justice,” she said.
“I am of course emotionally and psychologically messed up.
“Justice is supposed to be just and tampered with mercy, humanity, empathy – all absent from our justice delivery system.”
While it could not be readily established how much Mubaiwa has paid to Mtetwa, it is not in any doubt though that she could be paying through the nose.
Mtetwa is one of the country’s leading attorneys whose services do not often come any cheap.
Similarly, Mubaiwa could also spending a fortune in her taxing pursuit for seemingly elusive remedies to her health nightmares.
