No fraud in Perrance Shiri estate row

ONE of the daughters of the late national hero, Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd), has been cleared of fraud and forging a birth certificate in order to be listed among the beneficiaries of the decorated military commander’s estate, with the acquittal coming after the State failed to prove its case against her.

Stephanie Rufaro Shiri (36) had brought her “half-sister” Stephan Tanaka Musvamhiri (30) before the courts on the two charges.

In her ruling at the close of the State case, Chief Magistrate Mrs Faith Mushure last Friday acquitted Musvamhiri on both charges for lack of sufficient evidence by the State and its witnesses.

“The State failed to give evidence that the accused had entered her name through fraudulent means to the executor. The State failed to summon the executor to testify to that effect.”

The police worked on assumptions of what they were told by Stephanie Shiri and did not conduct thorough investigations on the matter, said the Chief Magistrate.

Regarding the alleged forging of a birth certificate, the State failed to prove its case and the Chief Magistrate ruled that Ms Musvamhiri could not be blamed for the different addresses that were put on her birth certificate as that was done by her maternal grandmother when she was still young.

On the allegations of fake DNA results, the State failed to summon a witness from Global DNA to prove they were fake. Available results prove that Ms Musvamhiri is the daughter of Air Chief Marshall Shiri.

The State case that was rejected by the Chief Magistrate was presented by Ms Ruvimbo Matyatya who had alleged that during 2020 and 2021, Ms Musvamhiri fraudulently obtained DNA test results, and submitted these to the executor of the estate along with a birth certificate in the name of Tanaka Stefan Musvamhiri.

Ms Rufaro Shiri then filed a police report over the potential prejudice of US$124 663 to the beneficiaries of the estate.

In the second charge, the State alleged that Ms Musvamhiri on March 17, 2010, went to Chirumhanzu District Registry Offices for Births and Deaths to replace her lost birth certificate and gave the address of 13 Loquart Grove, Paradise Park, Marondera, instead of Village Honzeri, Chief Dendera, Karoi, as captured in the records system kept by the Registrar of Births and Deaths.

Again Ms Rufaro Shiri made a police report.

Ms Musvamhiri, through her lawyer Mr Arshiel Mugiya, denied both allegations saying that Ms Rufaro Shiri was only trying her best to disinherit other biological children of the late Cde Shiri as she had also caused the arrest of one of her siblings, Tawanda Zulu.