High Court Blocks Exhumation And Removal Of Johanne Masowe Remains From Rusape Shrine

The High Court has blocked the planned exhumation of the remains of revered apostolic sect founder Johanne Masowe, ruling that the process used to authorise the removal of his body from a shrine in Rusape was unlawful.

Justice Regis Dembure set aside the 10 March decision that granted authority to exhume the remains of Peter Jack Masedza, popularly known as Baba Johanne Masowe. He ruled that the decision violated the Administrative Justice Act.

“It is declared that the decision… giving authority to third and fourth respondents to exhume the remains… is in violation of section 3(1) of the Administrative Justice Act and is accordingly set aside,” ruled Dembure.

The legal battle is between the Gospel of God Church International and Masowe’s sons, Magaga and Reuben Masedza.

The two have spent years trying to rebury their father away from the church shrine at Gandanzara, Rusape, where he was buried in 1973.

The court said the Registrar who authorised the exhumation acted unlawfully. The judge said that he had wrongly believed that previous court rulings had already approved the removal of the late church leader’s remains.

“There was no such order; the courts had merely confirmed the third and fourth respondents’ procedural right to seek exhumation before the Minister, subject to due process being followed,” Dembure said.

The judge found that the Cemeteries Act’s mandatory procedures had been ignored. These include publishing notices in the Government Gazette and newspapers for three months in a row.

“The provisions of s38(5) of the Cemeteries Act are peremptory. The law is clear that anything done contrary to peremptory statutory provisions is a nullity,” the judge said.

The court also took issue with a public notice from one of Masowe’s sons inviting objections within 30 days.

“That is not the process undertaken in terms of s38(5) of the Cemeteries Act,” the judge ruled.

The exhumation had been set for 2 April, but the church rushed to court for an urgent order to stop it.

The legal wrangle over the influential preacher’s remains goes back more than two decades.

In 2003, one of the sons failed to gain access to the shrine to visit his father’s grave. Another court battle began in 2023 when the sons sought permission to exhume and rebury the remains.

Justice Dembure ruled that the matter must now return to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage for a lawful decision after hearing objections from all parties.

The sons were ordered to pay legal costs.

More: NewZimbabwe.com