Clever Mafoti said this while giving evidence in the ongoing inquest into Mujuru’s death, which enters its eighth day today.

Mafoti, a station officer at Harare fire brigade, said crucial evidence that could have assisted in ascertaining the cause of the fire believed to have killed the general beyond recognition, was missing.

“During the time that we eventually arrived most of the leads had been destroyed by the people who were present,” said Mafoti to a packed courtroom.

Mafoti said this while responding to a question asked by Clemence Chimbari from the Attorney General’s office on whether it was part of the fire brigade’s roles to determine what could have started the fire.

Mafoti said it was impossible as people who moved in and out of the house had destroyed the evidence that could have enabled them to ascertain what started the fire.

He, however, told the court the fire could have started in the bedroom and the main lounge as the two rooms were severely damaged.

“The bedroom could have been the starting point of the fire because of the peeling off of the plastered wall and cracks on the wall. That signifies fire would have remained burning in the room for a fairly longer period. The same aspect was also identified in the dining room (main lounge),” said Mafoti.

Asked whether it was possible for fire to start from two different points at the same time, Mafoti said this was possible in cases involving arson, especially when the arsonist was of an unsound mind, or if an electrical fault occurred or when electrical sockets were overloaded.

“If fire breaks out in a room and rages on for a long time without being noticed it ends up consuming the entire oxygen. So in the event that there will be an opening for example in the ceiling, dust in the ceiling will start expanding,” Mafoti said.

“There will be a mixture of dust and air. Dust will expand like gases that will lead to explosion forcing fire to leap from one end to the other.”

Mafoti told the court that at the time Mujuru died the fire brigade had no capacity to travel outside Harare as they had no reliable vehicles.

He said that they received the fire report around 3am but it took them 30 minutes to prepare for the journey.

“The vehicle which we had could only ferry 400 litres of water and was leaking to such an extent that we would not have managed to reach Beatrice with water,” said Mafoti.

Mafoti’s revelations come after the late Mujuru’s nephew James Mushore on Tuesday asked police inspector Simon Dube whether senior government officials who were allowed in the house where Mujuru’s body was found could have tempered with crucial evidence.

Mushore was referring to government officials who were allowed into the house to view the general’s body before it was taken to the mortuary.

“Don’t you think the guided tours might have helped in destroying valuable evidence?” Mushore asked to which Dube answered “no”.

Yesterday’s proceedings were delayed after Thakor Kewada, the Mujuru family lawyer requested time to study statements given to the police officers by experts during their investigations so that he could prepare enough questions to examine the experts.

“There are certain aspects that I am looking at and there is someone researching for me and I made a request to the state to accord postponement. When you are calling experts there are certain aspects that you need to look at. I also want to question or consider before I question aspects that I can within myself say I have done everything
possible and that needs to be done and satisfy myself,” said Kewada.

Mujuru died last August in a suspected inferno, at his Beatrice farm about 60 kilometres out of Harare.

Mafoti was the 26th witness to testify in one of the country’s highest profile court cases since independence in 1980.

Today, Mafoti is expected to wind-up his evidence before a police expert from the ballistic unit and a Zesa official take the stand to testify.

By Daily News