AN INVESTIGATION into the farm fire which killed the late army chief General Solomon Mujuru may have started at two locations: the lounge or the bedroom, the Fire Brigade told an inquest into his death on Wednesday.
A fire with two sources is usually the result of arson or an electrical short circuit, said Clever Mafoti, the Chief Fire Officer at the Fire Brigade HQ in Harare.
But Mafoti said the Fire Brigade could not definitively prove that theory because the crime scene at Ruzambo Farm in Beatrice had been contaminated by too many people – other than investigators – going through the 14-room farmhouse.
The national hero’s charred remains were found in the living room after the August 16, 2011, blaze.
Mafoti was the 26th witness to give evidence since the inquest opened at the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Monday last week.
With General Mujuru’s widow – Vice President Joice Mujuru – looking on, Mafoti told how the Fire Brigade was ill-prepared for disasters.
He said: "The only vehicle we had was leaking, so if we had driven from Harare with water it would have all leaked by the time we arrived in Beatrice.
“We last had a normal fleet in the year 2000.”
Mafoti said they only left the fire station, without water, after being informed that there was a water source in the form of a dam and some bowsers on Mujuru’s farm.
After putting out the fire, he said, the Fire Brigade’s investigators focused on the bedroom and the lounge which appeared to have been the sources of the fire.
Mafoti said they can tell the source of a fire using certain indicators like the peeling of plaster and cracks in the walls. He said these signs usually suggested that the fire had been in that area for a long time.
"When there are two sources of fire, it could mean an arsonist was at work or that there had been an electric short circuit caused by an overloaded socket," he said.
"In our case, it was particularly difficult to conclude as to the source since both rooms had the same indications and also there were too many people. I’m afraid we lost key leads.”
The session which was scheduled for 10AM was deferred to 2.15PM after the Mujuru family lawyer, Thakor Kewada, requested time to attend to some personal issues.
"I apologise to everyone for the delays, it was entirely my fault," Kewada said when the court was adjourning for Thursday morning.
Mafoti will return to the stand on Thursday when two other witnesses – a police ballistics expert and a Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) fire investigator – are expected to testify.
Court officials say they expect Vice President Joice Mujuru to take the stand this week, possibly on Friday.
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Burnt out ... A police officer walks past a window of Mujuru's farmhouse after the August 16 fire