HARARE – A court has ordered the ministry of defence and the Air Force of Zimbabwe to pay over US$116,000 in damages to a widow whose husband died after being struck by a vehicle driven by an air force employee.
Justice Never Katiyo of the Harare High Court ruled that the ministry and the Air Force were to blame for the 2019 crash which killed Mudavanhu Manjengwa, finding they had allowed an unlicensed officer to control a fleet of vehicles without proper supervision.
The victim’s widow, Lucia Manjengwa, had sued for loss of support following her husband’s death from injuries sustained in the December 21, 2019, accident.
In a judgment delivered on February 11, Justice Katiyo found the driver, Matthew Mushinga, negligent but held his employers vicariously liable after concluding he had been entrusted with the vehicle despite lacking a valid military driving licence.
“The defendants, by issuing a service vehicle and placing it under the control of an unlicensed officer, created a foreseeable risk to the public,” the judge said.
The court apportioned liability at 95 percent to the ministry of defence and the Air Force, and five percent to the driver, who was described as the primary wrongdoer.
Evidence showed the deceased, who was 44 at the time of his death, earned about US$931 per month and would likely have continued working for another 11 years.
Justice Katiyo said the widow was entitled to compensation for loss of support, awarding US$116,772.48 or the equivalent in local currency at the prevailing exchange rate, plus interest from the date summons was filed until full payment.
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