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Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces will today hold a military parade in honour of the late Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Andrew Mutema, who died at Mater Dei Hospital last week. His body was yesterday flown to his farm in Chivhu to give relatives and friends a chance to pay their respects to the national hero.

The body returned to Harare last night to One Commando Barracks where it lay in state ahead of burial at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow. Justice Mutema whose nom de guerre was “Killer Mabhunu”, but later changed to “Kingsley Dube Watema”, was on Wednesday accorded national hero status. He becomes the first judge to be accorded national hero status.

Yesterday, his body left Harare at 2pm in an army helicopter to Heart Beast Farm in Chivhu accompanied by family members, military, police and prisons high ranking officials. Family spokesman Mr Richard Mhike said it was a sombre atmosphere at the farm where relatives, friends, local chiefs and the community could not come to terms with the death of Justice Mutema.

He said people testified that Justice Mutema had time with the local people regardless of their status in the community. “Speaker after speaker spoke glowingly of the late judge,” said Mr Mhike. “It was touching. They described him as an asset in the community. The local people would seek legal advice from him.”

Mr Mhike said the military parade would be held this morning at One Commando while mourners are gathered at No. 28 Churchill Avenue, Marlborough, in Harare. Justice Mutema was born on February 27, 1959 and joined the liberation war in November 1977. He attained military training in Mozambique in 1978 and after a three-month deployment, was recalled from the front.

Justice Mutema was deployed to Romania where he was taught physics and anti-aircraft radar. He was demobilised in 1982 after returning from Romania where he then pursued a career in the judiciary. Justice Mutema joined the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in 1986 as an assistant magistrate.

He was appointed a magistrate in 1987 and a regional magistrate in September 1997. In November 2004, Justice Mutema was appointed to the post of senior president of the Administrative Court. He was later moved to the Labour Court in December 2007 where he was appointed to the post of senior president of the Labour Court. In May 2010, he was appointed judge of the High Court in Harare.

He was then moved to Bulawayo and in February 2013 he was appointed to the position of senior judge in charge of the High Court, Bulawayo. In March this year, Justice Mutema was appointed to represent Zimbabwe as a principal judge in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. He is survived by his wife and four children.