Minister Garwe barred from pursuing Muroyi chieftainship dispute until he pays costs, withdraws letter

The High Court has barred the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, from pursuing a legal challenge over the Muroyi chieftainship until he pays more than US$4,700 in outstanding legal costs and withdraws a letter directing that the selection of a substantive chief should continue.

Justice Christopher Dube-Banda, sitting in Masvingo, ruled that the minister had approached the court with “dirty hands” after failing to settle costs awarded in two previous cases and writing a letter on April 1, 2026, urging the continuation of the selection process despite an existing court order prohibiting it.

The court ordered that the minister’s application for condonation and an extension of time to file an application for rescission of a default judgment be stayed until he pays the outstanding costs and withdraws the letter.

“The applicant must purge this contempt before he can be permitted to litigate on the dispute between him and the first respondent,” Dube-Banda ruled.

The costs relate to two previous court cases in which Piason Maputsenyika successfully challenged steps taken towards upgrading the Muroyi headmanship in Masvingo Province to a chieftainship.

Maputsenyika was awarded US$3,612.78 in costs in one case and US$1,134.15 in another, bringing the outstanding amount to US$4,746.93.

The minister had not paid the taxed costs despite being aware of the amounts due, the court heard.

Dube-Banda said it would be unfair for the minister to continue instituting litigation against Maputsenyika without first settling the costs incurred in the earlier proceedings.

“The applicant has not paid taxed costs arising from previous litigation between the parties,” the judge said.

The court also found that the minister’s ministry had breached an existing interdict by writing to the chairman of the Provincial Assembly of Chiefs for Masvingo on April 1, 2026, advising that the selection of a substantive Chief Muroyi should continue.

The interdict, granted on August 28, 2025, prohibited the minister, the President, the provincial chiefs’ assembly chairperson, Chief Nhema, Headman Muroyi and the Zaka District Development Coordinator from convening meetings, conducting consultations or taking other steps to identify, recommend or appoint a substantive Chief Muroyi.

It also prohibited any communications intended to revive or implement the decision to upgrade the headmanship to a chieftainship.

Dube-Banda said the April letter sought to restart the selection process in violation of that order.

“This violation supports the first respondent’s argument that the applicant is approaching the court with dirty hands,” the judge said.

The minister had argued that the doctrine of dirty hands did not apply because no chief had been selected or appointed. His lawyer submitted that Maputsenyika’s remedy, if the court order had been breached, was to seek contempt proceedings.

But the judge rejected that argument, finding that the letter itself breached the interdict, regardless of whether an appointment had been made.

The ruling reinforces the obligation of litigants, including government officials, to comply with court orders before seeking further relief from the courts.

In explaining the principle, Dube-Banda cited an earlier Supreme Court ruling which stated: “This is a court of law and as such cannot connive or condone the Applicant’s open defiance of the law.”

The dispute began in June 2025, when Maputsenyika filed a court application challenging the recommendation by the minister to the President to upgrade the Muroyi headmanship to a chieftainship.

In the main case, Justice Charewa reviewed and set aside both the minister’s recommendation and the President’s subsequent decision to approve the upgrade.

The minister later applied to rescind that judgment, but the application was struck off the roll in February 2026 after the court upheld an objection that he had failed to comply with the High Court Rules.

He subsequently approached the court seeking permission to file a fresh rescission application outside the prescribed time limits.

However, Dube-Banda ruled that the application could not proceed until the minister settled the outstanding costs and withdrew the April 1 letter.

The court declined Maputsenyika’s request to have the application struck off the roll, instead ordering a stay of proceedings until the two conditions are met.

The minister was also ordered to pay the costs of the present application on a party-and-party scale.

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