Ex-wife of Zim vice-president has arm amputated after permission to seek treatment in SA is denied

The ex-wife of Zimbabwe vice-president Constantino Chiwenga has had her right arm amputated after being denied permission to leave the country to seek medical treatment in SA. 

Marry Mubaiwa, 40, developed severe sepsis and has been denied several times by courts in Zimbabwe to travel because she has pending criminal charges against her. 

Her passport is held by the court as part of her bail conditions as she awaits trial for allegedly plotting to kill Chiwenga, money laundering, fraud and assault.

Social media is flooded with pictures of Mubaiwa in hospital with an amputated right arm. 

The procedure to chop off her arm was reportedly done last week in Harare.

After numerous failed court applications in March, Beatrice Mtetwa, the lawyer representing Mubaiwa, told a court that doctors had reached the conclusion that her right arm needed to be amputated.

“Doctors cannot save her arm, and when she is medically fit, they will have to amputate the right arm,” said Mtetwa.

In a report filed to the court, doctors said Mubaiwa’s condition was “critical, life-threatening”.

“She is five weeks post revision surgery for a right humerus shaft re-fracture. Her current condition is critical, life-threatening and has necessitated hospitalisation and stabilisation with a plan for above-elbow amputation as soon as she is deemed medically stable,” the report stated.

“She has severe sepsis secondary to deep infection after revision surgery to fix a re-fracture of the right humerus shaft against a background of chronic sepsis in her forearm. Careful inpatient clinical management of her current state is required, and a multidisciplinary team is in attendance.”