A legal battle is unfolding in Zimbabwe’s High Court after a Mutare-based private hospital was accused of refusing to release a 75-year-old woman until her family clears an outstanding medical bill.
Witness Mavambire filed an urgent chamber application seeking an order compelling Exclusive Medcare Hospital to discharge his mother, Marita Manyore. He argues that she is being unlawfully confined as leverage to force payment of US$2,200.
Manyore was admitted on February 10 for emergency treatment and was later cleared for discharge by her attending physician, according to court papers. However, hospital authorities allegedly refused to let her leave due to an unpaid balance. The bill, initially said to be US$1,070, has reportedly increased as charges continued to accrue.
In the application, filed through lawyers from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Mavambire outlines efforts he made to settle the debt. He says he first offered US$200 and proposed monthly instalments of US$500. With assistance from his siblings, he later raised US$500, but the hospital allegedly rejected the payment plan.
The dispute intensified during a February 26 meeting with the hospital’s director.
According to Mavambire, the director “advised that she was not going to release Manyore and that she would hold on to her until the amount is paid in full.”
Describing the situation in his affidavit, Mavambire accuses the hospital of treating his mother as “a human lien,” arguing that her continued stay is intended solely to compel payment.
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His lawyer, Christopher Ndlovu, said the confinement is unlawful and worsening the family’s financial burden.
“The unlawful detention is ongoing and the bills continue to accrue and get out of reach of the applicant each day his mother remains detained,” Ndlovu wrote.
The application cites constitutional provisions empowering the High Court to order the release of anyone reasonably believed to be unlawfully detained. Mavambire contends that his mother’s rights to liberty, dignity and freedom of movement are being violated, particularly as she is no longer receiving active treatment.
While expressing gratitude for the medical care she received, he maintains that the hospital’s current actions amount to a “gross injustice.”
“I commit to paying off the debt within a reasonable time,” Mavambire states in his court papers. “But the contractual obligations cannot support this violation to continue unabated.”
He further argues that the hospital retains the right to recover its fees through legal channels, adding: “They can still sue for the debt. They need not exercise a lien on a human being.”
The matter has been filed as urgent, with Mavambire arguing that immediate court intervention is necessary to protect his mother’s fundamental rights. The case is still pending before the High Court.
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