By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –

THE Kabushi local court has heard how a married man abandoned his wife in preference for her best friend.
Agness Namukonda, 22, told the court that Helen Mumba was her best friend who was as good as her sister.
Namukonda said Mumba used to baby- sit her child and both used to have meals together on a number of occasions.
She said her husband hated Mumba and always discouraged her from being friends for fear that she was going to instill bad behaviour to her.
Namukonda said the problem with Mumba started when her husband divorced her and started an affair with her friend.
“I am surprised that my former husband decided to marry my best friend because he was always against our friendship,” Namukonda said.
She wondered why Mumba decided to sue her for insults and defamation when she was the one who was in the wrong.
Mumba told the court that she decided to take Namukonda to court because she insulted and defamed her in many ways.
Mumba did not mention that she was married to the defendant’s ex-husband.
But during cross-examination the court discovered that the two women were actually best friends and the rivalry started after the defendant’s marital disputes.
In passing judgment, senior local court presiding magistrate Sarah Bwalya, sitting with senior local magistrates Besa Mushibwe and Mildred Namwizye, dismissed the case.
Ms Bwalya said that Mumba was wrong because she knew too well that her husband used to be her best friend’s husband.
The court told the two women to live in harmony for the next five years.

Irresponsible hubby loses marriage

By SARAH MWANZA –

A WOMAN of Lusaka’s Chaisa Township has told the Matero local court that on some days she refused to give her husband food because of his alleged failure to provide for the family.
Evelyn Mwamba said as far as she was aware, a man was supposed to be a bread-winner, not the other way round, hence whatever she found was for the children and not for her husband.
This is a case in which Mwamba sued Charles Makasa for divorce after the two failed to resolve their marital disputes.
The couple, who could not give their ages, married in 1995 and has five children, although problems emerged in their marriage in 2001 when Makasa allegedly started spending nights out.
Mwamba told the court that she was eating with her children in the presence of Makasa because he had a habit of deserting home every time he had money.
She said she struggled alone to fend for the children even when her husband was around and she had no regret stinging her husband every time she found food.
Apparently, one of the children passed grade nine examinations but could not proceed to grade 10 because the father could not look for money.
Mwamba said whenever her husband got paid he used to disappear from home and lied to her that he was sent to work out of town.
“I look for food to feed my children, not an elderly person who spends his money on other women,” Mwamba said. “This man has impregnated another woman although he is refusing.”
But Makasa said he was not ready to divorce his wife because he still loved her, and for the sake of the children.
He said he at times deserted home because his wife used to stinge him food and he was scared that he could die of hunger.
Makasa said his wife had been wrongly accusing him of spending his money on women every time he was broke.
The defendant said that there was no other person who could take care of his two children if the court granted divorce because they were suffering from epilepsy.
“Two (of my) children have epilepsy, hence I am sure that I am the only person who can take good care of them,” he said.
But magistrate Petronella Kalyelye, sitting with Lewis Mumba, dissolved the marriage and ordered Makasa to compensate his wife with K8,000.

Soldier accuses friend of bewitching him

By SARAH MWANZA –

A SOLDIER of Arakan Barracks in Lusaka has accused his friend of bewitching him after he became insane soon after the two exchanged clothes.
Teddy Nsofwa, 37, told the court that he ran mad after his workmate, Sergeant John Tembo, forced him to swap clothes they were wearing during a drinking spree.
This was a case in which Nsofwa sued Tembo and asked the Matero local court to force the latter to return the clothes he forcibly got from the plaintiff.
The court heard that the two had gone for a drinking spree on November 20 last year at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) before Tembo forced Nsonfwa to swap the attire.
Nsonfwa told the court that he reluctantly accepted to exchange the clothes but everything changed immediately after the swapping because he became unwell and got insane.
“Immediately after we exchanged the clothes I lost my senses and became confused,” Nsonfwa said. “I didn’t know where I was and failed to recognize anyone.”
He said when he woke up the following day, no one could get through to him on his phone because his number stopped going through.
The court heard that after persistent prayers by his relatives, Nsofwa’s phone number finally went through but when he answered, some one on the other end could not hear what he was saying.
He said he could not tell his relatives where he was because he did not know the place until he gave the phone to someone who told them where he was.
“That was how my relative picked me up from Mtendere and started praying for me, that was how I gained my senses although I have not fully recovered,” he said.
In his defence, Tembo told the court that he had no idea about what happened to Nsofwa because the plaintiff was very drunk after the outing.
Tembo said after a drinking spree the two went together at the defendant’s place because Nsofwa was so drunk that he was failing to walk.
He said Nsofwa left his house the following day, and he was surprised to hear from his relatives that he was missing and they were blaming him for his disappearance.
“I got his clothes because they were dirty and I decided to go with them for work the following day when I reported for work but he was not there,” he said.
Magistrate Lewis Mumba, sitting with Petronella Kalyelye ordered Tembo to give Nsonfwa back his clothes and reverse whatever he did to him.

Wife loses case over hubby’s estate

By SARAH MWANZA –

THE Matero local court has dismissed a case in which a woman of Lusaka’s Balastone area sued her brother-in-law for reconciliation over her late husband’s property.
Lillian Zulu, 40, told the court that when her husband died in 2006, his brother was chosen as an administrator but since then he had failed to administer his brother’s estate properly.
This is a case in which Lillian sued Goodson Zulu, 50, for reconciliation over her late husband’s estate.
Lillian said at the time of his death, her husband had four children – one from her and three from another woman.
She said the administrator got custody of the three children and promised to educate them using her husband’s benefits.
The court heard that after nine years the children went back to her and she started keeping them because she regarded them as her children.
She said after her husband’s benefits came out she advised the administrator to get part of the money and build a house for the three children as a way of investing for them.
Lillian said before her husband died, the two built a house and she never wanted the children to lay claim to the house when they grew up.
She said now that the administrator had finished the money for the other children without investing it for them, they were now claiming the house.
“I want these children to stay away from the house because it belongs to my son only,” Lillian said.
In his defence, Zulu said as an administrator he had carried out his job diligently and it was unfair for Lillian to accuse him of failing to administer his brother’s property.
He said the only problem was because Lillian was refusing to allow the other children to benefit from the house.
Zulu said from the time his brother died, she was given life interest in the house but she went ahead and got married to another man.
He said since she was married to another man, it was only right that she surrendered the house to the children.
“This woman should just concentrate on her new marriage and surrender the house to the children,” Zulu said.
Magistrate Patronella Kalyelye, sitting with Lewis Mumba, dismissed the case on the basis that it had been presided over before.

 Pregnant wife refuses to be divorced

By SARAH T MWANZA –

A WOMAN of Lusaka’s Chipata Township has told a local court that she cannot divorce her husband because she is four months pregnant.
Limbe Mwansa said it was unfair for her husband, Simon Mwansa, to sue her for divorce after having two children with her, besides the pregnancy.
This is a case in which Mwansa, 29, sued Limbe for divorce after the two failed to resolve their marital disputes.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in 2007 and have two children, but problems in their marriage emerged shortly after their wedding.
Limbe, aged 21, claimed that Mwansa hated her whenever she was pregnant. She said this sparked persistent quarrels in their home and shook their marriage.
She said she could not understand why her husband sued her for divorce because as far as she was concerned, all was well in their marriage.
Limbe said Mwansa had never complained to her concerning the challenges they were going through in their marriage.
She said she had no idea that her husband was unhappy in their marriage because she used to do everything for him.
“Even before coming to court this morning, we had sex and we were joking just like a normal couple,” Limbe said. “I had no idea that the reason we were coming to court was because he wanted our marriage to end.”
But Mwansa told the court that he no longer wanted to be in a marriage with his wife because there was no peace in their home.
He said his wife did not respect him and insulted him in front of their children and his relatives.
Mwansa claimed that Limbe did not like his relatives and whenever the couple had a misunderstanding she used to deny him sex but rather asked him to go and sleep with either his mother or sister.
“I want us to go our separate ways so that we could both live and see our children grow because if we continue staying together one will go to prison and the other will go to the mortuary,” Mwansa told the
court.
“How can my wife deny me sex and tell me to go and sleep with my mother or my sister? If that was possible I wouldn’t have married her in the first place.”
Magistrate Lewis Mumba, sitting with Petronella Kalyelye, dismissed the case, saying that the two were just cohabiting because they had told the court that no dowry was paid.