By SARAH MWANZA –
A WOMAN of Lusaka’s Chunga Township has sued her husband for divorce after finding a birthday card from his girlfriend on his birthday.
Roydah Masense, 36, said her husband had also been accusing her of using charms to make him love her more.
This was a case in which Roydah sued Abraham Masense, 40, for divorce after the two failed to resolve their marital disputes.
The court heard that the two got married in 2000 and have two children, while problems in their marriage started when Roydah conceived their first child.
Roydah said when she returned from her parents’ place after giving birth to their first child, her husband’s attitude towards her started changing.
She said he started spending nights out and stopped eating the food she prepared for him, accusing her of putting charms there.
Roydah said he even stopped supporting the family, arguing that she conceived to trap him as he was not ready to be a father.
She further stated that her husband insulted her in front of the children for no apparent reasons.
“I am tired of my husband because he is very unfaithful and as if that is not enough, he insults me at will,” she said.
And Abraham told the court that he was cheating on Roydah as he never regarded her as his wife.
He said his wife had lost respect for him and used to insult him whenever she wanted, hence her insults and continuous nagging pushed him into the hands of another woman.
Abraham said he had discovered lately that his wife had been buying properties without his knowledge.
“It is my wife who pushed me into the hands of another woman due to her persistent nagging and insults,” he said.
Magistrate Pauline Newa granted the two divorce and ordered Abraham to compensate Roydah with K10,000.
The custody of their children was given to Roydah while Abraham was ordered to be maintaining them with K400 per month.

Profit Plus USAID manager files for divorce

By DELPHINE ZULU –
A MANAGER at Profit Plus USAID has filed for divorce in the Lusaka High Court claiming that his wife, Belinda Magrate Jones, a sales executive at Tele Plus Communications, has exhibited acts of infidelity.
Mwangala Munalula stated that his marriage of eight years had broken down irretrievably as he had caught his wife with her boyfriend Joseph Maseko, who when asked openly told him that, that was the man she loved and wanted to marry.
Mr Munalula said his wife also posted on her mobile phone/whatsApp picture of herself and a Hot FM DJ “Chi” which picture went online for several days and when questioned, she said she had male friends and boyfriends because he did not know how to love a woman.
“The respondent has no respect for me as she belittles me and even shouts at me as if she is the head of the house, she has no love for me,” Mr Munalula said in his marriage petition for divorce.
The petitioner said his wife had exhibited adulterous behaviour, especially on her birthday, August 28 this year when she went out with his friend’s wife and refused to return home despite him following her at Las Vegas Night Club, running away from him and only returned home the next day without offering convincing reasons.
“The marriage has broken down irretrievably as the respondent has behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to continue living with the respondent due to irreconcilable differences shown,” he said.
The petitioner prayed that the court could hear him on the custody of children on grounds that his wife did not have time for him and the children.

Hiding HIV status costs man marriage

By SARAH MWANZA –
THE Matero local court has heard how a man of Lusaka’s Chipata Township was taking Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for three years without his wife’s knowledge.
Evelyn Phiri also told the court that her husband turned her into a punching bag whenever he was drunk.
This is a case in which Peter Phiri, 28, sued Evelyn for marriage reconciliation after she abandoned her marital home.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in 2012 but had no child while problems in their home started shortly after they tied the knot.
She said her husband never told her that he was HIV-positive until the death of their only child three months ago.
“I never knew that my husband was on ARVs the time I married him until our child died, hence I don’t trust him enough to continue being married to him,” she said.
Evelyn said on top of that, her husband was so abusive that he used to beat her for no apparent reasons.
Evelyn said family members had tried to sit them down but it never worked, hence the best thing for their marriage was divorce.
“Though my husband sued for marriage reconciliation, our marriage ended a long time ago, that is why I sued him for divorce,” she said.
But Peter told the court that he was not willing to divorce his wife as he saw no reason to do that.
He said he was surprised two months ago to find that his wife had packed all household goods after a misunderstanding over rotten relish.
“I left money for my wife to buy relish but she chose to give me rotten relish which had stayed for three days and when I confronted her she decided to abandon home,” she said.
“I think my mother-in-law is the cause of our breakup because she used to accommodate my wife whenever she deserted home,” he said.
Magistrate Pauline Newa said reconciliation had failed since Evelyn had insisted that she was no longer interested in the marriage and urged anyone of them to sue for divorce if they insisted on going separate ways.

Woman sues violent hubby for divorce

By PASSY HAACHIZO –
A LUSAKA woman has told the Kanyama local court how she fainted after being beaten by her husband when they had a quarrel.
Glenda Muyaba, 32, a Seventh Day Adventist of Kanyama, dragged Boniface Chilembe, 41, of the same church and township to court for divorce, citing his ruthless behaviour.
Muyaba said her husband was a bad man who was fond of beating her whenever the two picked up a quarrel and that there was a day when she fainted after being beaten by Chilembe.
The couple got married in 2009 and have one child together. Chilembe was first married in 1992 and had six children with the first wife, while Muyaba had two children with another man.
She told the court that problems started shortly after the couple got married as Chilembe’s true colours started manifesting.
Muyaba said there was a time when Chilembe tore her clothes by putting them in acid after picking up a quarrel.
“We quarrelled three times, he does not even realise that when he got sick in 2011, I am the one who sat by his bedside at Kanyama Clinic,” Muyaba said while handing the torn clothes to the magistrates.
The couple had been on separation for six months, with the complainant confessing that she was no longer interested in the marriage.
In defense, Chilembe said it was sad that his wife did not appreciate even after he had taken care of her children from the previous relationship.
Senior magistrates Daniel Phiri, sitting with Ackim Phiri and Serah Nyendwa, granted the couple divorce.

In-law sues man over K11,500 lobola

By PASSY HAACHIZO –
A LUSAKA man has been dragged to court by his in-law after he failed to pay K11,500 bride price from the time he married his daughter two years ago.
Aaron Phiri from the Divine Worship Church in Kanyama Township said the K11,500 lobola his in-law, Dula Ngulube from the Baptist Church, was demanding for was too much.
Phiri told the Kanyama local court that he had not refused to pay the K2,200 as ordered by the court and not the K11,500 the in-law was claiming as he did not have the capacity to do so.
Phiri, who had only paid K1,000 out of the K11,500, asked for the court’s intervention as he alone would not convince Ngulube to reduce on the bride price.
“I can’t manage to pay that amount. I am not doing anything at the moment and I would only be able to pay starting next year in January,” Phiri said.
Ngulube insisted that he wanted Phiri to pay the K11,500 lobola although the two-year marriage with his daughter ended in divorce.
“Your Honour, the marriage ended on 14th of this month and the court charged him K2,200 but I want him to pay K11,500,” Ngulube said.
In passing judgment, senior magistrate Daniel Phiri, sitting with Ackim Phiri and Serah Nyendwa, ordered Phiri to finish paying his in-law the K2,200 charged by the court earlier.
“Young man, pay him his dues with K1,000 for a start from next month and K400 instalments thereafter.
“Stop that spirit of laziness. If you can’t manage, go to the dumping site in Chunga and start picking bottles but ensure you pay him starting from 1st October, 2015,” magistrate Phiri said.

‘Unserious’ couple granted divorce

By PASSY HAACHIZO –
THE Kanyama local court in Lusaka has ended a one-year marriage upon realising that the couple lacked seriousness.
The court heard that 28-year-old Ernest Bwembya of Lusaka’s Zingalume Township failed to maintain marriage as he resorted to buying food for the family only when it suited him.
Bwembya’s wife Sharon Chola, 24, of Lusaka West told the court that she was not interested in living with her husband anymore as he had failed to take care of the family.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in January 2014 after Bwembya paid K1,200 of the total K7,000 bride price and the couple had one child together.
“He does not support our child. There has been no peace in the house since marriage and he is even telling me that instead of continuing living with me he gives me doom and take some himself,” Chola said.
According to Chola, she needed divorce and compensation from her husband for having wasted her time and making her drop out of school the time he married her.
But Bwembya disputed the allegation that he was not providing for his family with necessities and that it was his wife who was at fault.
“She ran away with a bag of mealie meal and a mattress and to say the truth I am now sleeping on the floor,” Bwembya said.
In passing judgment, magistrate Daniel Phiri, sitting with Serah Nyendwa and Ackim Phiri, annulled the marriage.

Church leader divorced for infidelity

By PASSY HAACHIZO –
THE Matero local court was sent into cold feet upon learning how a church leader had sex with his wife’s niece who had visited from the village.
It was heard that the clergyman took advantage of the girl after his wife was hospitalised for a period of time.
Isaac Mulilo, 37, of Emmasdale, a leader in one of the churches in Lusaka, was forced to have sex with his wife’s niece, Mary, upon gazing at her underwear which she was drying where she used to sleep.
This was a case in which Agnes Mwanza, 28, a hair dresser of Luangwa Township sued her husband, Isaac Mulilo, 37, of Emmasdale for divorce.
Mwanza told senior court magistrate Pauline Newa that the two got married in 2010 and had one child. Dowry was partly paid.
She said there was never a time when the couple had peace in their marriage because Mulilo started beating her when their son was only three weeks old.
Mwanza told the court that her husband started having sex with her niece from the village the time she was hospitalised due to an ovary problem which developed in 2015.
“At around 04:00 hours I became suspicious because he woke up and followed my niece and later on he got a basin and went outside to wash himself and when I followed him, he said he had diarrhoea,” Mwanza said.
Mwanza said her husband had even reached the extent of not bathing from home and shunning eating, a matter she reported to the church bishop.
She said the problem escalated and the two started fighting and in the process she sustained a knee injury.
Mwanza said Mulilo had even saved her name in his phone as January 18 and saved another woman as girlfriend.
In defence, Mulilo said he still loved his wife but blamed her for being quick in taking action when she did not have any proper evidence.
He, however, denied making love to Mary in court stating that the reason he had earlier admitted was because he respected the girl’s uncle so much.
Passing judgment, magistrate Newa granted the couple divorce.
The magistrate ordered Mulilo to compensate Mwanza K7,000 with initial payment of K1,000 followed by monthly installments of K300.
She also told Mulilo to be paying Mwanza K300 for child maintenance and share the property between themselves.