By THANDIWE MOYO –

A FORTY-YEAR-OLD man caused laughter in the Chawama Local court in Lusaka when he revealed that his wife charges him K10 to make love with her.
Noah Munthali, 40, said he sometimes made love to his wife on credit and paid K10 for the service at the month-end.
Munthali of Chawama Township in Lusaka was testifying in a case in which his wife Lorain Mulenga, 39, of the same locality sued him for divorce.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in 1997 and they have two children. Dowry was paid.
Defending himself in the case, Munthali said every night he wanted to make love to his wife, she would ask him if he had K10 and if he answered in the affirmative, she demanded that he first pays before making love to her.
Munthali said even after he stopped working, he could usually keep K10 to pay his wife as she usually denied him sex if he did not have money.
He added that Mulenga could not greet him or smile not until he got paid or whenever he brought good relish.
He said it was hard to stay with his wife and that he was forced to marry another woman in the village owing to his wife’s unbecoming behaviour.
Munthali also told the court that Mulenga had six children from her previous relationship at the time he was marrying her and that her father did not charge him dowry as he knew he was going to keep the children.
In her submission, Mulenga told senior court magistrate Sarah Nyendwa that problems started in 2004 when Munthali stopped working and resorted to selling household goods.
Mulenga said she got upset and stopped Munthali from selling household goods, but that he beat her up and told her that she had no respect for him.
Mulenga said her husband would always spend the whole day in clubs without bringing food for the children.
She said whenever she advised Munthali to find a job, he would threaten to divorce her.
Mulenga said she recently discovered a letter while sweeping indicating that Munthali had married another woman in the village and that he even paid part of the dowry for the woman in the village.
“He has been going for meetings with his relatives in the village and recently, he left our matrimonial house. Before leaving, he thanked me for staying with him, meaning that there is literally no marriage,” she said.
In passing judgment, Ms Nyendwa observed that Munthali was unfaithful to Mulenga because he had married another woman without her consent.
She granted the couple divorce, and ordered Munthali to compensate Mulenga with K2,000, starting with K400 followed by monthly instalments of K200 for maintaining the children, and that the property acquired together should be shared equally.

‘Unfaithful’ woman divorced

By THANDIWE MOYO –
A LUSAKA man told the Kanyama Local court that he hid under the bed after telling his wife that he had gone for work and ended up hearing a conversation with her boyfriend.
This was in a case in which Elita Zulu, 28, of John Laing Township sued her husband Jackson Phiri, 30, of Garden House Township for divorce because he was accusing her of having an extramarital affair.
The two got married in 2005 and have two children. Dowry was paid.
In his defence, Phiri said Zulu had a boyfriend and that when he hid under the bed he heard his wife chatting with him.
Phiri said during the phone conversation, Zulu was telling her boyfriend that she missed him and that she hoped he could be with her.
He said a neighbour revealed to him that Zulu usually sent her to call the boyfriend every time he went for work.
“A young girl, who was our neighbour, told me that my wife would send her to call her boyfriend and I also heard her on the phone talking to her boyfriend. When I confronted her, she denied and said she was talking to a friend,” he said.
When questioned by the court over the phone conversation, Zulu said she did not have a boyfriend and that she felt bad that Phiri was accusing her of cheating on him after neglecting her.
Zulu told senior court magistrate Daniel Phiri, sitting with Ackim Phiri, that problems started in 2010 after she got sick.
She said her poor health prevented her from making love to her husband, but Phiri thought her refusal was because she had an affair.
She said her husband infected her with a sexually transmitted disease and that when she was on medication she could not make love to him, a thing that upset Phiri.
Zulu added that Phiri later packed all her clothes and chased her from the matrimonial home while she was sick.
She said this made her homeless and decided to go to the village, adding that Phiri never bothered to call or send her money for medication and food while she was away.
Zulu alleged that she heard rumours that Phiri had married another woman, a matter which he admitted when she inquired from him.
She said since Phiri had married another woman, she wanted divorce for her to freely mingle with other men.
In passing judgment, magistrate Daniel Phiri granted the couple divorce without compensation and ordered Phiri to be paying children maintenance fees of K600 monthly.
He also instructed the couple to share the property acquired together equally.

Charms wreck marriage

By THANDIWE MOYO
A MAN of Chibolya Township in Lusaka has dragged his wife to court after alleging that he found charms mixed with semen in a bottle under the bed.
Alfred Mapenzi, 40, also complained that his wife Precious Katanga, 29, had a tendency of allowing her sister to sleep with other men on the matrimonial bed.
This was a case in which Mapenzi sued Katanga of the same area on grounds that she was using charms on him.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in 2005 and have two children. Dowry was partially paid.
Mapenzi said he was shocked when he found a bottle that contained semen and a plant in it.
When he asked his wife about the discovery, she told him that it was medicine meant to keep her “warm”.
When Mapenzi took the charms to his pastor, the latter told him that his wife did not want him to have sex with other women.
He said his wife had kept a number of medicines under their bed and wondered where she got them from and their usage.
Mapenzi said on several occasions, he wanted to divorce his wife but that he rescinded his decision every time he made love to her.
Mapenzi further complained that Katanga allowed her older sister to use the couple’s matrimonial bed to sleep with other men.
“My wife usually allows her elder sister to sleep on my bed with her boyfriends when am not around. One day I found her sister and her boyfriend on my bed while my wife was drunk,” he said.
He also said that his wife insulted, detested and refused to cook for his relatives whenever they visited their home.
In defence, Katanga denied all her husband’s statements, saying he was creating stories because he had another woman.
Katanga said she did not have any charm and that the medicine he saw under the bed was for her porridge.
“If he wants to leave me, he should just leave unlike creating such stories. This man is a problem,” she said.
In passing judgment, senior court magistrate Sarah Nyendwa granted the couple divorce and ordered Mapenzi to compensate Katanga with K4, 000, with an initial payment of K500 and thereafter monthly instalments of K300 and maintenance of K200 per month.
She ordered the couple to share the property acquired together equally.

Wife demands hubby’s salary

By THANDIWE MOYO
A TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD woman told the Kanyama Local court in Lusaka that she wanted to take charge of her husband’s salary because he was not responsible and usually spent his money on girlfriends.
Loveness Komani of Kanyama Township said this in a case in which she sued her husband Derrick Kamuza, 40, of the same township for reconciliation.
Facts before the court were that Komani and Kamuza got married in 2008 and have two children. Dowry was paid.
Komani said she wanted her husband’s salary because Kamuza did not buy food in the house and that the family usually had one meal a day.
She claimed that it was the only way the couple could experience peace and harmony.
“Whenever my husband gets the salary he only buys his clothes and it’s me who buys mealie-mealie through my work as a maid,” she said.
Komani made an appeal to the court to tell her husband to give her his salary since he did not know how to spend his money for the benefit of the family.
She said her husband bought Hungry Lion food for himself and ate alone from the bedroom on several occasions.
In defence, Kamuza said he was not working and that he had never bought Hungry Lion food for himself.
Kamuza said his wife refused to prepare food for him on several occasions, adding that Komani also refused to wash his clothes.
He said he could not give his wife his salary because he was not employed formally but that he only did part-time jobs.
“Which salary am I going to give her? I don’t work, most of the time I do piece works and from the piece works I buy food,” he said.
Kamuza said it was hard for the couple to reconcile as the wife lied when she said that he did not buy any food for the family.
“How can I reconcile with a woman who is creating stories? Surely, if I don’t buy food, what does she eat?” he asked.
In passing judgment, magistrate Morgan Kayanika reconciled the couple, but advised Kamuza and Komani to get counselling from elderly people.

‘I want woman with big buttocks’

By THANDIWE MOYO –
A WOMAN of Chazanga Township in Lusaka has dragged her husband to court for telling her that she has small buttocks and that her legs look like sticks.
Margaret Mwila, 45, of Mwinulunga Village sued her husband Jonathan Kwela, 47, of the same area for reconciliation.
Facts before the court were that the two got married in 1990, have six children and dowry was partially paid.
Mwila narrated in court how her husband had been having girlfriends within their locality.
She said when she advised her husband to stop having lovers, he told her that he wanted a woman with big buttocks and “appealing” legs.
In defence, Kwela denied all the allegations, but said his wife had no respect and that she was not clean.
In passing judgment, Matero Local Court senior magistrate Pauline Newa reconciled the couple and advised Kwela and Mwila to live in harmony.

Ailing promiscuous man dumped

By THANDIWE MOYO –
A THIRTY-YEAR-OLD Lusaka woman has opted to divorce her husband in his ill health, saying he is promiscuous and never cared for her when he was well.
This was a case in which Veronica Hadangu of Garden House Township sued her husband Tumushye Muyendekwa, 27, of Chibolya Township for divorce.
The two got married in 2011 and they have two children.  Dowry was paid.
Hadangu told senior court magistrate Morgan Kayanika, sitting at Kanyama Local Court, that there was no love in the marriage because her husband refused to share the matrimonial bed with her and resorted to sleeping on the floor after she got pregnant.
Hadangu said Muyendekwa also refused to escort her to the clinic when she was about to give birth.
She said their marriage was arranged by their families and maybe that was the reason her husband did not show her love.
Hadangu said Muyendekwa on several occasions refused to eat the food prepared for him and that he usually came home with shaved pubic hair.
Hadangu said even if her husband was unwell, she had decided to sue him for divorce as he did not care for her when she was sick.
“I know my husband is sick, but I still need divorce since he is the one who left me. I have never been with my husband for almost a year now,” she said.
In cross-examination, Hadangu said Muyendekwa got sick after he had already left their matrimonial home.
In defence, Muyendekwa said marital problems started in September 2014 when he lacked money because he became sick.
Speaking while seated owing to his poor health condition, Muyendekwa said he was still in love with his wife and he was sorry for deserting his matrimonial house.
When asked by the court why he did not escort his wife to the clinic when she was about to give birth, Muyendekwa said he could not do so as he was not aware that she was sick at the time.
In dissolving the marriage, magistrate Kayanika said that the court was not pleased to see marriages ending in divorce, and ordered the couple to share their property.