A promiscuous Zingalume woman landed in the local court after her husband discovered that she was pregnant by another man.
This is in a case which Godfrey Mwale, 29, of Matero township sued Esther Chasaya, 26 for divorce. The couple has two children together. Bride price was not paid.
Godfrey told the court that he lost sanity and admitted to the Senior Local Court Magistrate Lewis Mumba that his wife severely deprived him of sex despite the fact they were sharing the same bed and blankets.
The plaintiff added that Chasaya, his wife of five years marriage, was promiscuous and was pregnant for another man. He described his wife as a cantankerous housewife who had miserably distorts his name and managed to ruin their matrimonial home.
“My wife your honour is adulterous and dishonest; she has been cheating on me ever since we got married in Livingstone sometimes in 2010 and now I have no doubt that she is carrying another man’s baby. I can visibly see her stomach growing bigger day by day,” he said.
Further, Mwale revealed that his estranged wife was also in the habit of threatening to take his life. “My wife your honour had on several occasion hired people to stub me with a knife,” he remarked.
“I am afraid now because my wife may succeed in taking my life one day and I don’t want to die now, I still have responsibilities especially looking after my children,” he said.
He alleged that his wife on several occasions packed his belongings and went to her parents without his permission whenever they have misunderstanding.
With tears coming down, Mwale pleaded with the court to dissolve their marriage as his love for Chasaya had grown cold adding that elders are now tired talking about the fate of their marriage every day.
In her defense, Chasaya denied all the allegations levied against her, including carrying a baby for another man.
“I am not pregnant your honour for any man; it’s just that I’m putting in some weight these days. The problem with my husband is that he is always suspicious,” she said.
She also said that she was not promiscuous adding that she has maintained her marital vows towards Mwale.
And when asked why she was organising people to kill her husband, Chasaya laughed at the assertions and described them as false adding that she was not raised to be a murderer.
Chasaya told the court that she was also fed up of living in a relationship with a man who did not care about the well-being of his children and conceded with her husband’s plea for the court to dissolve their marriage.
Passing judgment, Senior Local Court Magistrate Lewis Mumba dismissed claim for divorce because bride price was not paid. “The two of you were just cohabiting,” he said.
(Mwebantu.com)
So for all those years it was a free service – how unfair? Come on you Zambian peri legal minds please construct something sensible in terms law! Why is it marriage in Zambia is always reduced to bride price which doesn’t make sense ans in fact commercialises sex and marriage.
Even after living with a woman for 10 years you are treated as unmarried so long Lobola was not paid – that is simplistic and uncivilised! Why is there nothing like common law spouse by length of time spent together!! You can leave such a huge get out clause for serious marital and parental responsibilities – it’s ridiculous and senseless!!
With that stomack, she either has a liver problem, or she is taking ARVs secretly…we know these things..khikikiki
Simply they are not legal married (no certificate of marriage) .. They can part company on their own will.
So for all those years it was a free service – how unfair? Come on you Zambian peri legal minds please construct something sensible in terms law! Why is it marriage in Zambia is always reduced to bride price which doesn’t make sense ans in fact commercialises sex and marriage.
Even after living with a woman for 10 years you are treated as unmarried so long Lobola was not paid – that is simplistic and uncivilised! Why is there nothing like common law spouse by length of time spent together!! You can leave such a huge get out clause for serious marital and parental responsibilities – it’s so ridiculous!!
Two things make a marriage legal and binding in Zambia. If you have a marriage certificate from the Civic council that’s recognized as a legally binding marriage and it can only be dissolved by the high court. If you don’t have a marriage certificate from the council but you paid dowry this is recognized as a traditional marriage which can be heard by the local court or magistrate. In the case of the two fools none of the two apply they where just co habiting as no formal arrangement was made for the wedding.
Well that is what it is and there is nothing uncivilized about it. You just have your own issues. Others only sign papers that they are now married without bride price or lobola whatever you call it. Yet couple live together for decades and have children and grandchildren but are not considered married because they never went through the process.
I totaly agree with you,its so painful and ridiculous it doesnt make any sense.And you discover that other tribes like nsenga of Petauke dowry is less than k100.we need to revisit the law or add another clause cohabiting deffence doesnt make sence.Eric
Meaning are they still together or what ba LT? In my view, the court should have insisted on a pregnancy test to ascertain whether she was pregnant or not in view of the fact that she was denying the husband sex. Whether bride price was paid or not, these people were staying together and had children. They were therefore married, a fact known and accented to by both the man’s and woman’s families.
No bride price, then that’s no traditional marriage. That a mapoto marriage. One walks in and out whenever one wants in such an arrangement. There was no need to even go to court.
mariange is all about pride price…..children or no children.thats the reason we demand bride price before we burry.
Bride price means selling your daughter to slavery in Africa. The nigger will use your daughter as a punching bag, washing machine, cook, child breeding machine, sex slave, and so on and so on tsk..tsk
…so according to the law, those children are born out of wedlock…??…Lawyers, MPs please do the needful
if it wasnt marriage so then was it a lady and gentleman’s agreement? Some other courts describe such as a marriage whenever the so called cohabiting has gone beyond a three months of living together.Now these two even have children they were even seeking advice from Elders in there matrimonial disputes.Here what was lacking was for the man to pay dowry and formalies the marriage.
I the the judge failed to recognize this as a marriage,Where will the woman sue for maintainance of her children when the man decides to neglect them? No wounder we sometimes hear that a judge errored in his judgment when a matter is appealed to another higher court.
Child maintenance and marriage are not synonimous. People who have children out side wedlock can still sue for child maintenance. This occurs even in people who have never co-habited but the man is aware and accepted that the child is his.
The law is very clear in Zambia, women should stop moving into mens’ homes without the necessary marriage pre-requisites being fulfilled unless they want to live in sin and against the law that defines marriage in this country. People should marry either in church or in court or both. These are the institution that have the legal mandate to marry any man & woman.
Comment:kkkk…marriages.
I am very impressed with the nice commentary, and educative comments made by you bloggers on this issue. Here in South Africa, if you live with a woman for a minimum of six months, she is your wife, and is entitled to 50% of everything you have. The Magistrate should have applied a little more logic than simply “mechanically” ruling that there was no marriage because no lobola had been paid…..