By CHATULA KAMPO –
THE Ndola Local Court has heard how a 51-year-old man of Pamodzi Township wounded his wife’s private parts before locking her up in the house so that she could not report the matter to the police.
Charles Chanda, who divorced his wife last year after 34 years in marriage, is said to have injured Godfridah Chipenge on her private parts and locked her up until she healed  to prevent her from reporting the matter to the police.
The two however, managed to divorce although the court heard that Chipenge had continued to confront Chanda who has since married another woman.
This was a case in which Chanda asked the court to restrain Chipenge from coming to his home after they divorced last year saying he had married another woman.
Chanda said despite going separate ways, Chipenge had continued to go to his house and insult him and his new wife without any reason.
He submitted that Chipenge and the couple’s children had not accepted the divorce that was granted by the court as they were still going to insult and beat up his new wife.
Chanda, who denied injuring Chipenge when they were still married, said he was currently paying the K400 monthly as compensation for divorce and asked the Local court to restrain the plaintiff from visiting his home.
However, Chipenge said Chanda had promised to stay with her for rest of his life after convincing her not to report to the police the injury she suffered on her private parts.
Magistrate Sarah Bwalya who was sitting with magistrates Dismus Katampi and Rosemary Muke was shocked to hear about the injury and blamed the tradition of secrecy in marriage for such inhuman behaviour.
“Some traditions are good and some are not good and our young women should not follow them.
“The issue of telling our young women to keep secretes has subjected many to Gender Based Violence. There are a lot of GBV cases involving women which are not reported because of such traditions,” Ms Bwalya said.

Lusaka man (64) warned  over K10,000 compensation

By SARAH TEMBO
THE Matero local court has warned a 64-year-old man of Kabanana Township that he risks being jailed for contempt of court after he refuses to pay K10,000 as compensation to his former wife as directed by the court last month.
Keddy Ingwee divorced Grace Mwanza last month and the husband was ordered to compensate the woman with K10,000 starting with last month end.
They have two children.
However, Ingwee has until now not paid anything claiming that Mwanza had remarried and it was therefore, not possible for him to go ahead and pay the compensation.
This was a case in which Mwanza, 56, of Lusaka’s Chipata Township sued Ingwee for contempt of court after he refused to pay her the compensation he was initially ordered by the court.
Ingwee told the court that he would never pay the compensation to his former wife because he was struggling with the two children, while Mwanza was enjoying with her new husband.
He said it was clear that the aim of his former wife was to make him suffer like she had done during their time in marriage.
Ingwee said he could not provide support for the two children that Mwanza got because she had taken them to the village.
“After our divorce the court gave her two younger children and I was ordered to be maintaining them with K200,” he said.
“But she decided to take the children to the village, when I give her money she buys beer and food for her new boyfriend.”
However, Mwanza told the court that she was not married but was staying with her cousins.
She said she took the children to her mother’s house because at the moment she had no decent place to stay.
“I took the children to my mother’s place because I never had a decent place to stay, and moreover am a free woman and free to get married,” she said.
Magistrate Lewis Mumba sitting with Petronella Kalyelye warned Ingwee that he risked going to jail for ignoring the court order.
The court also ordered Mwanza to bring back the children he had taken to the village, because it was not in order for someone to be keeping their children when the two were still alive.

Court dismisses defamation case

By MWANGALA LISELI
THE Lusaka Boma local court has dismissed a case in which a woman of Kamwala Township sued for defamation of character after she was insulted by her boyfriend’s wife.
Purity Daka, 26, is said to be having an affair with James Phiri but things went sour when Phiri’s wife Sylvia Tembo, 28, discovered about the relationship and started insulting Daka.
Daka, however, refused to have been in a relationship with Phiri and decided to sue Phiri’s wife for defamation of character.
She said before the court that she had earlier reported the matter to the police before withdrawing the case on condition that she had forgiven Tembo but was forced to go to court after the defendant’s persistent insults against her.
Daka said that Tembo continued insulting her whenever she would visit her sister who is the neighbour, and even followed her at her house threatening  to burn her with hot water.
“When I go to Kabanana to visit my sister, she insults me that I am a prostitute and that I drink ARVs. She followed me at my house and tried to burn me with hot water,” she said.
However, Tembo said she had found Daka with pants down with her husband in the vehicle outside a bar after her friend informed her that Phiri was with a girlfriend.
She agreed to having hit Daka with an iron bar but denied following her to insult her at her place saying it was in fact Daka who had been following her.
Tembo’s husband could not help matters for Daka as he agreed that he had been in a relationship with Daka.
Phiri told the court that he had asked for forgiveness from his wife after she caught him with Daka in vehicle having sexual intercourse.
“I apologised to my wife and I told Daka that I am no longer interested in her, but she continues chasing after me and sending me love messages which are creating conflict between me and my wife,” he said.
Senior magistrate Hildah Choonya sitting with Senior Magistrate Pauline Newa dismissed the case saying there was no act of defamation of character as it was true that Daka had an affair with Tembo’s husband.
The court noted the fact that Phiri had accepted having love affair with Daka, there was no way the plaintiff could sue for defamation.

Woman sued for malicious take

By SARAH TEMBO
A WOMAN of Lusaka’s Chaisa Township has sued her neighbour for defamation of character after she told her that she was on antiretroviral therapy (ART) together with her children.
Juliet Mutale, 25, told the Matero local court that Jane Mwanza, 26, of the same area uttered words to the effect that the plaintiff was infected with HIV/AIDS without any reason to do so.
This was a case in which Mutale sued Mwanza for defamation of character after she allegedly told her last month that she was a mother of ugly children who were on ARVs.
Mutale told the court that the quarrel began when Mwanza poured some water at the plaintiff’s yard causing mud at the door steps.
Mutale said she went to tell the defendant to stop pouring water in her yard because she had a baby who could crawl in the mud but that did not go well with Mwanza who allegedly started insulting.
“Instead of reasoning with me, Mwanza started insulting me, telling me that the child I was trying to protect was so ugly and if every child was as ugly as mine, she wouldn’t wish to be a mother,” she said.
She said because of her insults that were showered at loud pitch, several neighbours gathered who even begged her to stop insulting but she ignored them by shouting even louder.
Mutale’s husband was equally incensed with Mwanza’s behaviour and threatened to beat her only to be restrained by some neighbours.
But in her defence, Mwanza told the court that she never insulted her but it was her who called her a barren sex worker.
She said the whole confusion started because of electricity which the landlord refused to buy after Mutale allegedly delayed to pay the rentals.
She said when she confronted the landlord as to why he had not purchased electricity, he told her that Mutale had not paid for the rentals.
She said when Mutale overhead her talking to the landlord she started insulting her, calling her a barren sax worker.
However, magistrate Petronalla Kalyelye sitting with Lewis Mumba ordered Mwanza to compensate Mutale with K800 for defamation.

Failed 34-year-old marriage taken to church

By CHATULA KAMPO
THE Ndola local court has refused to dissolve a 34-year-old marriage and referred the old couple to Church to get advice before seeking divorce from the court.
Magistrate Sarah Bwalya, who was sitting with magistrate Dismus Katampi and Rosemary Muke said the court had no power to dissolve the marriage of the two because their union was blessed by the church.
This was a case in which Stephen Diamini sued Mary Kapambwe for divorce having gone on separation for five years.
In their brief appearance in court during the week, Diamini and Kampabwe of Northrise made it clear that their marriage could not be reconciled, hence their decision to divorce.
Apparently, the two were married in 1981 and their vows were made at the local court under the customary law before being blessed by the Catholic Church.
Kampabwe told the court that she could not reconcile with her husband because he was going out with another woman whom he has a child with.
However, Diamini also denied having fathered a child with another woman, but admitted that the marriage had reached an irreconcilable stage.
But magistrate Bwalya told the couple that she could not allow the two to get divorced in the local court before the church allowed it.
“As a court there is nothing we can do. You need to go to church first and follow their procedure. After  your marriage is dissolved by the church, that is when you can come back here,” she said.
The court has since adjourned the case to September 30, waiting for the advice from the church.

‘Our uncle wanted to evict us’

By MWANGALA LISELI
THE Lusaka Boma Court has heard how a man of Nampundwe has ordered two children of his late brother to leave their father’s house so that he lives in it alone.
Geoffrey Mumba, 43, who accused his two nephews of being unruly, said the duo should leave the house and find an alternative place to stay because he was tired with them.
But the nephews say it was unthinkable for Mumba to evict them from their father’s house saying their uncle should instead leave if he wanted to stay alone.
This is a case in which Mumba sued Isaac Mumba, 20, and his 18-year-old brother Allan to force them away from the house because they have allegedly become a nuisance.
Facts before the court were that Mumba started staying with the two defendants before the death of their father and took over the guardianship after their dad passed away.
He, however, said that the two young men had lost respect for him lately despite the best he had done for them.
“They no longer respect me and are always making noise at home. I have failed to live with them. Let them leave me alone, I am not the only parent alive but there are others they can go to,” Mumba said.
“They are threatening me that one person will die because of the plot we are living on. They have reached an extent of beating me up.”
However, Isaac denied ever beating up his uncle but said he could not move out because the house they were living in belonged to their late father.
He said his uncle who was appointed administrator has been after their father’s property and the children have not benefited anything.
After the death of our father, we never received anything until recently when we started demanding for our money which he used to collect from the houses on rent,” he said.