City doctor in stormy divorce

A PROMINENT Bulawayo doctor and businessman is in deep trouble for having "a string of affairs with girlfriends'' and "deliberately neglecting'' to support his wife and three children.
The trouble has seen the popular medical practitioner being dragged to the High Court and the Maintenance Court in Bulawayo simultaneously in a matter that has all the ingredients of an interesting court battle. 
According to court papers in possession of Bulawayo24 ' on 26 November 2010, Mrs Clarerrita Nyamande approached the High Court of Bulawayo through her lawyer, Mr Sindiso Mazibisa of Cheda and Partners, seeking an order for a decree of divorce against her husband ' Dr Arnold Herbert Nyamande.
In her summons she states that she got married to the popular doctor on 9 August 1998 in terms of the Marriage Act (Chapter 5:11) and that the said marriage still subsists.
The marriage was blessed with three minor children ' Tinashe, Panashe and Ruvarashe Nyamande in 1996, 1999 and 2003 respectively.
However, a decade later, the matrimonial union has "irretrievably broken with no prospects of restoring it'' to a normal marriage relationship.
Mrs Nyamande submitted that her husband has been having many affairs with other women in blatant violation of his marriage vow and has of late become very abusive.
Further she states that the medical practitioner has even run away from his responsibilities and is now staying at an unknown place with, probably, another lover.
"The defendant has been having adulterous affairs and became abusive toward the plaintiff as a result there is no more love affection between the parties.
"The defendant has deserted the matrimonial home without explanation and this is unacceptable and the parties have not lived together nor shared conjugal rights since March 2010 which is not normal for married people,'' read part of the summons.
Further, Mrs Nyamande wants the court to rule that some of the properties that were jointly acquired during the subsistence of the marriage be shared equally.
The properties include:l Number 22 Greenside Road Fortune's Gatel Number 3856 Old Windsor Parkl Number 56 Fort Streetl Stand Number 1122 City West Bulawayol Kopanache Resort situated 22 kilometres along Victoria Falls Roadl Kelvin industrial standl The Hardware Shopl Daneth Court 1st Connaught block of flats
Dr Nyamande has 10 working days to respond to the lawsuit or else the court will hear the matter without any further notice to him, court papers say. He has already been served all the papers via his lawyers ' Messrs Calderwood, Bryce Hendre and Partners in the city.
To worsen matters for the doctor, his wife has in a related case filed a maintenance lawsuit at the Maintenance Court, seeking an order for her maintenance and for the children to a total figure of US$3 000 payable on or before the last day of every month.
She also wants Dr Nyamande to meet all the medical expenses of the three children.
This she claims will be enough to cover all her expenses and those of the children as their father (Doctor Nyamande) has proved beyond reasonable doubt to be unwilling to support his family ' and on the basis that he is untrustworthy. 
"The Respondent is legally liable to maintain me and the children but has seriously neglected to do so. This is so besides the fact that he is able to contribute to the maintenance as he is a prominent doctor and businessman.
"I am unemployed,'' submitted Mrs Nyamande in her founding affidavit.The maintenance case will be heard in an open court on 6 January next year.
It's still not yet clearer whether or not Doctor Nyamande had filed any opposing papers to both cases.