News / Regional
'Infidelity is destroying social fibre,' says Chief Mathe
13 May 2013 at 06:35hrs | Views
CHIEF Mathe has bemoaned an upsurge in cases of infidelity in Silobi area in Matobo district saying it has reached alarming levels.
In an interview at his homestead recently, he said infidelity had contributed to a number of marriages breaking up of late.
"Things are falling apart in Silobi and I am deeply concerned with the rate at which marriages are failing here.
"There is a wave of infidelity that has hit my area and in some instances I attend to three cases of infidelity in a week," said Chief Mathe.
He said it was disheartening to note that people were not showing regard to the marriage institution.
"Sometimes you get cases where a married man is cheating with a married woman. Such perpetrators in fact do not respect me as their chief because sometimes they deny committing such adulterous acts even if there is overwhelming evidence.
"This makes it difficult for me to fine them in any way. They all deny and pretend as if nothing happened," said Chief Mathe.
"The fact that families would have broken up is evidence enough that someone did something wrong. So for people to come at my court and lie is a very serious offence. It is in fact undermining my authority," said Chief Mathe.
He said what was more disturbing with those cases of infidelity was that most perpetrators were pastors from different churches in his area.
"It's sad that most pastors we have are the ones who are taking other people's wives and efforts to bring them to book are futile because they think they are above the law," said Chief Mathe.
He said he was due to preside over a case involving a pastor who is reportedly involved with another man's wife.
"It is understood that a pastor was having an affair with someone else's wife and the man had always been suspecting them of having an affair.
"One day the wife left for the grinding mill, the husband then followed her," said Chief Mathe.
He said after walking some distance, she left the sack of maize beside the path and diverted her route to a secluded place.
"The man followed closely and laid ambush, after some moments a certain pastor emerged from the bush and embraced the woman. Soon after that the husband approached them and asked them what they were doing.
"The pair denied having an affair and they are still denying even today. The wife is now staying at her uncle's place since the incident, which is a sign that something is wrong," said Chief Mathe.
He appealed to villagers to work had to restore Silobi's deformed social fibre.
In an interview at his homestead recently, he said infidelity had contributed to a number of marriages breaking up of late.
"Things are falling apart in Silobi and I am deeply concerned with the rate at which marriages are failing here.
"There is a wave of infidelity that has hit my area and in some instances I attend to three cases of infidelity in a week," said Chief Mathe.
He said it was disheartening to note that people were not showing regard to the marriage institution.
"Sometimes you get cases where a married man is cheating with a married woman. Such perpetrators in fact do not respect me as their chief because sometimes they deny committing such adulterous acts even if there is overwhelming evidence.
"This makes it difficult for me to fine them in any way. They all deny and pretend as if nothing happened," said Chief Mathe.
"The fact that families would have broken up is evidence enough that someone did something wrong. So for people to come at my court and lie is a very serious offence. It is in fact undermining my authority," said Chief Mathe.
He said what was more disturbing with those cases of infidelity was that most perpetrators were pastors from different churches in his area.
"It's sad that most pastors we have are the ones who are taking other people's wives and efforts to bring them to book are futile because they think they are above the law," said Chief Mathe.
He said he was due to preside over a case involving a pastor who is reportedly involved with another man's wife.
"It is understood that a pastor was having an affair with someone else's wife and the man had always been suspecting them of having an affair.
"One day the wife left for the grinding mill, the husband then followed her," said Chief Mathe.
He said after walking some distance, she left the sack of maize beside the path and diverted her route to a secluded place.
"The man followed closely and laid ambush, after some moments a certain pastor emerged from the bush and embraced the woman. Soon after that the husband approached them and asked them what they were doing.
"The pair denied having an affair and they are still denying even today. The wife is now staying at her uncle's place since the incident, which is a sign that something is wrong," said Chief Mathe.
He appealed to villagers to work had to restore Silobi's deformed social fibre.
Source - chronicle
