Adultery: Zimbabwe's dark secret

A worrying trend is emerging in Zimbabwe and the proverbial skeletons in the closet are being exposed.

According to official figures, 427 child maintenance cases were dealt with at the Harare Civil Court in 2008 alone.

Two years down the line, the figure escalated five-fold to 2 174 in 2010. Shockingly, the cases nearly doubled in 2011 to stand at around 4 000.

These statistics followed revelations at the Harare Civil Court that many men around the country could be supporting other people's children as 70 percent of the maintenance cases referred for DNA paternity tests in Harare alone last year tested negative.

These figures and revelations suggest that adultery is now being committed at an alarming rate.

It is taboo in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world to be intimate with someone's spouse, but this immoral behaviour now seems to be fashionable, with social scientists linking it to the upsurge in cases of domestic violence, suicide and breakdown of marriages.

While adultery is as old as humankind itself, it is the rate at which it is taking place now that has left many conservatives asking: "What has gone wrong with the nation?"

Media platforms are increasingly awash with reports of people from diverse backgrounds, including senior Government officials, pastors, businesspeople, teachers, artistes and even village heads being embroiled in adulterous affairs.

The most common settings for these illicit love encounters are vehicles, lodges/hotels, offices and supposedly sacrosanct church buildings.

An official at the Harare Civil Court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, last week said from the cases they were dealing with, adultery was being cited as the leading cause of divorce applications.

"The records are a clear indication that adultery is causing many divorces and consequently leading to a rise in child maintenance cases.

"In 2008, there were 427 cases of maintenance recorded and two years later the figure increased to 2 174 and in the following year the figure rose by almost 100 percent, and this pattern is quite disturbing," said the official.

A recent survey conducted in South Africa by two marriage experts revealed that out of every four divorce cases that took place in Johannesburg in 2010, three were a result of adultery.

Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association leader Professor Gordon Chavunduka said while adultery had always existed, it was the rate at which it was happening that was worrying.

"Cultural erosion has caused this sudden increase in adultery cases around the country. Couples are copying the life in the Western world," said Prof Chavunduka.

"In rural areas, poverty has forced our women, widowed and single, to engage in adulterous affairs with rich farmers or businessmen. Adultery is a taboo and this is really killing our cultural values."

Increased cases of adultery have seen some desperate spouses seeking magical charms to prevent their loved ones from going astray.

A Mutare resident, Mr Wilford Muchingami, said he was aware that many men from his home rural area in Bocha (Marange) were resorting to the use of runyoka to prevent their wives from being intimate with other men. Runyoka is a traditional charm believed to cause profound suffering to a cheating spouse.

"A local traditional healer is offering runyoka for about US$50. The majority of men are resorting to this method," he said.

Respected social commentator and television personality Mrs Rebecca Chisamba said adultery was a result of premature love.

"Young couples are marrying from the material world and when one's riches fade away, life changes negatively, forcing materialistic spouses to resort to adultery to sustain an artificial life," she said

"Others are excited by beauty and spurred by lust while for others it is a matter of peer pressure."

Life and Liberty Church Bishop Dr Noah Pashapa attributed the increase in adultery cases to the disrespect of the Lord.

"Many churches that have sprouted are being driven by market forces and they are not on a mission to spread the word of God because in most cases they are preaching for a living," he said.

Dr Pashapa said people were ignoring the fundamentals of praying and worshipping God.

"We have embraced without questioning,  the post-modern values from the West, where they say what is good for you may not be good for another person," he said.

Dr Pashapa said people needed to go back to the basics of respecting other people's wives and husbands.

"The causes of adultery are clear and the major ones include loneliness, boredom, cheating, sex appetite, lust and money," he said.

The church has not been spared. In 2007, the then Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, was exposed for bedding a married woman from the same church.

Ncube later resigned after the scandalous affair was exposed by the media and deeply embarrassed the Vatican.

While adultery is emerging as the leading cause of family breakdowns, it is sad to note that in many cases children have been on the receiving end. When families break down, children are affected psychologically and even materially in the event that the breadwinner abandons them.

Most religious leaders have of late become obsessed with preaching the importance of individual economic prosperity and only a few are bothering to deliver messages centering on the need to uphold good morals.

It has become rare for one to hear a sermon on such evil practices as adultery and fornication while it is disturbing that even clergymen, the supposed custodians of good moral values and practices, are increasingly being linked to illicit love affairs.