Zimbabwean woman to pay $150,000 adultery damages to lover's wife

Magistrate Diana Masiya recently slashed an adultery damage claim by Margaret Chivhiko to ZW$150 000 from the ZW$ 3 000 000 she was claiming from his husband's alleged lover Sipelile Munandangwa.

Margaret alleged that the respondent (Munandangwa) had been in an extra marital affair with her husband of 30 years Jacob Chivhiko while she was suffering in the rural areas of Zaka.

Margaret who has two children with Jacob cited that she lost comfort, companionship and conjugal rights which motivated her to file summons claiming such a huge amount in adultery damages.

"Plaintiff issued summons against defendant claiming the sum of ZW$ 3 000 000 as adultery damages. Plaintiff is married to Jacob Chivhiko in terms of Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 as it then was and the marriage still subsists. As a result of the adulterous relationship, she has lost comfort, companionship and conjugal privilege," read part of the judgment.

Margaret further ascertained that Munandagwa came in picture as early as 1992 when her marriage was subsisting and blamed the defendant for her husband's conjugal dysfunctions.

"To her knowledge, the defendant was her husband's concubine. She went on to further state that the defendant was already in picture in 1992 when their marriage was subsisting and she is the reason why her husband's manhood became dysfunctional. She told the court that the defendant is the reason why the plaintiff's husband stopped coming home in Zaka and taking care of her," continued the judgment.

However, Munandangwa, who brought Jacob as his witness bears that she became intimate with the plaintiff's husband who was a single man in 1994, where they married each other and lived for three decades uninterrupted.

She further stated that she always met the plaintiff in Zaka at family gatherings as she learnt that the two had divorced at a Dare which was convened by his alleged brother, John Chebanga.

"It was the defendant's case that she found Jacob Chivhiko a single man. They were customarily married in 1994 and the union has two children with the eldest being 25 years old. She told this court that she saw the plaintiff at family gatherings at Chivhiko's rural home. To her knowledge, plaintiff and Chivhiko divorced at a Dare in 1992. She denies being the cause of the dysfunction of Jacob Chivhiko's manhood, loss of intimacy, comfort and conjugal rights," said Magistrate Masiya in her judgment.

Magistrate Masiya later gave her ruling basing on the contumelia and consortium.

"Therefore the plaintiff is awarded damages in the sum of ZW$ 150 000 for both loss of contumelia and consortium," ruled magistrate Masiya.