Ex-MDC-T MP files for divorce

FORMER Mabvuku-Tafara MDC-T MP, Timothy Mubhawu, who recently made headlines for allegedly battering his wife, Moline Elizabeth, has now filed for divorce at the High Court, while the latter has accused the politician of being abusive and schizophrenic.

The couple had been married for the past 18 years.

According to court papers, the couple agreed that a divorce decree be granted on the basis that the union had irretrievably broken down.

"What has led to the breakdown of the marriage is the plaintiff's (Mubhawu) physical and emotional abuse towards the defendant (Elizabeth) to the extent that defendant has had to obtain a protection order against the plaintiff," Elizabeth said in her affidavit.

Elizabeth further said despite the existence of a court order, Mubhawu continuously violated it and was currently facing criminal charges at the Harare Magistrates' Court.

She demanded $100 maintenance for their six children per month and an order for Mubhawu to pay school fees.

In his application, Mubhawu urged the court to grant a decree for divorce, saying he had completely lost love and affection for Elizabeth, whom he had not been staying with for the past six years.

"The marriage between the parties has irretrievably broken down to such an extent that there remains no reasonable prospect for the restoration of the relationship between them…," he said through his lawyers.

But, Elizabeth dismissed the averments, telling the court they only separated in July this year.

In his affidavit, Mubhawu said he was driven to seek a divorce after Elizabeth deserted him. He also said he was applying for the custody of the couple's five minor children and proposed his wife should only be granted reasonable access to the children during school holidays.

The former legislator also proposed to provide adequately the financial and educational needs of the minor children until they attained the legal age of majority or became self-supporting.

However, his wife argued it would be in the best interest of the minors if custody was to be granted in her favour given that Mubhawu was "abusive and schizophrenic".

According to the court papers, during the subsistence of the marriage, the couple acquired several household goods, which Mubhawu suggested should all be awarded to his wife. He proposed retaining their Greendale property and offered Elizabeth the pair's Glen Lorne residential stand.

He also urged the court not to consider granting an order of maintenance against either of the parties.

"In the event of this honourable court granting a decree of divorce to the plaintiff (Mubhawu), it will not be in the best interest of justice and those of the plaintiff that the plaintiff be ordered to pay maintenance to the defendant (Elizabeth) or the defendant to be ordered to maintain the plaintiff in the given circumstances," Mubhawu said.