Bishop embroiled in maintenance wrangle

Mercy Ngwebvu
AN Apostles of Zimbabwe Church bishop on Tuesday appeared in court refusing to have maintenance of his two children varied from $30 to $200. Moses Mutowo, whose church is located in Chimanimani appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mrs Anniah Ndiraya after his wife, Emilia Kagurabadza had applied for upwards variation of the maintenance she was getting from him. He was being represented by Mr Cosmas Chibaya of Chibaya and Partners Legal Practitioners.

In her frantic effort to get upwards variation, Kagurabadza said the $30 she had been getting from Mutowo since 2009 was no longer enough to take care of the children, adding that the responsibility of paying their children’s school fees was supposed to be his. Instead of offering a reasonable maintenance amount as is expected of a responsible father, Mutowo refused to add more money, saying the rentals from his Hobhouse house which were being collected by Kagurabadza were supposed to be enough to cater for the children’s needs.

Speaking on behalf of his client, Mr Chibaya told the court that Kagurabadza’s claim should be dismissed because it had no merit.
Said Mr Chibaya: “The applicant’s claim is pposed because there have been no changes in as far as the children’s needs are concerned. When the $30 was granted, it was for three children and as we speak it is catering for two children because the other child is now a major. If it was once sufficient for three, why can’t it be enough for two?

Applicant is getting revenue from the house in Hobhouse and that should cater for the children’s fees. She cannot just sit and bask in the sun, doing nothing. She should also play a role in taking care of the children.

“The respondent is not a pastor and has no such qualifications whatsoever. She is only trying to elevate a mere churchgoer to the position of a pastor so that she can abuse the court and extort money. She does not even attend the same church, so how could she possibly know that he is a pastor?”

In her ruling, Mrs Ndiraya dismissed Kagurabadza’s claim on the grounds that there were no changed circumstances that could necessitate the upwards variation. In a separate interview with The Weekender, Kagurabadaza insisted that Mutowo was a pastor; saying she could not understand why he was so dead-set on neglecting his children.

“Mutowo is the bishop of that church. He took over the church leadership in 2005 when his father died, but now he is denying everything. I struggle to understand why he is punishing his children like this. Since 2009, he has been giving me $30 and he does not want to part with more. He is busy taking care of some church members, while his children are struggling. I survive on selling freezits and the money I get is not enough to give my children a comfortable life.

“He brought with him members from the church in the Nissan Serena that he was given by his church. Why would a church give a mere churchgoer a car? I still cannot come to terms with what has just happened in court. I am struggling with the children while their father is being cruel on me like this,” said a dejected Kagurabadza as she left the court.