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The Herald April 20, 1983
A GLEN NORAH woman sought advice from local councillors and a village court to stop her husband from selling their house after he had left his family to stay with another woman, a Harare community court was told yesterday.
In defence of her 22-year-old marriage which her husband wanted to be dissolved on the grounds that she drank and neglected her duties as a housewife, Elizabeth Chakakala told the court that her husband advertised the house for sale at the time he left home to stay “somewhere with another woman”.
Some of the prospective buyers even came to view the house after it was advertised. She also had numerous telephone calls from home-seekers when she did not know of her husband’s plans to sell the home.
“I took the matter up with local councillors and later sued him at the village court because our three children and I were going to be homeless.”
Appearing before the presiding officer Ms Elizabeth Tinofireyi was Saini Chaziya Chakakala claiming divorce “because my wife drinks and therefore neglects her household her duties.”
Cde Chakakala, who said he was an industrial relations officer with the Ministry of Labour and Social Services, told the court misunderstandings arose in the house because his wife was always drunk and argumentative.
They married in 1961 and had three children. His wife started drinking in 1971 and had since then behaved in a way that threatened their marriage.
“She never bothered to take me to the hospital when I was ill in December 1981 because she had gone to shebeens to drink.”
Cde Chakakala told the court he left his home and stayed with another woman in Lochinvar for about three months.
He later married the second woman and brought her to his home “more problems started because she could not accept my junior wife”.
He showed the court an axe, as an exhibit, which he said his first wife used to break the windowpane and damage the door in protest. She later agreed that they should stay together.
The presiding officer said: Officials from the Department of Social Services will soon be asked by the court to find out how you two are living before I can give judgment.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- Excessive intake of alcohol can lead to abuse, which can be detrimental to the well-being of the imbiber and the way they relate to other people.
- Similarly, the country is grappling with the escalating scourge of drug abuse, especially amongst the youths which has been having devastating effects on families.
- There is need for more stringent laws to curb the sale of matrimonial homes by a spouse without the knowledge of their partner. This is a cancer that has taken root in the country and can only be resolved through the legal route.
- Men should respect their wives and should not impose things on them. While polygamy is widely accepted in African tradition, most married women are against it and as such, its imposition on them should be done after very careful consideration and negotiations.
- Violence in the home is never the solution to marital issues or problems. People should learn to discuss matters amongst themselves and in case of deadlocks they should engage other people to act as arbiters.
Online Reporter