adminLeonard Ncube Court Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) boss Wellington Takavarasha is locked in a longstanding maintenance wrangle with his ex-wife who has dragged him to court over more than $8,000 in maintenance arrears.
Takavarasha, 44, of Harare, married Eugenia of Nketa 8 on August 23, 1993 and the couple has three children.
According to submissions by the woman when she applied for a decree of divorce in 2010, Takavarasha deserted the family in 2005.
She accused him of adultery.
Takavarasha, who resigned from ZMF early this year citing non-payment of salaries, defaulted in paying $600 per month that he had been ordered to pay by the Maintenance Court in 2010.
The $600 was ordered as a variation following another court order in 2007 where he was supposed to pay Z$20 million per month.
The arrears had accumulated to $8,600 in February this year.
Takavarasha, who is the president of Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small Scale for Sustainable Mining Council, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Eveline Mashavakure for sentence for failing to pay maintenance yesterday.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
However, he was lucky to escape custodial sentence when the magistrate suspended five months for five years on condition of good behaviour.
The remaining 10 months were also suspended on condition he settles the arrears by March, 30, 2014 through the Clerk of Courts.
Takavarasha, who is also on the board of Comesa Council for Artisanal and Small Scale Miners, told the court that he was not financially stable and this had seen him failing to pay the maintenance.
He told the court that his association was bankrupt and was relying on the benevolence of well wishers to pay rent in Harare.
Takavarasha was responding to his wife’s submissions that he had means to pay the maintenance as he was making enough money through the small-scale miners association.
The magistrate quizzed him why he would keep a job that was not paying him and reminded him that he was supposed to share with his family the little income he was realising.
Takavarasha told the court that he was already staying with two of the children – one who is studying at the University of Zimbabwe and another who is doing Lower Sixth.
He said he had paid more than $9,000 for their fees since last year.
In passing judgment, Mashavakure said the court views the offence of contempt of court, particularly failing to pay maintenance as ordered seriously.
She said Takavarasha’s reason that he failed to pay maintenance because he had no means were not plausible because he had made no efforts to approach the court for variation of the order.
The court said it was not in dispute that he had paid on a few occasions but left the arrears to balloon.
Memory Ndlovu prosecuted.
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