Judge laments increase in divorce cases

with 1 551 recorded compared to 1 216 in 2010, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha said.
The country also witnessed a general increase in other cases like murder, robbery and child abuse during the same period under review.
Officially opening the Gweru High Court Circuit yesterday, Justice Kamocha attributed the increase in divorce cases to distant relationships and youths who rush into marriage before getting to know their partners.
“On the civil side, a disturbing trend is developing in divorce cases. More and more homes are breaking down. In the year 2010, the High Court in Harare received 783 divorce cases while the High Court in Bulawayo received 433 cases,” said Justice Kamocha.
“The country had a total of 1 216 divorce cases. The figure went up to 1 551 last year. That is a large number of homes breaking down in one year. In the majority of cases the couples have minor children. Divorce has a very negative effect on the children.” 
Justice Kamocha said the causes of the breakdown of marriages differed but most of them were mainly due to rushed marriages and partners who leave their spouses to seek greener pastures in distant countries.
“A young couple gets married and shortly afterwards or after some time, one of the spouses leaves the country in search of greener pastures in the Diaspora in the hope that the other spouse would follow in due course. Where there are children, the remaining spouse usually remains with them. Somewhere along the line things do not go according to plan and trouble then sets in. In my view, this type of arrangement is not healthy. It is not healthy for young couples to live apart for long periods in excess of a year or even more,” he said.
“The other factor which has been prominent for a long time now is that some of those marriages that are breaking down are rushed marriages. Some couples will have met for as short a period as a week, two weeks or a month and decide to marry. It seems to me that such people will not have sufficiently known each other yet. People have to know each other’s backgrounds before rushing to solemnising a marriage.”
Turning to murder cases, which mainly dominate the High Courts in the country, Justice Kamocha said 395 murder cases were committed last year alone compared to 386 in 2010.
He described the murder figures as “frightening and scary”.
“The number of murder cases that are being brought to court is alarming. The High Court in Bulawayo and its circuit courts received 204 murder cases in 2010. The figure dropped slightly to 181 last year. The High Court in Harare and its circuit courts witnessed cases rising from 182 the year before to 214 last year. This is indeed a disturbing trend for the country,” said Justice Kamocha.
“The total number of people killed in the country in 2010 was 386 and the number rose to 395 last year. These figures are too high for a country like ours. It is scary to think that at least 395 people or even more will die this year not from natural causes or
Judge laments increase in divorce cases other disasters but will unlawfully be killed by their fellow men.”
The High Court Judge said the trend revealed that respect for human life within communities continued to diminish while a culture was developing where man turned against man to seriously injure or kill at the slightest provocation.
In the communal and resettlement areas, Justice Kamocha said people hit each other with logs, stools, chop each other with axes and hoes as well as stab each other with knives and spears.
“Young men drink alcohol and attack defenceless elderly people, smashing their heads to the ground or against walls . . . at times using logs and any other dangerous weapons that they can lay their hands on.
In urban areas, all sorts of lethal weapons such as firearms, Okapi knives, hunting knives and even kitchen knives are used,” he said.
The Gweru High Court Circuit has 11 murder cases set down for the present circuit.
These are matters which were carried over from last year.
Some of the accused persons facing murder charges at the Gweru High Court circuit are the Kufazvinei siblings, Fabian, Johnston and Morelife who shot their victim three times before striking him with an axe.
Other accused persons are Patrick Sibanda of Kwekwe, Kudakwashe Mthethwa of Zvishavane and Johnson Chavhunduka of Gokwe, among others.
Justice Kamocha also noted the increase of robbery cases with the Bulawayo regional courts receiving 51 cases, Gweru 100 while Hwange had the least as it recorded only one case.
The Gwanda regional court received seven robbery cases.
The High Court judge said rape cases were also on the increase with Bulawayo topping the list in the region.
Bulawayo had 267 cases of rape in 2010, which increased to 364 last year while Gwanda recorded 110 cases in 2010, which decreased to 88 last year.
Gweru courts handled 104 cases in 2010 and the number went down to 100 last year. Hwange had 85 cases in 2010 and 79 last year.
Justice Kamocha appealed to people and their political parties to desist from engaging in acts of violence ahead of the anticipated elections this year.
“The three leaders of the main political parties in this country are on record jointly condemning all forms of politically inspired violence. It is now incumbent upon the followers to desist from indulging in orgies of politically inspired violence. Reports of such violence are received towards primary elections, by-elections and general elections alike,” he said.
Justice Kamocha urged magistrates and prosecutors to apply the law to their best ability in light of the impending elections.
“You should apply the law to the best of your ability, equally, impartially, professionally without fear or favour in respect of those who appear before the courts facing politically motivated crimes irrespective of their station in life or political affiliation,” he said.