adminSenior Weekender Reporter
THE leader of Johanne Marange (Simon Branch), Clement Momberume, has been ordered to pay $10 000 as adultery damages by a Bulawayo magistrate for having sexual intercourse with his nephew’s second wife.
Mr Victor Mpofu issued a default judgement in favour of Jasper Dhliwayo after the church leader failed to attend court and defend himself.
However, Momberume has since filed an application for rescission of judgement on the grounds that he was not in wilful default.
“The respondent is not entitled to $10 000 damages for an adultery case not based on fact of the law. I genuinely believed and believe that an application for review necessitates the sending of the file to the High Court and once that happens, the presiding officer cannot deal with the matter further. In any event, the record should be with the High Court. I submit, therefore, I was not in wilful default and I have a solid defence on the merits. The balance of convenience favours the granting of the order as I will suffer prejudice in terms of assets if the order granted is executed and it will render the application for rescission and review useless.”
In the particulars of claim which Dhliwayo filed at the Small Claims Court, he said Momberume who usually frequented Bulawayo on church business came to his house in August 2012 when he was introduced to the former’s second wife, Mavis who is a nurse by profession.
“After the defendant was introduced to the plaintiff’s wife, defendant then requested for her mobile number and also took her a picture.
“It is in this regard that the defendant started communicating with plaintiff’s wife. On his visits to Bulawayo, the defendant would not communicate with the plaintiff, but instead would tell the plaintiff’s wife that he was coming to Bulawayo.
“It was on April 10 that the defendant came to Bulawayo and met with the plaintiff’s wife at TM Hyper and the defendant drove to Greys Inn Hotel together with the plaintiff’s wife.
“At the hotel, the defendant bought wine and gave plaintiff’s wife. He bought mineral water for himself.
“The defendant started to make some prophecies concerning my wife.
“He started telling her that I am the one who was causing her to have miscarriages whenever her pregnancy reached seven months. Defendant also alleged that I had a big snake which I used to run my business. My wife had three miscarriages before. However, I had told my uncle (the defendant) about the miscarriages before. When he was telling my wife about it, it was as if he was making a prophecy,” said Dhliwayo.
He said Momberume allegedly instilled fear in his wife by claiming that he (Dhliwayo) was sleeping with him for ritual purposes.
“He claimed that when I am having sex with my wife, it is not me who will be doing the actual act, but it will be a baboon. He also alleged that I was on ARV therapy.
“Having convinced my wife with his lies, he later booked a room at the hotel and the two went to that room where they slept together.
“My wife was drunk after drinking the wine bought by Momberume. The defendant slept with my wife on April 10, 2013 and April 12, 2013,” he said.
Dhliwayo said he suspected that something had happened between Momberume and his wife after the former started ignoring his calls, but would instead communicate with his wife.
“The two used to communicate via WhatsApp, but for me to get a confession from my wife, I lied to her that their sexual encounters had become public knowledge in Mutare and that church elders wanted her side of the story. She put everything in writing and when I tried to solve the issue with Momberume, he started ignoring my calls and at times would cut me off,” he said.
Online Reporter