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Blessing Rwizi : Weekender Correspondent
A MUTARE polygamist believed to be in his late 40s last Tuesday appeared before Mutare Civil Court seeking maintenance downwards variation.Gift Mangwende lied that he was jobless when the court ordered him to pay $60 for the upkeep of a one-year-old child he sired with Sarah Nemakonde.
Ms Anne Ndiraya presided over the matter.
Mangwende told the court that he lied because he thought Nemakonde was after his money.
“I thought all that she wanted was my money. Now I have realised that the money that I am paying would have been lesser if I had told the court the truth. I am begging for the court’s forgiveness, Your Worship,” said Mangwende.
He added that he was having challenges to raise the $60 to give Nemakonde.
“Your Worship, I acquired a loan from MBCA Bank and I am paying $90 per month until November 2017.
“Moreover, I have two other wives and three children to take care of.
She is aware of that because she stays on the same compound with her co-wives,” said the father of four.
Mangwende produced before the court his pay slip and birth certificates for the three other children before offering $25 for the minor child.
In response, Nemakonde told the court that she was neither aware of the loan, nor the two wives and children.
“The two women that he is talking about would rather be referred to as small houses because I stay alone at our matrimonial home.
“He neglected me and my child for those women.
“I even suspect that he forged these three birth certificates just to fix me like he did in the first place,” said Nemakonde.
Considering what Mangwende’s pay slip stated, the presiding magistrate, Mrs Ndiraya reduced the money to $25.
She told Nemakonde that she should come back to court and apply for maintenance upwards variation as soon as Mangwende finishes paying the loan in November 2017.
Mrs Ndiraya ordered Mangwende not to acquire another loan after November 2017 until the money that he is paying is increased.
Online Reporter