Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
BRANDY’s chart-topping anthem “The Boy Is Mine” seemed to echo through Natview Park last Saturday — not from a radio, but from the raw emotions spilling into Chief Mutasa’s community court.
Mary Muchena, a woman married for 26 years, appeared before the court accusing her younger sister, Brenda Makonesa, of stealing her husband, Jeremiah Muchena, and building a new life with him in one of Mutare’s leafy suburbs along Forbes-Mutare Highway.
“My younger sister had an affair with my husband, and now they are staying together while I remain alone,” said Mary, her voice trembling.
“She first came to stay with us during the school holidays after finishing Grade Seven. She was only 13 then. Looking back, I believe that is when their relationship began.”
Fighting back tears, Mary recounted how her marriage — solemnised under the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11], which governs civil monogamous unions — collapsed last November when Jeremiah walked out of their matrimonial home.
“We have been to court over this matter. He says he still loves me, but he has not returned. In April, the magistrate advised him to come back home, yet he remains with Brenda,” she said.
Mary further alleged that Brenda, who already has children from other relationships, had finally succeeded in taking the man she had shared her life with for more than two decades.
However, Jeremiah, painted a dramatically different picture of the tangled family saga.
While admitting that he fathered a child with Brenda, he insisted their relationship was not recent — but rather a decades-old affair rooted in a moment of marital discord.
“It is true that I had a child with her younger sister, but it happened long ago, when Mary left our home after a dispute over business finances. She stayed in Sakubva for about two months, and during that time I became involved with Brenda. She fell pregnant, and the child is now 22 years old,” said Jeremiah.
Jeremiah claimed that once DNA tests confirmed his paternity, Mary’s family pressured him to marry Brenda.
“Her father told me that once the DNA proved I was the father, I had to marry the younger sister,” he said.
But Mary, he alleged, fiercely resisted the idea.
“She threatened to kill herself if I married Brenda. I told her I had the right to take more wives, but she refused to accept it,” Jeremiah continued, further asserting that his marriage to Mary was not entirely voluntary.
“I was forced to tie the knot with her. I had already been involved with Brenda before then, but Mary insisted on marriage under the one-wife-one-husband arrangement,” he said, casting doubt on the foundations of his 26-year union.
However, Jeremiah denied that he is staying with Makonesa.
“I am staying in Harare, while Makonesa is in Honde Valley. Just because I am no longer staying with Mary does not mean I am co-habiting with her sister,” he said.
Makonesa also denied snatching her sister’s husband. She said after falling pregnant as a teenager, she was sent back to her parents’ home, and Jeremiah initially denied responsibility for the child.
“When my father asked Jeremiah whether he was the father, he denied it because he was afraid of my sister. She was abusive and would assault him,” said Brenda, adding that she later married another man, and moved on with her life.
Years later, however, questions resurfaced regarding the paternity of her daughter after the child allegedly faced hostility from Mary.
“My child eventually demanded DNA tests because my sister had paternity doubts. The tests confirmed that he is indeed the father,” she said.
Makonesa admitted that during a heated telephone exchange she once threatened to snatch Jeremiah if the DNA tests proved he was the father.
“I told her that once the DNA tests confirmed the truth, I would snatch the man. I said it out of anger because of the insults and abuse I was receiving, but that does not mean I am staying with him. I am married elsewhere,” she said, insisting that family members had spent years trying to save Mary’s marriage. Our family has tried for years to help her marriage, but she always blames me whenever problems arise,” she said.
Jeremiah went on to claim that he left the matrimonial home after discovering suspicious objects inside a pot in their kitchen.
“I found a black cloth with needles inside a pot and there were charms in her bag. When I confronted her, she assaulted me, and I even made a police report because I feared for my life,” he alleged.
Despite the accusations, Jeremiah maintained that his feelings for Mary had not completely disappeared.
“I still love my wife. We are simply going through a difficult period,” he told the court.
Mary did not deny possessing the items, but maintained that the real issue was her husband’s relationship with her younger sister.
Pressed by Chief Mutasa on whether she had concrete evidence that the two were currently staying together, Mary admitted that she was relying on what she believed to be obvious circumstances.
“I know the truth. They were staying together near Link Road, and they have since moved to houses along Forbes-Mutare Highway,” she insisted.
When asked whether she had personally seen them together, she conceded that she suspected they had reunited because her husband had abandoned her.
“I am no longer getting any conjugal rights from my husband, so I know what is happening,” she said.
Chief Mutasa urged the parties to focus on facts rather than assumptions.
“I do not deal with assumptions. If you are saying they are staying together, then bring proof. A court cannot make a judgment based on suspicions,” he said.
He advised the couple to consider formally ending their marriage if reconciliation is no longer possible.
