Vanished groom resurfaces

his wedding day, yesterday said he jumped ship after a heated row with his wife.
The wedding did not take place after the minister who was supposed to solemnise the union, Pastor Joseph Nyahuye of Zaoga, insisted that the bride could not exchange vows with another man.
This was after the groom’s brother was asked to stand in for his sibling and sign the marriage certificate.
Such an action would have been in contravention of the Marriages Act Section 25 (iii), which says no person is capa-ble of contracting a valid marriage through another person acting as his representative.
Following the publication of the story, and reports that Wedneck Likonga’s brother had tied the knot on his behalf, Registrar-General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede tracked the man down yesterday to establish what was going on.
Likonga, who lives in Christonbank, subsequently told the media his version of the story.
He said on the eve of the wedding he had a heated argument with his wife-to-be, Betty Zakaria, and decided to vanish a few hours before the wedding. Likonga said he spent the whole night in a forest and was worried he would bump into wedding guests.
“I had a misunderstanding with my wife over a simple matter. I told her that we were running short of time and we should up our preparations for the wedding.
“She failed to understand this and we had a heated row before I decide to leave. I spent the whole night in the forest and I was afraid to come back because I had let down a lot of people who had come to support our wedding,” he said.
Asked if he still wanted to be with Zakaria, Likonga said they had patched things up and set another wedding date.
Zakaria, who was present, said she could not believe what Likonga had done.
“He had never done that before and I am still in a state of shock. We had invited a lot of people from as far as Chidamoyo and Kariba and I don’t know what happened to my husband.
“I love him and he also loves me, but on that particular day I don’t know what happened to him.”
Said Pastor Nyahuye of Zaoga: “The wedding did not take place because I said it was not possible for the bride to exchange vows with another man.”
The Registrar-General added: “We are not taking marriage matters lightly and any reverend or pastor who brea-ches the Marriages Act will face the full wrath of the law.”