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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
A 92-YEAR-OLD Gwanda woman has applied for an eviction order against her daughter-in-law who allegedly separated with her son.
Mrs Elizabeth Nkala of Gwakwe Village in her application said she had allowed her son and his family to stay at her homestead temporarily while they looked for a home of their own but her daughter-in-law, Mrs Catherine Nkala, was now refusing to leave.
She appealed to the court to order Catherine and her children to vacate the homestead.
“My son was staying in a house within my homestead before he got married. When he got married in 2004, I allowed him and his wife to continue using the house temporarily while they built their own house outside my homestead.
“Ever since Catherine came to my homestead, my family has not known peace as she has caused disharmony within the family,” said Mrs Nkala.
She said her son had since deserted his family and was now staying in Bulawayo. “I want her to vacate my homestead as she and my son don’t have any claim to it,’’ said Mrs Nkala.
She said she had tried to engage her daughter-in-law over the matter but she was not co-operating. Mrs Nkala said she had also engaged community leaders and the police over the matter but to no avail.
In her response, Catherine said she built the house in question together with her husband.
She said Mrs Nkala did not have a right to evict her as it was her matrimonial home.
Catherine begged the court to dismiss Mrs Nkala’s claim as it was unfounded.
“It’s not true that I got married to my husband in 2004 as my mother-in-law has alleged. We got legally married in 2002 but we had stayed together since 1992 in Bulawayo. During the time we were in Bulawayo that was when we built our matrimonial home which is the house in question.
“We built a 12- roomed house and a servant’s quarter and we also electrified it. This is the house that I have been staying in with my children and my mother in- law has no right to evict me. It’s false that I stay in her house and that she built it. My husband relocated to Bulawayo just because he is having an affair with another woman whom he is now staying with,” she said.
The matter is set to be heard at the Gwanda Civil Court soon.
@DubeMatutu
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