WOMAN GETS US$32,5K AS DIVORCE SETTLEMENT

Mathew Masinge

A WOMAN will get US$32 500 as settlement for her divorce against her husband of 10 years.

Letwin Kadiyo made the claim based on a tact universal partnership which she entered with her ex-husband, Kudakwashe Naison.

The two met in 2013 at the Gulf Complex in Harare where Letwin sold shoes while Kudakwashe was into selling cellphones.

They fell in love and decided to cohabit in 2014.

In 2015, Letwin conceived their first child and decided to stop going to work, leading her to invest her savings amounting to US$500 into Kudakwashe’s phone business.

After their business started realising profits, the couple moved into town where they rented a flat in the Avenues area and also got a US$35 000 loan worth of cellphones from a Chinese contact.

During the subsistence of their marriage, the couple also bought a property in Haydon Park, which they later sold for US$65 000.

They also bought a Honda Fit

Letwin and Kudakwashe had misunderstandings before their separation in March 2023 with the former walking away empty-handed.

She claimed when they separated she left a stock of close to US$40 000 in the cellphone business to which she claimed half the share.

In his defence, Kudakwashe denied ever being in any partnership with Letwing alleging that he was still owing their Chinese contact money as loan repayment. He said when they separated he left her with the Honda Fit and had opened a business of selling weaves for her.

“In my view, even if the court accepts that they were not in a business partnership, he cannot escape this obvious reality that she owned half of what they considered to be the marital home.

“He could not have used her half share of the proceeds from the sale of the property in which he owned half of it, to cover his own business loan.

“He owes her US$32 500,” ruled Justice Emy Tsanga.

Justice Tsanga also ordered Kudakwashe to pay his wife her share within six months.

“Kudakwashe shall pay the Letwin the sum of US$32 500.00 being her half share of the proceeds from the sale of the jointly owned property being Stand 3239 State Land, Haydon Farm, measuring 877 square metres.

“The sum of US$32 500.00 shall be paid over a period of six months or such period as the parties may agree between themselves in writing,” reads the ruling.