MWENEZI – Maphias Matare, a teacher at Chinyu Primary School, last week surprised many people in the public gallery of the Mwenezi Civil Court after he boldly offered to pay his ex-wife more in maintenance money than he earns per month.
Tsakani Mashimbwa, who accused his husband of failing to look after their daughter, dragged Matare to the court claiming a monthly maintenance of US$100.
Upon being asked by magistrate Honest Musiiwa what he could offer, Matare made commitments to pay US$50 although his current net income after all the deductions was only US$39.
After assuring the court that he will be able to pay the amount, magistrate Musiiwa ordered Matare to pay US$50 as per his request.local

Clever Taperamoyo

MASVINGO – The decision by Primary and Secondary Education minister, Paul Mavhima to order a rewrite of the 2017 Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) ‘O’ level English Paper 2 has been reversed by High Court Judge, Justice Loice Matanda Moyo.
The judgement was welcomed by stakeholders in the education sectors, parents and pupils who felt children were being punished for the gross incompetence and corruption at Zimsec.
Progressive Teacher’s Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), president Dr Takavafira Zhou welcomed the ruling as good for the protection of children from ‘educational vandalism’.
“Once again, history has absolved PTUZ and other progressive forces in Zimbabwe. There was so much vitriolic attacks from government officials, yellow unions and some forces of darkness but history has absolved us. Rationality has emerged victorious over educational vandalism.
“Justice Matanda Moyo’s judgement has simply reiterated what we had proffered as an alternative to government callousness, vague and vapid machinations,” Dr Zhou thundered.
In an interview with TellZim News, Netsai Masunda, a concerned parent with a daughter who sat for her ‘O’ levels at Checheche High School in Chipinge, praised the judgement, saying she had agonised about having to find money to send her child back to school for the re-sit.
Matanda-Moyo’s judgement, which is highly critical of Zimsec, called for a total overhaul of the exams body.
She said the courts do not condone cheating but wanted to protect learners, thus the order that pupils be graded based on the marks they scored in the English Paper 1 only.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Freddy Mandebvu of Plot 36 Altornburg under Chief Chitanga reportedly impregnated his neighbour’s wife when her husband was out of the country and later instigated the man’s arrest upon his return, the Mwenezi Magistrates’ Court heard last week.
This came out during the trial of Godfrey Hlanga (34) and Joseph Hlanga (29) who both reside at Plot 17 Altornburg under Chief Chitanga on charges of unlawful entry into premises.
The two brothers, who pleaded not guilty, told the court that they were merely being framed by the complaint, Evelyn Madya who is Mandebvu’s wife. They argued that the couple framed them as a way of revenge because they reported Mandebvu to the chief’s court impregnating Joseph’s wife.
Giving her side of the story, Madya blamed Joseph for his wife’s infidelity saying he spent too much time away from her.
“You are the one to blame for it. You went to South Africa for three years and how did you expect your wife to get love. After all, you did not fend for her for that period.
“For survival, she ended up getting some piece jobs at my homestead. I was not aware that I was also sharing a husband with her

but the truth of the matter is that you are squarely to blame for all this,” Madya told the court.
It is the State’s case that on October 6, last year at around 21:00 hrs, while Madya was at a church service with her husband, Godfrey approached them and in view of congregants, started threatening and scolding him for impregnating Joseph’s wife.
The court heard that Godfrey was later restrained by fellow villagers and was forced to leave but he later teamed up with Joseph and went to the complaint’s homestead where they destroyed property including a TV set, speakers and cups valued at US$393.
They got away with US$300 cash which they found in the room. That same night, the two were spotted by the complainant leaving her homestead after committing the offence. A police report was made leading to the two’s arrest.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa postponed the matter to a later date for continuation of trial. Willard Chasi prosecuted.local

Uncle Jaunda

MPANDAWANA – Chief Gutu, Amon Masanganise, who on October 5, 2017 fined Paul Chingwaru three cattle for allegedly siring a child with a married woman, had his ruling overturned by Gutu magistrate Edwin Marecha.
Chingwaru was last year brought before Chief Gutu’s traditional court to answer a case reported by Stanley Mashove who accused him of engaging in an adulterous affair with Theresa Marebe, whom he claimed was his wife.
Chief Gutu found Chingwaru guilty and ordered him to pay three beasts to Mashove as compensation, but he challenged the judgement at the magistrates’ court.
On January 15, 2018, magistrate Marecha said Chief Gutu’s court erred in giving a ruling ‘without proper investigations’.
The court found that Mashove and Marebe were never married but they just cohabitated together and sired two children.  
“It is unfortunate that Chief Gutu, who is the custodian of customs, failed to do a thorough investigation before giving judgement. The judgement he gave is ultra vires African customs that are the cornerstone of his court,” said Marecha.
He also added that Chief Gutu should have established if there was indeed a valid marriage between Mashove and Marebe by consulting with Marebe’s parents and other people who could have known about the nature of the two’s relationship.local

Engineer Davison Svuure