Zvishavane man demands maintenance from wife

A Zvishavane man was left with egg on the face after the local magistrate’s court threw out his application for maintenance from his wife, Chipo Mainge, whom he accused of leaving him without following proper divorce procedures.

Innocent Hungwe was seeking a $150 monthly stipend from his ex-wife saying he needed the money for survival as he was no longer employed and since he was the one who sponsored her college education when they got married. 

Magistrate Shepherd Munjanja, however, dismissed Hungwe’s request after it was revealed that it was Mainge who was staying with the former couple’s three children.

To support her refusal to pay, Mainge said she was the one catering for all the needs of the children and she produced her pay slip showing that she earns only US$133.78 per month.

After seeing Mainge’s pay slip, Hungwe revised his maintenance demands down to any amount of money which could help him to survive or even buy a loaf of bread.

Innocent Hungwe had also demanded that Mainge repay him the money he had used to send her to college saying had been intended at securing their future together.

Mainge however argued she owed Hungwe nothing since she was the one staying with the children and paying their school fees.

“We both have equal duties to look after our children but he is not doing anything for his children and now he wants to be ‘maintained’. This shows how selfish he is because he even earns more than I do from rental proceeds off his late parents’ house,” said Mainge.

Mainge also dismissed Hungwe’s claims that he had sent her to college, saying it was her own brothers who had helped her through college.news