The High Court will today hear an urgent Chamber application filed by the estranged wife of Acting President Constantino Chiwenga, Marry Mubaiwa against her husband over access to the matrimonial home and other properties as well as the children.
High Court Judge, Justice Christopher Dube-Banda is set to hear the case this morning which seeks to compel the Vice President to release the children to Marry and allow her access to the matrimonial home while their divorce is being finalised.
Marry’s lawyer, Taona Nyamakura of Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners confirmed to The Anchor that the matter has been set down for Friday.
“It’s true we are appearing this Friday before Justice Dube-Banda,” said Nyamakura.
The estranged wife on Wednesday hit back at the VP on allegations that she was practising black magic and that she was unfit to have custody of the minor children as she was a drug addict.
In her response, Marry challenged Chiwenga to prove that she was into witchcraft and stated that history has records of the opposite being involved in sorcery activities.
“I deny the allegation that I exposed my children to black magic as alleged. When l read this allegation, l was shocked and could not understand the basis of the allegations. The pictures of the items of black magic items are not clear from the opposing affidavit and l requested my legal practitioners to request an inspection of the black magic items so that l could appreciate the allegations made against me. I also explained to my legal practitioners that if indeed these black magic tools of trade exist, the court should inspect same in order to appreciate the allegations made against me.
“At the time of deposing this affidavit, these black magic tools had not been exhibited to me. Nevertheless, l deny knowledge of such items and deny that l exposed my children to any of these items. I also say that it is the respondent (Chiwenga) who is on record as having been accused of using black magic in his previous divorce proceedings.
“Having failed to properly particularise his allegation, it should be taken that like the rest of the opposition, the respondent is not really sure of his opposition and is basically throwing in anything in order to sanitize his actions,” read part of the court papers.
In his opposing papers to the application for access to the kids and home as well as vehicles, Chiwenga revealed that some of the properties were state assets while some were gifts from his business associates.
But Marry said the VP was “unashamedly” exposing his ‘unsavoury relationship” with some individuals while not responding to the request being made by his wife.
“The argument that as a result of my health l will not be able to take care of the minor children is devoid of any legal merit. It was convenient for me to be with the children when the respondent was in hospital for more than 123 (one hundred and twenty-three days), but its now inconvenient because the respondent has fallen out of love with me.
“This type of thinking is intended to take the law back to a period when women had no rights. Respondent (Chiwenga) ought to be reminded that he does not get custody because he has soldiers to subpoena, but he gets it because it is awarded to him by a court. As it stands, he must return the children to me, and then find his remedies where they lay,” Marry stated.
The VP had stated that he regrets marrying Marry and described her as a drug addict who found her way into his life through cunning.
“I deny the disparaging remarks by the respondent on my character. I never did anything to break the law as wife of the respondent and the current proceedings only point to him being the one using his position of influence to break the law. We have three children together and it is not like we got married yesterday or when he became a politician. It is embarrassing that a person who holds himself to be the Acting President of Zimbabwe to say such vile things about a woman who has been his wife and mother of his children in a country that tries to be the champion of gender equality and to respect the rights of woman and children,” she said.
Marry stated that the Acting President has proved to have a penchant to use the army each time he has an issue with his opponents and was naive to face them one on one.
“If there is anyone who is dangerous in the current proceedings, it is the respondent. He has proven that he can summon the army when it suits him, and that he can use them to deal with perceived opponents,” stated Marry.
The VP had also accused Marry of causing his current predicament and attempted to kill him. But Marry had denied the allegations. “When the respondent came back from
China, he chose to stay away from the minor children and only to claim his love for them when l got arrested. Had he considered their interests, he would have come straight to the matrimonial home to be with them no matter what differences he had against me. At the very least, he should have requested to see them even in my absence.
“That his children had to find out about his presence in Zimbabwe via public television says a lot about his new found commitment to them. It is therefore in the best interests of the minor children that l continue providing them with the love and care that they are accustomed to,” she stated
