I AM INNOCENT
…Fatima, wife of Maria Zaloumis Nigeria partner speaks out
By Thandizo Banda
I NEVER sent anyone to go and harm Maria Zaloumis at her farm in Chisamba, Botswana businesswoman Fatima Gabatshwane has said.
Breaking her silence since the murder of 22-year-old Enock Simfukwe last month, Fatima said she is legally married to Zaloumis’ partner, Nathaniel Chinyeremi Barthram, and even has in her possession a valid marriage certificate as proof.
Zaloumis, Barthram and two others are jointly charged with murder following the death of Simfukwe.
“I don’t know the said Simfukwe, let alone where exactly the ordeal happened. All I knew was that my husband [Barthram], whom I’m legally married to with two children, was somewhere in Zambia living with a woman. And I was waiting for him to come back and divorce me,” Fatima said.
Simfukwe was ‘captured’ at Zaloumis’ farm in Chisamba, and his captors claimed he had confessed to have been sent by Barthram’s Botswana-based wife, Fatima, to harm Zaloumis for allegedly snatching her husband from her.
“The deceased [Simfukwe] might have been forced during alleged torture to name me as having sent him to trespass on the private farm,” Fatima said.
In a widely shared video captured during the alleged torture of the youth, which resulted into his death on August 17 2025, Simfukwe claimed to have been sent by Fatima to harm Zaloumis.
But in an exclusive interview with The Mast from Botswana, Fatima, 43, vehemently distanced herself from Simfukwe’s cruel murder.
She denied any interference in her husband’s new romantic expedition with Maria, a prominent Zambian farmer popularly known as Zed Farmer.
Fatima is the owner of King Jagaban Lounge in Mogodishane, Botswana, which she is said to have previously co-owned with Barthram.
She said a forensic investigation into allegations that she had hired Simfukwe to pour acid on her Zambian rival, Zaloumis, would outright exonerate her.
A marriage certificate seen by The Mast shows that the marriage between Barthram and Fatima was solemised at a Mogodishane local court on December 17, 2020.
Birth records and pictures seen by The Mast of the couple’s two children aged 6 and 4 indicate Barthram and Fatima as their father and mother, respectively.
“Nathaniel left the kids in February 2025 to visit the family in Nigeria. But I was surprised to see his photos with another woman on social media,” Fatima said.
She said their sudden separation stunned many people in Botswana who had known them as Botswana’s the ‘powerful couple’.
Fatima described Barthram as “a loving and caring husband and father” until he left to be with Maria in Zambia.
She said Barthram’s family, including his mother, knew her very well and that the couple had travelled together to Nigeria on three occasions.
Fatima said justice should prevail for Simfukwe’s killers whom she said had robbed the young man of his life at a prime age.
Efforts to secure an interview with Barthram were unsuccessful as he is remanded in custody in connection with Simfukwe’s murder pending court appearance.
Zaloumis, Barthram and their accomplices are expected to appear in the Kabwe magistrates court for mention today.
Last week, the Kabwe High Court ordered that all the four appear in a subordinate court because they had been in police detention longer than the law allowed without being presented before a competent court of law.
