‘Misfiring gun’ grounds 36-yr marriage
By Charles Musonda
THE Matero Local Court has dissolved a 36-year-old marriage after John Chiti complained of erectile dysfunction each time he wanted to make love to his second wife.
Chiti married his second wife after his first wife Idah Chileshe left home for two years.
He told the Matero Local Court that when he went back home to make love to Chileshe he felt like a needle had pricked his manhood, and after that his private part swelled and developed sores.
Chiti, 55, of Chazanga compound said he married Chileshe, 53, in 1990 and the two had 10 children, of whom three died.
He explained that after they got married in Kasama in 1990, they relocated to Lusaka in search of a better life, but each time he went back to visit family in the village, his father-in-law would chase him on grounds that he had gone there alone, leaving behind his wife in Lusaka.
Chiti also said whenever the couple differed, he would hear stories from his children who would complain that he was troubling their mother.
He told the court that his firstborn son could even enter their matrimonial bedroom to harass him.
“My father-in-law came from the village and he started insulting and accusing me of having stolen and sold groundnuts he said he came with. Later he said he would walk back to Kasama in protest,” Chiti said.
Chiti said at some point Chileshe left for the village and spent two years, a move that forced him to return back to Kasama, before marrying another woman with whom he has six children in 2008. “Whenever I would go to mai nini (second wife), I would not have an erection, and when I was making love to my first wife, I would feel like a needle prickling me and my manhood would be swollen and develop sores,” Chiti said.
He said he later sought medical attention for the problem.
Chiti said his livelihood depended on a plastic recycling business, which he expanded to Chingola, Solwezi, Chililabombwe and Mufulira, though Chileshe would not help out.
In her response to the accusations, Chileshe accused Chiti of adulterous behaviour.
She said Chiti was in the habit of being with more than one woman, saying that since he married her, he had been with more than five other women whom he had children with.
Chileshe told the court that the needle-prickling experience on his manhood started after he married the fifth woman, he had built a big house in Luanshya.
“…and bought expensive household goods for her while he has neglected his first family and stopped paying rent and buying food for the children and me, who I have with him,” she said.
In their submissions, Chiti insisted on divorce while Chileshe did not want to divorce, saying he should just return home he deserted three years ago.
In his judgment, Matero Local Court magistrate Moses Lubuwa said it was wrong for Chiti to rush into marrying another woman, where he concentrated development, especially that he was an elder at a Pentecostal church.
“Polygamy is not a solution, but if you are in a polygamous arrangement, ensure that no one is disadvantaged. Betrayal is not good for a person you have come a long way with,” Justice Lubuwa said. He said although Chileshe did not want divorce, Chiti had already made up his mind and the court could not force him to reconcile with her.
Justice Lubuwa dissolved the marriage and ordered Chiti to compensate Chileshe with K10, 000 starting with K2,000 and thereafter K600 monthly installments, K1,000 monthly child maintenance for their two youngest children aged 15 and 10 and to give her two houses, one in Lusaka’s Four Ways area and another in Solwezi.
Ends.
