ACTING President Constantino Chiwenga is itching for a
showdown with estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, in court today and has rejected an
out-of-court settlement following a nasty fallout with the former model.
Chiwenga’s lawyer Wellington Pasipanodya told NewsDay
yesterday that he was also displeased with the manner in which Marry’s legal
team was handling the case, insisting that there were no moves from his client
to have an out-of-court settlement.
The two are embroiled in nasty divorce proceedings amid a
serious fight over custody of their children, while Chiwenga also accuses his
wife of trying to kill him. There have been accusations and counter accusations
from both camps of drug abuse and engaging in rituals, among other issues.
Pasipanodya said he could not comment on the merits of the
matter since it was still before the court, but said there was no agreement for
an out-of-court settlement.
“The matter is sub judice (before the courts). Contrary to
the public media, I have not received any instructions from my client for an
out-of-court settlement. I do not know where that is coming from. My client did
not concede to anything and the matter will proceed tomorrow (today) as
scheduled in court,” Pasipanodya, who is instructing Advocate Lewis Uriri in
representing Chiwenga, said.
On Friday last week, Marry, who was in the company of her
lawyer Advocate Taona Nyamakura, appeared before Justice Christopher Dube-Banda
at the High Court and the matter was not deliberated on and the hearing
deferred.
However, soon after the deferment of the matter, Nyamakura
told journalist that: “The matter has been deferred to Tuesday January 21, for
possible argument or confirmation of settlement. We exchanged positions as
legal practitioners acting for both sides in the matter and the tentative
position is that this is a matter that we both agreed should be settled and not
argued.
“It will be in the best interest of the children that the
parties find each other and that the law is followed. But it’s a tentative
position, if we cannot reach a settlement by Monday, then it means we proceed
with oral argument on Tuesday as directed by the judge.”
Pasipanodya’s position, however, is an indication that
perhaps the parties failed to find common ground and, as such, the matter will
be determined by Justice Dube-Banda.
The acrimony between Chiwenga and Marry came into public
domain in December last year when the former filed for divorce soon after coming
back from China, where he had been receiving treatment.
Marry was arrested on December 14 last year on charges of
externalising foreign currency and attempting to kill the former army boss.
While Marry was in remand prison, Chiwenga took custody of
the couple’s children and also took charge of the pair’s Harare matrimonial
home, Number 614 Nick Price Drive, Borrowdale, prompting his wife to file for
an urgent chamber application seeking the return of the children and access to
the house where she had been barred by her husband.
Early last week, Chiwenga openly accused Marry of having
caused his illness and also attempted to end his life in a bid to take over his
vast wealth.
He also accused her of being a drug addict, who is in the
habit of consulting witchdoctors, adding she sprayed his clothes with unknown substances,
all in a bid to kill him.
Chiwenga also accused Marry of working in cahoots with his
enemies who are based outside Zimbabwe with a view to tarnish his image.
However, in response to the accusations by her husband, the
former top model hit back and revealed that the collapse of the couple’s
nine-year customary marriage was brought about by Chiwenga’s alleged paranoia,
poor health and the influence of “heavy doses of drugs”.
Marry also said her husband harboured an ambition to take
over the presidency.
Ironically, in his response to Marry’s urgent application
for custody, Chiwenga accused his wife of being a bad parent, which she
dismissed, saying she was a better, healthy parent as opposed to the “sickly”
Vice-President.
Turning to the issue of the couple’s assets, Marry claimed
that Chiwenga had all his assets registered in his relatives’ names in an
effort to avoid sanctions that were imposed on him by the United States
government.
Marry further dismissed claims that her marriage with
Chiwenga was over, saying she was claiming the equivalent of US$40 000 per
month as maintenance for her upkeep and a total of US$7 500 per month for her
three children, which money she said should be paid at the interbank rate.
Besides the claim of monthly maintenance, Marry also said
her husband should be ordered to pay for the family’s holidays, school and
medical expenses and casual clothes, all running into thousands of United
States dollars. Newsday
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