The golden couple of Dr Eve Gadzikwa (55), a well-known
business person, philanthropist and author, and husband Celestine Gadzikwa,
businessman and Varichem financial director, has crashed into divorce, with the
two now fighting over how their family assets are to be counted and split.
While all Zimbabwean divorces are no fault divorces, the
fight over how Celestine’s company, CM Gadzikwa (Pvt) Ltd, is to be treated and
even if the divorce court should see its records, has made the divorce details
public and led to both giving explicit evidence of why the marriage has broken
down.
Celestine places adultery by Eve with a married boyfriend
as the main cause of the breakdown, while she is equally frank in saying her
husband has shown zero love and affection for five years, not touching her in
this time.
Eve is a well-known public figure.
She is director general and secretary to the Standards
Association of Zimbabwe and 13th president of Africa Union standards body, the
Africa Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and is the past board
chairperson of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and past chairperson of the
Institute of Directors (IoD) Zimbabwe. She has won many local and international
accolades.
On the other hand, Celestine is an esteemed businessman and
Varichem Holdings financial director with his company, CM Gadzikwa, thought to
be rather well funded.
So, their divorce is attracting public notice. Celestine is the one who has applied in the High Court for
divorce, giving evidence that the breakdown of the marriage is due to his
wife’s alleged frequent adultery with a married man, which he alleges she has
confessed to.
Through his lawyers, Dube, Manikai and Hwacha, he waxes
almost lyrical over his “extended tolerance, forbearance, mediation and counselling”.
Celestine states he is “continuously haunted and tormented
by the fear of being publicly humiliated, considering the real possibility that
the women and woman with whom (Eve) is in conflict over her boyfriend have
threatened to sue her and expose damaging pictures, audios and videos of
defendant in compromising, adulterous and undignified circumstances’’.
In her response, Eve consents to divorce, but is demanding
50 percent distribution of the family property, including shares in CM Gadzikwa
(Pvt) Ltd.
She blames the breakdown of the marriage on Celestine, whom
she blames of failing to discharge his obligations as a husband over the past
five years.
Through lawyer Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, she makes it plain that
the marriage has collapsed because Celestine “showed no love and affection in
the last five years of the marriage. (He) has generally failed to treat (Eve)
with the love, respect, support . . . intimacy as expected between husband and
wife.”
And then comes the reason why the couple did not divorce
quietly in a negotiated settlement to be presented to and confirmed by the
court.
Eve, argues that though she agreed to an uncontested
divorce, she declined to sign the consent paper which she considered to be
tilted in favour of Celestine financially.
“I contend that the only way that the divorce court can
make a fair and equitable order would be to have the company joined as a party
to the proceedings so that its entire operations can be looked into,” she
argues.
Celestine, she argues, will not suffer any prejudice if the
company is joined as a third party to the divorce proceedings.
Celestine is opposing Eve’s application, arguing that he
formed the company before the two got married.
The High Court will now have to decide whether or not any
growth in company assets between the marriage and the divorce should be part of
the divorce proceedings. Herald
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