By Staff writer
A 40-year-old man of Ndola’s commando unit has accused his wife of lying to him about being the father of their first child.
Jerry Kasope has since dragged Mildred Namwanji, 33 to court for divorce as he claims not to be sure about their child’s paternity.
Kasope of commando unit in Ndola told the court that all was well in his marriage, not until 2017 when a dispute was had over who the father of their child was.
“Because of the doubts I had about the child being mine, she went to an extent of almost killing herself. So because of the same, I called for a family meeting in which I made a decision to divorce her, but she went and reported me to victim support unit, on allegations that I had stolen the child,” he said.
He told court that after the incident, he also sold a plot worth K80, 000 and gave his wife K10,000 for business.
“However, she turned against me after giving her the money and went to report me at work, telling them that I had sold a house and never gave her anything,” he said.
He also accused his wife of not having respect for his family stating also that three meetings held to change her behavior proved futile.
Kasope further told court that he would not live with a woman who claimed at some point that he was not the father of their child.
However, in defence, Namwanji told court that in 2011 after the two had their child, in 2019; her husband started complaining of not being given more children.
“We ended up having family meetings over the issue of me not giving birth to another child,” she said.
She told court that in 2019, her husband left home to marry another woman, but that he divorced her in 2020.
Namwanji also narrated that her husband in another instance sent his sister to end their marriage with a K30, but that her family refused.
She further accused him of trying to hide their child from her after she was sent back to school by him adding also that he had also sold their house without her knowledge.
Namwanji added that their child was his and that her husband was just furious and decided to divorce.
And in passing judgment Presiding senior Magistrate John Kabwe sitting with senior Magistrate Emeldah Masuwa granted Divorce ordered that the child remain with Kasope.
The court however, ordered also that Namwanji be allowed to have access to the child and also ordered Kasope to compensate Namwanji with K10, 000 in monthly installments of K500.
