‘She followed my pension, not love’

 

By ALEX NJOVU


A 58-YEAR-OLD former headmaster has told a local court that a 49-year-old woman proposed love to him after she overheard him telling someone on the phone that he was on his way to the bank to check if his retirement dues were ready.
Chimfunshi Basic School former deputy headmaster Maniford Musonda of Kamitondo Township in Kitwe said Esther Lesa sweet-talked him into signing a marriage certificate at a restaurant where she was working while he was under the influence of alcohol.
This was heard in a case in which Lesa of Butundo Township in Mufulira sued Musonda for divorce after he deserted their matrimonial house.
Musonda told senior presiding magistrate Martin Linkombe, sitting with magistrate Godwin Lundu, that his marriage to Lesa lasted for only one unbearable month.
“Your worship, I landed myself into trouble when I told this woman that I was going to the bank to check for my pension,” he said.
He accused Lesa of conniving with some officers from the Victim Support Unit (VSU) and the police to intimidate him into marrying her.
He said Lesa reported him to the police where a police officer threatened to lock him up if he refused to marry Lesa. He said he was released after he agreed to take her as his wife.
Musonda said Lesa demanded that he makes his promise in writing hence the marriage certificate.
Musonda said if he had been sober, he would not have signed the marriage certificate.
“This woman you see is unfair. She lies and intimidates a lot. I was warned by some people who knew her but I wanted to be sure. She organised a marriage certificate through dubious means and forced me to sign it,” he said.
“This woman is very crafty. She was my wife yes, but I never lived with her. I only had sex with her three times,” he said.
He also said that at one time he had gone to Kasama with his first wife, who is a senior teacher in Mufulira, to visit her relatives and while they were away Lesa went to his house and harassed his son.
Musonda said Lesa accused his first wife of going away with her (Lesa) husband.
“When I returned from Kasama a police officer asked me to pay K500,000 to close the docket and Lesa demanded for K2 million for rentals and to boost her business,” he said.
Musonda said he got married to Lesa in April 2010 and that their marriage ended in May the same year. They have no children together.
He also said at one time his first wife chased him from their home and around midnight he went to Lesa’s house where he spent a night since he was new in Mufulira.
Musonda said that the following morning Lesa directed him to write a will and to move all his properties to her house. He said he never bought any property or household goods in his brief marriage with Lesa.
In her statement, Lesa told the court that they married under customary law and have a signed marriage certificate. She said Musonda even paid K100,000 as dowry.
Lesa said no-one forced him to sign a marriage certificate and that he married her out of love he had for her. She also said women never propose love to men as Musonda claimed she did.
Lesa said it is not true that she worked with police officers and officers from the VSU to intimidate him into marrying her.
She said while living together, they bought property such as a house, car and household goods.
Lesa told the court that Musonda introduced her to oral sex despite her objections on grounds that this was against her Christian beliefs. Musonda denied this.
Lesa said that after the weird sexual encounter Musonda deserted her and that is why she sued him for divorce.
The court dissolved the marriage and ordered Musonda to pay Lesa K3 million as compensation plus K500,000 to cover her transport costs. The court also ordered that Musonda gives Lesa some household goods.