A Penhalonga man who is in the habit of blessing his wife’s extra marital affairs to later extort money from her boyfriends was forced to eat a humble pie after being dragged to court by one of the victims.
This emerged at Mutare Magistrates Civil Court where Justice Makina was applying for a peace order against Christopher Ndebvu.
Makina denied ever having an affair with Ndebvu’s wife, only identified as Mai Ndebvu.
“We grew up together in the same community and she is our neighbour. She also works for my grandmother. I never had a relationship with her, but had the shock of my life when they started accusing me of having an affair with her,” said Makina.
Makina said they dragged him to the village head, pressing infidelity charges against him.
The couple wanted US$700 as compensation for the alleged affair.
“They have been doing this to a lot of people. The wife befriends the intended targets and her husband will accuse the men of dating his wife. The wife will confirm the alleged affair.
“When I appeared before the village head, the wife was there. The village head asked me to pay US$700 as compensation for dating a married woman. I will not pay that amount as I was never in love with her. The couple wants to share the money.
“He takes advantage of married people who do not want to be exposed or entangled in such unfounded allegations. Everyone knows that this man is lazy and uses his wife to extort money. He survives on duping people. The weaklings just succumb to his evil machinations. I will not pay compensation for something that I did not do,” he said.
Makina also said all the married men in their community are now afraid to greet Mai Ndebvu.
“If you greet his wife, you would have sinned against him. He makes sure that you pay dearly for that. He rushes to report you to the village head and a lot of men pay before the matter is heard at the community court to avoid drama. The wife is also in on the scam,” said Makina.
In response, Ndebvu insisted that Makina was dating his wife.
“I was hearing rumours that my wife was having an affair with Makina. I did my own investigations and unearthed the truth. When we were at the bar, I took Makina’s cellphone and scrolled it to check whether my wife’s number was saved in it.
“I pretended as if my battery was flat and Makina gave me his phone. I discovered that my wife’s number was saved in the phone. What did he want with my wife’s number? I confronted my wife about the issue and she confessed dating Makina,” said Ndebvu.
He said Makina bribed his wife by offering her a job at his grandmother’s house.
“He helped her secure employment at his grandmother’s house and ever since then he has been sleeping with my wife. I got all this information from my wife,” said Ndebvu.
Ndebvu also said he once took his wife back to her parents’ house because she had disgraced him by having an affair with another man.
“It did not sit well with me. I was traumatised. I took her back to her parents’ house, but I later realised that we had four children together, so who would look after the children? I opted to take the compensation route while I take my wife back. The matter is still pending before the community court in Penhalonga,” he said.
Ndebvu’s wife who was seated in the gallery confirmed that she had an affair with Makina.
She said they would communicate using a friend’s phone to avoid detection and also met in the bush, away from the public glare.
The presiding magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato granted the peace order in Makina’s favour.
He advised the feuding parties to await the community court’s ruling.
