A Zimbabwean man is suing his father-in-law to recover US$2 700 he paid as bride price (lobola) alleging that his new wife cheated before their wedding.
According to a ZimLive report, Maxmillan Tapiwa Kondowe won a default judgement against Charles Bandera at the civil court but two High Court judges have granted him temporary reprieve by allowing him to appeal.
Justices Benjamin Chikowero and Samuel Deme, sitting as an appeal court, on Monday barred Kondowe from executing the default judgment pending the outcome of his appeal. Said Chikowero:
In our view, there was no evidence of deliberateness that was placed before the court a quo and hence there was no wilful default.
Kondowe told the civil court that sometime in March 2021, he paid the bride price for Shumirai Bandera from Karoi.
He said that after the ceremony, he was not allowed by the bride’s father to immediately start living with his wife until after their wedding.
Kondowe claimed that two months after the lobola ceremony, but before the wedding, he discovered WhatsApp messages on his wife’s phone showing that she was dating another man.
He said he confronted his wife who allegedly admitted having cheated.
Kondowe divorced his wife and took his father-in-law to the small claims court demanding his lobola back.
Bandera was served with a summons but failed to enter an appearance to defend.
Kondowe then successfully applied for default judgment against the Bandera.
When Bandera found out that the Messenger of Court wanted to execute the default judgment, he proceeded to apply for a rescission of the judgement.
He applied for an interim order for a stay of execution of the default judgment which was dismissed by the civil court.
Bandera then appealed to the High Court which has paused the execution of judgement until the matter is heard.
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