LACK of respect for her husband has cost a 49-year-old woman of Lusaka’s Chunga Township her marriage of 15 years. Her husband, Patrick Sakala, 55, told the Matero local court that he can no longer stay with his wife, Saviour Moonga, due to lack of respect for him. Sakala was testifying in a matter in which he sued Moonga for divorce.

The couple got married in 2005 and has three children together. The pair has been on separation under the same roof for two years. He told the court that problems in his marriage started in 2018 when he stopped working. “From the inception of our marriage all was well until I stopped working in 2018. My wife answers me rudely every time I call her,” a visibly annoyed Sakala clad in a blue work suit said. He told the court that Moonga does not regard him as her husband and head of the house because she is the one who is working. Sakala said he is tired of his wife’s behaviour and has lost interest in the marriage.

“She has been bragging from the time she started working at her sister’s restaurant,” he said. But in her testimony, Moonga told the court that Sakala lost interest in her from the time he married another woman. She said he chased her from the matrimonial bedroom and has since been denying her conjugal rights. “My husband changed when he married another woman. He stopped sleeping in my room. I was shocked when he started throwing my things outside,” Moonga said.

She told the court that Sakala also told her to go and find another man to marry her. Moonga also told the court that Sakala infected her with the virus. “I am also tired of this marriage because there is nothing beneficial for me. It is better that we divorce,” she said. In passing judgement, Magistrate Pauline Newa adjourned the matter to March 2, 2020 for judgement