LOVE for beer has cost a 24-yearold woman of Garden Township her marriage of three years. Her husband, Moses Mwakapiya, 36, says he has given up on his wife Agness Mambwe because she has defied his order to stop drinking beer. He was testifying in a matter in which Mambwe sued him for marriage reconciliation. The couple got married in 2017 and has one child.

Mwakapiya told the Matero Local Court that he no longer loves Mambwe because she has defied his instructions on several occasions. “We have sat down on several occasions to counsel Mambwe to stop drinking beer but she has not changed. I am tired of her behaviour and I don’t think I can continue staying with her,” he said. Mwakapiya told the court that he always finds the children alone when he knocks off from work. He said Mambwe has neglected her duties because of her love for beer.

“I decided that we go on separation hoping that she would change but to no avail. She comes home at 02:00 hours to come and throw stones at my door. She has not changed,” Mwakapiya said. He told the court that last time he found Mambwe at some drinking place after she told him that she was going to visit her friend. In his submission, Mwakapiya told the court that: “I don’t trust my wife anymore.” Mambwe earlier told the court that she still loves her husband and wants the couple to reconcile.

“I drink beer yes, but I don’t over drink. Last time my husband hit me with a brick in the head, I woke up at Chipata clinic,” she said. Mambwe said her husband neglected her and found another woman when the couple went on separation. In passing judgement, magistrate Miyanda Banda dismissed the claim because bride price was not paid.