Village Chief orders man to pay 4 cows for committing adultery

In Zimbabwe, a school’s inspector was ordered by a chief to pay four cows to the husband of the woman he was having an adulterous affair with.

The school’s inspector who was identified by ZBC as Dambuza was ordered to compensate Edwin Machobeni for having an adulterous relationship with his wife, Catherine, a clerk at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education offices in Guruve.

The other cow was for Chief Chipuriro, plus costs. Dambuza is now suing Machobeni and is seeking to have the chief’s ruling overturned.

He approached a local court last Friday arguing that the chief’s judgment was grossly unfair because no conclusive evidence of the adulterous relationship which was presented during the trial.

Dambuza argued that Chief Chipuriro relied on a manipulated screenshot to convict him when there was no documentary evidence from the service provider to establish if the messages were authentic.

Dambuza said the Chief had an interest in the matter because he was Machobeni’s colleague and workmate in the Ministry of Local Government. He said Chief Chipuriro made a mistake by presiding over the adultery claim, applying customary law when the parties had a civil marriage.

In response, Machobeni said in 2018 he intercepted a message from Dambuza making a proposal to his wife. When he quizzed Dambuza he said the message was lost.

Machobeni said his wife confessed to having a sexual relationship with Dambuza during a family meeting.

He submitted a letter that was written to the Provincial Education Director by security guards at the district offices complaining about Dambuza and Cathrine using the Ministry’s offices as a love nest, as part of the evidence.

The matter was remanded to July 15.