Father of 42 kids arrested over secret wedding
By Tendai Kamhungira
HARARE – An 80-year-old Bindura man who sired 42 children with five different women has found himself in a tight spot after he was nabbed for wedding illegally. Harare magistrate Jackie Munyonga on Thursday fined Michael Kunaka $100 after convicting him on bigamy charges. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.
It was Kunaka’s 78-year-old first wife who sold him out, fearing she would lose two homes they had built together as a result of the marriage. Police moved in and arrested Kunaka last Friday. Munyonga initially sentenced Kunaka to six months in prison before suspending three months on condition of good behaviour for the next five years.
A further three months were suspended on condition Kunaka pays the $100 fine. The heavily-built but pale looking Kunaka initially appeared in court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody for the marriage certificate to be brought before the court.
On Thursday, magistrate Munyonga ordered the cancellation of the marriage certificate. The octogenarian contravened Section 104 1 (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
Prosecutor Liberty Gono told the court Kunaka’s first wife Margaret reported him to police after he secretly wed his second wife, Rowesayi under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11, which binds a man to one wife. Kunaka married Margaret in 1962 under customary marriage.
The court heard in May last year, Kunaka pretended that he had fallen ill and was accompanied to hospital by his second wife Rowesayi, with whom he has 12 children. The two took the opportunity to marry under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11, the court was told.
Margaret got wind of the development and blew the whistle after realising she could lose the two houses she built together with Kunaka to Rowesayi by virtue of the marriage certificate. The two own a house in Bindura and another in Harare’s high density suburb of Dzivaresekwa.
Kunaka, dressed in prison garb, pleaded with the court to be lenient saying he had a huge family to look after. He said Margaret and Rowesayi were his surviving wives after the other three died. Daily News
