‘I have not had sex for 24 years’

By Leonard Ncube

A BULAWAYO man yesterday stunned the court when he said he had not had sex for the past 24 years because he is afraid of contracting HIV.

Mr Ephraim Tendere, whose details were not given but is aof Number 16 Hogath Road, Romney Park, said this while denying paternity for his six-year-old daughter with girlfriend Ms Sharleen Connick at the Maintenance Court.

Mr Tendere told Bulawayo magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu that the child could not be his because he last had sex in 1989 and since then he has been afraid of contracting the virus that causes Aids after seeing his two brothers succumb to the disease.

He also left the court stunned when he claimed that Ms Connick was his relative and he could not have engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

“I am surprised because the applicant is a relative of mine and this child is not mine. I would not have slept with my relative.

“I am a widower and since I saw my brothers dying of Aids I have never wanted to have sex. I last had sex in 1989 and I do not agree that I could be the father of this child,” said Mr Tendere.

Mr Tendere, who said he was a mechanic and sometimes works as a part time driver, told the court that the applicant was a liar and he would not give her any money for her child.

However, Ms Connick insisted that Mr Tendere was the father of her daughter who she said he fathered when he would invite her to his house since they live in the same suburb.

“He is lying. We had an affair leading to the birth of this child. We stay in the same neighbourhood and he used to call me to his house and I would sleep over,” said Ms Connick, adding that she was now married to another man.

She told the court that after the birth of the child, Mr Tendere would sometimes invite her to his house whenever she asked for money so that he could give her “something” but he never did.

“I would go there and he would start telling me that he did not have money. That is why I decided to come to court because this man is not honest and is irresponsible. I could not have just come and sued him if he was not the father of my child,” she said.

The magistrate ordered Mr Tendere to pay $65 per month starting at the end of this month for the upkeep of the child pending the paternity test.

“The interests of a child are considered paramount than any other concerns of the two parties,” said Mr Mpofu.

Ms Connick had applied for $250 per month.

Appearing before a different magistrate, a lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science at the National University of Science and Technology Mr Notice Pasipamire was ordered to pay $200 for the upkeep of his six-year-old child with his girlfriend, Ms Silingiwe Nyathi of Pelandaba suburb.

Ms Nyathi was demanding $290 from Mr Pasipamire who earns a net salary of $1 771,84 per month.

A polygamist Zesa technician was ordered to pay $150 to maintain his two minor children with his first wife. 

Mr Isaac Chimukuyu of Njube suburb, who told the court that he had three wives, had reportedly abandoned the first wife and three children aged 18, 14 and 11 prompting her to approach the courts.

Ms Sabatha Nkomo was demanding $250 per month for the three children but the magistrate Mr Takundwa Mtetwa reduced the amount to $150 for the two minor children with the exception of the one who is 18.

An elated Ms Nkomo said she was happy to get the $150 because her husband, who earns a net salary of $975,28 per month, has been giving her only $30 for the three children.

Mr Chimukuyu on the other hand was infuriated by his wife’s decision to take him to court, saying he was giving her enough money for her upkeep and that of the children.