By Mathew Masinge
Former Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, has been dragged to court by his erstwhile wife Maria Zvoma (nee Jeche) who is seeking a divorce and ancillary relief.
According to Maria, Zvoma left their Glen Lorne matrimonial home in 1993 and hasn’t been contributing anything towards the upkeep or development of his three children.
In her papers, Maria is also challenging Zvoma’s current marriage and seeks to get a share on a farm that was leased to the former government official during the land reform programme.
“The farm in Merwede, Harare, is on long-term lease to Zvoma by the Government and it is subject to distribution by the court on his interest.
“The defendant is getting value from using the farm and that value should be considered in the distribution of matrimonial property.
“The marriage between the defendant and the said current wife is null and void as it was entered without following due process in terms of the law, the marriage between the plaintiff (Maria) and defendant (Zvoma) still subsists,” reads Maria’s declaration.
Zvoma’s ex-wife wants to keep the Glen Lorne property which she has been occupying since 1978 but is registered in Zvoma’s name.
She alleges that Zvoma has been using the property as his collateral to obtain loans.
“The Plaintiff (Maria) contributed to the acquiring of the property but since she had no national identification at the time of registration the property was put in defendant name.
“The loans that he obtained using the house never benefited the family, he must clear all his debts and remove all the encumbrances attached to the property,” she said.
Zvoma contested his wife’s claims saying he only left a mutual consent.
“Both parties lost all love and affection for each other.
“The farm in question belongs to Government allocated under the land reform program.
“The Defendant (Zvoma) neither owns nor leases the property and it is not available for allocation and distribution upon divorce.
“The Defendant got married to his current wife on December 17, 2006 under the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11).
“Accordingly Plaintiff (Maria) has no legal claim or entitlement to any property acquired or allocated to Defendant after December 17, 2006.
“It is equitable that the defendant be awarded 60 percent of the Glen Lorne house with the balance of the value being awarded to plaintiff,” argued Zvoma.
The matter is pending determination by the court. H-Metro
