MAKONDE community were shocked recently after Chief Nemakonde ordered a villager who was found in possession of cell number details belonging to a soldier’s wife to pay US$1 100 or two cattle and two goats.
BY NUNURAI JENA
William Chakabveyo of Lion’s Den, who is unemployed, has since appealed against the conviction and sentence at the civil court in Chinhoyi.
Chakabveyo was summoned to Chief Nemakonde’s communal court in Shackleton, some 10km from Chinhoyi, to answer charges that he was having an extra-marital affair with Lynos Obvias Nyikayavene’s wife, Sharoni Madungwe.
Nyikayavene is a soldier.
Although the wife denied being in a relationship with Chakabveyo, Nyikayavene insisted at the court that Chakabveyo had at one time phoned his wife and must therefore pay three head of cattle.
The chief reduced the fine to two cattle and ordered Chakabveyo to pay two goats directly to him.
Chakabveyo was further ordered to pay US$20 for the case to be heard at the chief’s court and another US$20 for wasting “the courts’ time”.
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Since he only had US$20 on him, he was asked to surrender his mobile phone.
There have been several cases where chiefs have handed judgements that have left people with more questions than answers.
Chief Negomo recently charged a young man 10 beasts for impregnating and refusing to marry a girl in the same community.
In another case, a man in Chiweshe was asked to pay three beasts to a man he had a fight with, resulting in him losing three teeth.
The Zimbabwe Council of Chief’s president, Fortune Charumbira said penalties differed from one community to another and there is no monetary jurisdiction.
“Cases differ from one community to another and are determined by the culture of the area and charges are limited by customary practice,” said Charumbira Charumbira said subjects who feel that their Chief is not administering justice well were free to approach his council whose desire it is to see “justice properly administered at all levels”.
