Eddington Machingauta only managed to pay US$3 690 and
groceries worth US$550, making it a total of US$4 240. The Manica Post reports
that Patricia Chantelle Madenga’s parents refused to hand her over saying her man needed
to top up the money.
Months later the relationship between the couple turned sour and the
woman then opted out of the marriage. Machingauta tried to negotiate with his
in-laws so that they could either restitute his money and groceries or give him
his wife, all to no avail.
Machingauta then took the matter to court. Magistrate Ms
Priscilla Gumbo dismissed his claim for lobola refund.
“It is still unclear why you decided to lay dormant after
paying lobola and only decided to resurface demanding a refund of the lobola. This
raises questions on whether the applicant wanted his wife or if it was all a
sham. My belief is the applicant would have taken the necessary actions to have
his wife back if he truly wanted the marriage to subsist.”
Ms Gumbo ruled that Mr Machingauta is not entitled to a
refund since the marriage was never dissolved as he did not offer his wife a
divorce token ‘gupuro’.
Because of that, the court ruled that the two are only on
separation.
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