By GHETTO VOICES reporter
A Mr. Joseph Chitulika of Chalala area in Lusaka has dumped his girlfriend whom he dated and cohabitated with for 4 years, only to settle for a maid who worked for him.
Much to the shock of the deserted and disheartened career lady who works for one of the leading banks in Zambia as a Commercial Manager, she only discovered through her friends that her longtime lover paid a bride price to the family of the maid who works for them.
The career lady holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Lusaka. After learning of the development that her lover paid bride price for their maid, she confronted him and he admitted that he could no longer pretend that he loves her anymore.
This prompted the career lady to sue Mr. Chitulika for the ‘lost time’.
According to an affidavit submitted by the lady before the Lusaka Local Court seen by Ghetto Voices, she wants the court to award her compensation it reckons adequate, against Chitulika.
Meanwhile, during oral submission, the lady told court that she has been keeping Chitulika and supporting him financially in his business before it grew to where it is. She says she suspects her lover has been having an intimate affair with their maid for some time now. The lady says each time the maid did something wrong and whenever she wanted to shout at her or better chase her, Chitulika would always passionately defend her saying she deserved leniency.
“Sometimes I would travel out of the country leaving him alone. I think they even used to have sex from our bed while am out” she said while concluding her oral submission.
Chitulika argued drawing his facts from the example of artist Kay Figo in the case Kayula Bwalya vs John Van 2012 where the plaintiff wanted the court to grant her compensation against the respondent who dated her for five years but ended up not marrying her.
According to the facts of the case, Kayula Bwalya claimed that since she had been cohabiting with Van for that long, she deserved compensation from his property because that constituted marriage. The court dismissed her claims.
And Chitulika argued in defense that to the contrary, he did not need to compensate her because as far as he was concerned he was not married to her under the Marriage Act as prescribed.
In his oral defense, he admitted that he has paid bride price to marry the maid because he finds her attractive not only physically but including her personality.
“This lady is a know it all. She thinks just because she holds an MBA then she can reign over me anyhow with arrogance. I began growing cold feet about her when she started coming out like being educated and her dating me was like doing me a favour. She sends me to fetch her water to drink and sometimes even to do simple things which she can do herself all in the name of being more educated and having more take home than me. She can’t wash, cook or do any chores. For me I just can’t be with such a person. Am okay with this same maid because she is cultured” Chitulika said.
Having listened to both testimonies, the court dismissed the lady’s claims in favour of Chitulika while relying on the Kayula Bwalya vs John Van 2012 case whose facts are similar in principle.