MAN WINS BIGAMY DAMAGES

THE High Court has awarded US$5 000 to Cloudio Jume after his wife, Thelmah Guvakumwe, was convicted of marrying two husbands in 2022.

Jume had initially demanded US$50 000 for loss of consortium and conjugal rights and a further US$50 000 for contumelia.

He approached the High Court saying his reputation was tarnished, privacy infringed and dignity lost.

However, Justice Emilia Muchawa dismissed the claim for loss of consortium after finding that Jume had no love left for Guvakumwe.

Guvakumwe was convicted of bigamy in December 2022 after marrying her neighbour, Elton Sanyamahwe, and sired a child with him while married to Jume.

Sanyamahwe was aware of the existence of the marriage between Jume and Guvakumwe when he engaged in an adulterous relationship with her.

Guvakume was fined US$10 000 and made to perform 105 hours of community service at Warren Park 1 Primary School.

The court also found that Jume was a philandering man, who had divorced or separated from up to three other women, and that Sanyamahwe was dishonest in his defence after denying fathering the child.

Jume and Guvakumwe married in March 2014 before solemnising their marriage in September 2017 in terms of the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11).

Their marriage was dissolved on March 16 last year after Jume found out about the adulterous affair.

Justice Muchawa found it as common cause that Guvakumwe was still married to Jume in September 2021 when she started becoming intimate with Sanyamahwe.

She claimed she met Sanyamahwe at a bar after her break-up, drugged him and the two became intimate.

Sanyamahwe claimed he was raped after a night out as he had woken up naked in a bar.

Jume said he was made to believe that his wife had secured a job in Chegutu while she was in the neighbourhood with Sanyamahwe.

“The totality of the evidence, however, shows that Jume was a philandering man who was married to a woman 24 years his junior, who was one in a row of up to three others whom he had divorced or separated from.

“He even boasted that married men go out for a good time with many other women and it is okay. It only becomes a problem when the women do likewise.

“Sanyamahwe is alleged to have been boasting that Jume’s wife had left him because of his small manhood and he was better able to satisfy her. “He was alleged not to be remorseful.”

Justice Muchawa said Sanyamahwe was clearly dishonest with the court after denying fathering the child.