A marriage dispute involving allegations of infidelity, accusations of unfaithfulness and claims of threats has ended in divorce at the Chelstone Local Court in Lusaka.
The case involved Loveness Mukwato, 23, and her 36-year-old husband, Trevor Banda, who gave conflicting accounts of what went wrong in their marriage. Mukwato accused her husband of cheating on her with her cousin and another woman, while Banda blamed their marital problems on what he described as suspicious behaviour by his wife.
During the proceedings, Banda made unusual claims about his wife’s physical responses during intimacy, which he said had made him suspicious of her fidelity. He also alleged that he once heard her referring to him as a baby daddy rather than a husband during a telephone conversation with another man.
Banda told the court that their relationship began experiencing serious difficulties in 2024, after Mukwato secured a job at a Lusaka supermarket. He alleged that she began going out to clubs and eventually admitted to having a boyfriend who earned more money than him.
Mukwato, however, told the court that she had been driven to seek a divorce because of repeated calls and alleged threats from a woman she identified as Patricia, whom she described as her husband’s girlfriend.
She further alleged that she once found Banda with her cousin days after she had suffered a miscarriage.
After hearing the couple’s accounts, Magistrate Charity Milambo observed that the two appeared to have lost respect and affection for each other. The court granted the divorce.
The magistrate also questioned the circumstances surrounding the couple’s early marriage, noting that Mukwato was 16 when she married Banda in 2019.
The court ordered Banda to pay K500 in monthly child support, starting that month, while declining to award maintenance to Mukwato.
The ruling brings the couple’s marriage dispute to a close, with the court’s decision highlighting the breakdown of trust and the competing allegations presented during the proceedings.
