Own Correspondent|A wife in Zambia who slept on her duty to inform her husband that the mealie-meal in her kitchen had run out is now facing divorce charges from her husband.

The husband’s move to take his wife to court stunned Senior Local Court magistrate Kambole Nyoni who could not believe Evaristo Sitonge’s reason to divorce his wife, Loveness Jere.

Sitonge apparently stood firm on his divorce ground and told the court the reason that it was because she did not inform him that mealie-meal had finished in the house.

“Your honour, I only heard from my sister in law that mealie-meal had finished in the house. My wife did not tell me anything, this is the reason why I want to divorce her,” he said.

Sitonge charged that his wife was supposed to inform him that mealie-meal had finished in the house, rather than keeping quiet.

He said as a man of the house, he has never failed to buy mealie-meal and always does that before it finishes.

Apparently, the Mealie Meal was used up a week before the husband came to know of it but the family continued to have sadza provided. Sitonge demanded to know where his wife got the mealie-meal she was using to cook for the week.

“Mwechilye (Your honour), I want my wife to tell me where she got the mealiemeal we have been eating. In my life, I have never bought a ‘pamela’ (nickname for 5kg bag of Mealie Meal) before, I always buy large quantities,” he said.

Sitonge has since kicked out his wife and wants the court to end their eight-year marriage.

Jere acknowledged she did not inform her husband that mealie-meal had finished in the house.

She said the reason she did not do so is because he knew he had not yet been paid. “I was waiting for him to get paid, so this is the reason why I did not inform him about mealie-meal finishing in the house,” she said.

Jere said since she is a trader, she bought a “pamela” at the market as she waited for her husband to get paid. She also accused her husband of sexually starving her and telling her that he has fallen out of love.

Jere said her husband also tells her that the woman he loved and wanted to marry is married elsewhere. The court adjourned the matter to December 30, 2019.

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