By A Correspondent- Chirumanzu Zibagwe MP, Prosper Machando (Zanu PF) stunned the court early this week when he offered to pay ZWL$50 for the upkeep of a four-year-old child he sired with a Mvuma woman, Clara Taruberekera.

Machando, who is the Midlands provincial deputy youth chairperson however, said he could only afford ZWL$50 since he had other commitments such as debts, bank loans and medical bills for his other son who was in the hospital.

But Chivhu magistrate Rufaro Panavanhu dismissed his offer and instead ordered him to pay ZWL$296 for the maintenance of his customary wife and minor child.

Taruberekera had told the magistrate that she had been customarily married to Machando and lived together in Mvuma until he stopped coming home in April, forcing her to relocate to her sister’s house in Chivhu. But Machando denied that he was married to her, saying they only cohabited.