VICE PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga’s ex-wife, Marry who is facing allegations of assaulting their maid, has accused her former husband of using the child minder to alienate her from their children.
Appearing in court yesterday, before magistrate Learnmore Mapiye, Marry denied slapping her maid Delight Munyoro saying her hands were swollen and too painful to slap anyone. She claimed that the complainant was part of a plot to further Chiwenga’s interests.
Marry argued that Chiwenga had even written a letter denying her mother access to the children after she attended a sports day to cheer them on and even returned the money she gave her grandchildren.
Allegations against Marry are that she had met Munyoro at a school where she was collecting the children.
Marry allegedly started shouting at Munyoro accusing her of being a witch. Munyoro told the court yesterday that Marry struck her once on the cheek with the backside of her hand and that she sustained a cut on the left side of her mouth.
She claimed that one of her teeth was shaking and that she had to seek treatment having reported to the police first while saying she had no reason to lie against Marry as they used to get along very well.
Through her lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, Marry denied the allegations saying her health condition characterised by swollen hands made it impossible for her to slap Munyoro.
“She will state that since her husband sought to end their customary marriage, she has been under siege with all kinds of spurious allegations of a criminal nature being levelled against her by various suborned State institutions.
“She will contend that this prosecution is part and parcel of the abuse of State institutions by her powerful husband to weaken her in her resolve to fully assert her rights in all the proceedings that have been brought against her,” Mtetwa submitted.
Marry averred that her daughter had told her that Munyoro was trying to divide the children.
She insisted that there was no physical attack on Munyoro although there was a verbal exchange which cannot amount to an assault.
“She will deny assaulting the complainant with whom she had a verbal exchange. She will point out that her limbs were severely damaged at a bomb blast in Bulawayo and that her arms were weakened by these injuries and that her hands and feet remain sore and swollen and it is inconceivable that she would have used such weakened hands as a weapon.
“She will also point out that knowing her targeted status, she could not have been involved in a physical assault with the complainant in the presence of armed soldiers who could easily have shot at her,” Mtetwa submitted.
Mtetwa pointed to several inconsistencies in Munyoro’s testimony which she said showed that the story was made up.
Munyoro told the court that she was struck with a ring on Marry’s hand.
The matter will proceed on March 28.
