The ManicaPost
Liberty Dube and Tendai Gukutikwa Post Correspondents
TWO men are fighting for the same child after a Mutare woman on Tuesday shocked a packed gallery at Mutare Civil Courts on revealing she slept with both of them and got pregnant.
Chipo Makoni had dragged one of the men, Edmore Bhasera to the courts applying for maintenance variation upwards from $40 for the baby boy pending DNA results.
The other man, only identified as Emmanuel, who stays in Harare, is also claiming that the child is his and was sending some text messages to Bhasera thanking him for taking good care of his child.
Bhasera revealed Emmanuel was harassing him through phone calls and text messages demanding that he give him his child. He told Mutare magistrate Mr Lazarus Murendo Makoni always frequented Harare but he never suspected that she was in another relationship with Emmanuel.
“Your Worship, this man calls me daily and sends text messages claiming he is the father of my child. He thanks me in those texts for taking good care of the child. All along I was made to believe that the child is mine,” said Bhasera.
In one of the texts messages produced in court, Emmanuel told Bhasera they christened the child Emmanuel after his “father” and that he was the one who had bought all the clothes when Makoni was pregnant.
Read the text message: “Unoti Chipo anenge achinoona ani paanouya kuHarare? Anenge achiuya kunoona inini nekuti ndini baba vemwana wedu Emmanuel.”
In another text message produced in court, Emmanuel thanked Bhasera for looking after the son.
In her response, Makoni told the court she had been sleeping with both Emmanuel and Bhasera when she got pregnant but she was sure that the later was the father of the child.
“Your Worship, yes Emmanuel is an old lover and I was having sex with both of them but I never told him that the child is his.
“ He is however lying that we named the child after him. The child is named after his real father Edmore,” said Makoni.
She however, confirmed the texts were genuine and that Emmanuel had bought her baby clothes while she was pregnant. She also confirmed that she still goes to Harare.
Mr Murendo advised Bhasera to go for DNA tests since it was evident that Makoni was not sure who the real father was.
“You will look after a child that is not yours only to find out when he gets 18-years-old and be claimed by his real father. Look for money and go for DNA tests. If the tests reveal that the child is not yours, Makoni will be ordered by the court to give you back all the money you have been paying as maintenance and all damages caused,” ordered Mr Murendo.
He varied the maintenance upwards to $60 pending DNA results.
