The ManicaPost
Tanyaradzwa Mujati
Weekender Reporter
A Mutare man who claims to be a prophet says he believes that his ex-wife’s four-year-old child is not his, adding that God has “cursed” the child with Down Syndrome due to the mother’s paternity lies.
He says if the woman does not confess to her promiscuity, the “curse” will never be lifted.
This emerged at the Mutare Civil Court as Tapelo Mutaranhike was applying for an upwards variation of maintenance from $5 000 to US$100.
Mutaramhike said sometimes her ex-husband pays the $5 000 for the upkeep of their child who is suffering from a heart problem and needs medication on a daily basis.
“$5 000 is no longer enough for me to take care of the child. She needs medication and a good place to stay. I stay in a dilapidated wooden and dusty cabin. The child needs to live in a better environment. She is always coughing. I also need a maid to look after the child while I am at school,” said Mutaranhike.
She added: “I am currently not working as I am going to school. I want to pursue my dreams so that I will be able to look after my child. If I was working, it would have been okay for me to take full responsibility of the child but now I need his assistance as the father of the child,” said Mutaranhike.
“I have been looking after the child on my own. He does not even pay the $5 000 sometimes. If I can get US$100 from him, I will be able to look after the child. All he thinks of is going from one hill to the other praying, instead of looking after his child,” said Mutaranhike.
In response, Kutanhika said he is not formerly employed as he is a prophet who survives from his congregants’ hand-outs.
“I am not currently working. I am a prophet. I receive gifts from the people for appreciation of my spiritual assistance. The house that I am currently occupying was given to me by one of my congregants,” he said.
Kutanhika also said he will not pay more towards the maintenance of the child unless Mutaranhike confesses her sins.
“The child she claims is mine is not. She knows that and that’s why we have been having problems towards the upkeep of the child. The child is fine but she needs to confess. Unless she confesses, the child will continue being sick and I won’t fork out my money to look after the child,” said Kutanhika.
“We visited traditional healers as well as prophets so that the child could be saved. At two years, the child couldn’t talk, walk or sit. The prophets told us that the mother is the problem as she lied about the child’s paternity. If she wants to save the child, she needs to confess,” he thundered.
“I want DNA test to prove the child’s true paternity. God revealed to me that this child is not mine,” said Kutanhika.
Considering his doubts, Kutanhika offered to pay an additional $2 000 towards the maintenance of the child, to take the monthly contribution to $7 000.
To put things into perspective, $7 000 is currently enough to buy five loaves of bread.
Mutare Magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato ruled that despite his suspicions, Kutanhika should pay $35 000 as monthly maintenance until some laboratory DNA test can establish the true paternity of the child.
