The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
AN unrepentant man of cloth, Tawanda Muchirahondo appears to have perfected the art of dating older women after being sued by a Mutare man for wrecking his marriage.
The youthful Kingdom Shakers Ministries pastor, Muchirahondo made headlines in 2015 after he was allegedly caught bathing with a married woman destroying her marriage in the process.
Back then, Muchirahondo’s alleged secret romantic affair with a married congregant, Melody Chizengwe nee Mandiamba was exposed by the woman’s 14-year-old son.
True to the old adage, old habits die hard, Muchirahondo now faces a $500 000 lawsuit from Mr Alex Alufisha for dating his wife, Rutendo Wallen Mvere.
Mr Alufisha who is represented by Mr Kelvin Kabaya and Calexy Maunga, both of Maunga, Maanda and Associates, and Muchirahondo, who is represented by Mr Cosmas Chibaya of Chibaya and Partners appeared before High Court Judge, Justice Neville Wamambo who was sitting in Mutare on Monday and is expected to pass his verdict soon.
Mr Alufisha is demanding $250 000 as loss of consortium, $250 000 as contumelia, interest at the prescribed rate from the date of judgement to the date of full payment and costs of the lawsuit at a legal practitioner and client-scale from Muchirahondo.
In one of the transcribed audio recording which was recorded between the two parties in Harare and presented before the courts, Muchirahondo admitted sleeping with Mvere on a number of occasions.
“Okay, so how many times have you guys indulged in sex? asked Mr Alufisha.
In response, Muchirahondo, said: “Not much.”
Upon further probing from Mr Alufisha, Muchirahondo said: “I cannot count. It is not many times.”
In his declaration to the court, Mr Alufisha said Muchirahondo sometime between 2017 and 2018 had an adulterous affair with his wife.
Mr Alufisha said he confronted Muchirahondo and he admitted to the adulterous affair.
The declaration read: “The defendant apologised to the plaintiff and promised to end the affair with his wife. The plaintiff accepted the apology.
“Despite the apology, the defendant went on to resume the adulterous relationship with the plaintiff’s wife for a period not known to him, but he is now aware that the defendant even defiled his matrimonial bed, couches and his home where he slept with the plaintiff’s wife several times in his absence knowing that he was in Harare.
“The relationship, however, came to the plaintiff’s attention sometime in December 2019, and he confronted the defendant who again admitted to the adulterous affair. The defendant has clearly demonstrated to the plaintiff that he has no respect for him and the institution of marriage. These actions have caused plaintiff to lose consortium and suffer great pain. He has suffered damages.”
However, Muchirahondo through his lawyer, Mr Chibaya denied ever having an affair with Mr Alufisha’s wife.
Reads Muchirahondo’s plea: “There is no proof of the defendant having an affair with the plaintiff’s wife. Defendant denies that he admitted that he was having an affair with the plaintiff’s wife.
“The defendant has a five-minute meeting with the plaintiff in Harare in December 2019 where the plaintiff threatened the defendant after making unfounded allegations that the defendant was having an affair with the plaintiff’s wife.”
Muchirahondo also denied ever being intimate with Mvere.
“The defendant is a pastor and was approached by the plaintiff’s wife who had marital differences with the plaintiff and would only provide counselling services. This did not go down well with the plaintiff. The reputation of the plaintiff was already in shambles as he was said to have been asking for sexual favours from female employees when was still employed at a food outlet in Mutare,” further claimed Muchirahondo.
However, in his closing submissions, Mr Kabaya said Muchirahondo was a completely unreliable witness who gave outrageous and untruthful explanations to the court.
“Under cross-examination, the plaintiff did not waiver in his responses. He maintained that the defendant voluntarily admitted having an adulterous affair with his wife.
“Although the defendant sought to misconstrue his statement that he would make the defendant’s life miserable as a threat, the plaintiff clearly and convincingly explained that he meant that he would expose the defendant. It is for this reason that the plaintiff recorded the conversation between the two because he intended to use the audio recording for the publication in the Press and court.”
Mr Kabaya added: “The defendant proved just how sly and unreliable a witness he is. The defendant didn’t challenge the authenticity of the transcribed audio.”
