He dumped me for our maid, after we had cohabitated for 4yrs —Woman

Mr. Joseph Chitulika of Chalala area in Lusaka, Zambia has dumped his girlfriend whom he dated and cohabitated with for four years, only to settle for a maid who worked for him.

Much to the shock of the deserted and disheartened career lady, who works for one of the leading banks in Zambia as a Commercial Manager, she only discovered through her friends that her longtime lover paid a bride price to the family of the maid who works for them.

According to Zambia Observer, the  career lady holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Lusaka. After learning that her lover paid the bride price for their maid, she confronted him and he admitted that he could no longer pretend that he loves her anymore.

This prompted the career lady to sue  Joseph for the ‘lost time’.

According to an affidavit submitted by the lady before the Lusaka Local Court, she wants the court to award her compensation it reckons adequate, against Joseph.

Meanwhile, during oral submission, the lady told the court that she has been keeping Joseph and supporting him financially in his business before it grew to where it is.

She stated that she suspects her lover has been having an intimate affair with their maid for some time now.

The lady stated that each time the maid did something wrong and whenever she wanted to shout on her or chastise her, Joseph would defend her saying she deserved leniency.

“Sometimes I would travel out of the country leaving him alone. I think they used to have sex on our bed while I was out,” she said.

Joseph argued drawing his facts from the example of artist Kay Figo in the case Kayula Bwalya vs John Van 2012 where the plaintiff wanted the court to grant her compensation against the respondent who dated her for five years but ended up not marrying her.

According to the facts of the case, Kayula Bwalya claimed that since she had been cohabiting with Van for that long, she deserved compensation from his property because that constituted marriage.

The court dismissed her claims.

And Joseph argued in defense that to the contrary, he did not need to compensate her because as far as he was concerned, he was not married to her under the Marriage Act as prescribed.

In his oral defense, Joseph admitted paying the bride price of their maid because according to him, he finds her attractive both physically and in her personality.

“This lady is arrogant. She thinks because she holds an MBA, she can control me.

“I began to grow a cold feet when she started displaying that she’s educated and that she was doing me a favour by dating me.

“She sends me to fetch her water to drink and do simple things which she can do herself all in the name of being more educated and having more take home than me.

“She can’t wash, cook or do any chores. I can’t marry such a person. I am okay with the said maid because she is cultured,” Joseph said.

Having listened to both testimonies, the court dismissed the lady’s claims in favour of Joseph while relying on the Kayula Bwalya vs John Van 2012 case, whose facts are similar in principle.