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Mpumelelo Nyoni Court Reporter
A top Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officer begged a Bulawayo magistrate not to garnish maintenance payments against his salary in a bid to conceal from his wife the fact that he has a child out of wedlock.Aleck Mapokotera, ZPCS officer-in-charge of Mount Darwin Prison was dragged to court by his estranged lover, Patricia Murandu.

Murandu, who is also a prisons officer, applied for $350 to be garnished against Mapokotera’s salary for the upkeep of their eight-year-old son.  Mapokotera pleaded with magistrate Takunda Mtetwa to allow him to pay the money straight into Murandu’s account saying if it is garnished his wife would find out that he had another child with another woman.

“Your worship, I can’t afford to pay $350. I have six children with my wife. Four of them are under the age of 18 thus they need all my attention. I will be very grateful if you don’t grant the garnishee order. It is better for Murandu to open her own bank account. I don’t think it’s necessary for my wife to find out about this,” said Mapokotera.

Murandu told the magistrate that Mapokotera was trying to avoid taking care of his child.

“This man earns $600 but he has never provided for his son. Our child is eight years old now, yet he has never bought even a blanket for him. He doesn’t want a garnishee order to be granted because he knows his wife will beat him up if she finds out about our child,” she said, to the amusement of the court.

The magistrate ordered $60 to be deducted from Mapokotera’s salary from the end of July.