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Adultery Amongst Jehovah's Witnesses Worries Court
The Post (Lusaka)
NEWS
June 7, 2002
Posted to the web June 7, 2002
By Noel Sichalwe
WHY should Jehovah's Witnesses be filled with adulterous people and yet they teach God's word in depth, wondered Lusaka Boma local court presiding justice Sainet Chitambo as he fined a Jehovah's Witness K500, 000 for defamation of character.
Justice Chitambo said it was wrong for people who professed to be serious Christians to be involving themselves in scandals that discredited them. He said this when he fined Ng'andu Chola, 25 of Kanyama compound for defaming the character of Joyce Mbewe of the same area by alleging she had a boyfriend even when she was married.
Mbewe told the court she operated a salon at the Soweto market and used to woke up early to clean the shop to prepare for a day's work. She said one day Chola who also owned a salon at the same market accused her of having a boyfriend and reported it to Mbewe's husband.
"After reporting to my husband that I had a boyfriend, my marriage was on rocks. My husband chased me from home because of her false allegations. I am very surprised at what Chola has done to me and I do not even know what her motive is because we are all Jehovah's witnesses and she has now destroyed my marriage," she said. Mbewe said she later took Chola to the community elders to resolve the problem where she stressed Mbewe had a boy-friend she was hiding from her husband.
In her defence, Chola said Mbewe was her friend for a long time and were working together in the same business of running saloons. Chola said one day, Mbewe went crying to her saying her husband had refused to pay the money for business he got from her on credit. "That was when she said she would find a boyfriend who would be able to give her the money she wanted to have. Later, she even showed me her boyfriend who was driving a white car.
Mbewe warned me not to tell anyone about her boyfriend as she could be in trouble with her husband," she said. She further said Mbewe's boyfriend sold audio tapes and mealiemeal at the same market and promised to bring him to court which she failed.
Justice Chitambo who sat with justices Henry Mwananshiku and Godfrey Banda found the allegations were false and warned Chola not to repeat making defamatory statements. "The Bible says a false witness should not escape the punishment and because you have embarked on destroying other people's marriage you shall pay Mbewe K500,000 as compensation," justice Chitambo said.