Bona Mugabe initiated swift divorce proceedings against her husband, Simba Chikore, after being married for nine years.
In her papers filed at the High Court on Monday, she said the reason she is seeking a divorce is that their union had irretrievably breakdown with no chance of reconciliation or restoration.
According to state-owned media, Bona Mugabe also mentioned that Chikore’s conduct outside their marriage contributed to the breakdown. This implies that Chikore may have been involved in an extramarital affair.
This has been confirmed by a reliable source who revealed that Bona chose to expedite her divorce from Simba Chikore after being fed up with his shenanigans.
The source added that the only daughter of the late former President Robert Mugabe is so determined to end her marriage with Simba that she opted to forego the equitable division of assets to expedite the divorce process and prevent any unnecessary delays.
The source, who chose to remain anonymous, also stated that Bona also chose not to claim any financial support for herself to expedite the divorce proceedings.
However, Bona has requested monthly maintenance payments of US$2,700 for each of their three children. This amounts to a total of US$8,100 per month.
In her legal summons, Bona has requested that all issues that may impede the divorce proceedings be set aside until a later time. This includes matters pertaining to property division and maintenance, which Bona argues should be discussed after some time has passed.
Part of her summons read:
During the subsistence of the marriage, the parties both jointly and severally acquired various movable and immovable property, which the Plaintiff avers will be just and equitable if such identified and distinguished property is made; and where applicable division of those certain and relevant joint assets is dealt with in a separate suit after the granting of divorce decree as permitted by Section 7 of the Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 05:13).
The marriage has irretrievably broken down and the Plaintiff avers that dealing with proprietary issues in this suit will only delay the granting of the divorce decree therefore it is just and equitable that proprietary issues be dealt with post-divorce.
The Plaintiff avers that the parties are still engaging each other regarding their proprietary interests and rights, and that a decree of divorce may be granted pending the finalization of such negotiations, with either of the parties retaining the right to approach the Court in the event of such negotiations failing to yield a settlement.-iharare
