THE union of a young couple in Lusaka’s Kanyama compound will go down the country’s history as one of the shortest marriages after it ended in three months.
And this time around, adultery was not even in the picture.
The marriage which started in June this year ended in the Matero local court last Friday after the wife, Serah Zimba, 29, complained to Senior Magistrate Lewis Mumba that her husband, 33-year-old Boyd Mulenga changed colors faster than a chameleon.
Zimba stated that when Mulenga made his advancements towards her, she was a proud single mother of a child aged one-year-eight months and accepted to keep them.
Mulenga volunteered to permanently delete Zimba’s name from the list of single Lusaka baby mamas.
It was also revealed that one of the reasons that made Mulenga accept the baby was because Zimba’s mother, who cared for the child in her absence is actually blind and he ended up acting like a knight in shining armor.
Unfortunately, barely days into their marriage, their love story switched from milk to sour, after Mulenga observed the appetite of the baby.
According to Zimba’s testimony, Mulenga noticed that a big box of delight porridge and a 2 kilogrammes bag of sugar could not last longer than the weekend.
“His attitude towards the child changed, he would shout at him, saying that chikudya maningi sugar chimwana ichi (this child eats a lot of sugar) and other hurtful words. And on top of that, my in-laws also don’t like me,” said Zimba.
She added that one day, the couple were watching a movie on Mulenga’s phone when a message popped up from his sister, expressing how much she hated Zimba.
“I tried to engage my mother in law several times so she could sit us down and help us resolve our problems, but it was all in vain. She showed no interest and would even tell my husband that they didn’t like me or my child,” she lamented.
However, in his defense, Mulenga told the court that other than his family not liking her, Zimba has never given him any amount of respect.
Listening to both parties, Magistrate Mumba granted the couple divorce, noting that there was no love between them, and also observed that Mulenga’s parents were overly involved in the marriage.
Magistrate Mumba then ruled that no compensation would be granted to either party, but ordered Mulenga to maintain Zimba with K500 per month for six months.
“When you are getting married, agree on the terms and conditions, because marriage isn’t for children. What you had, we shall call it manyengwe since it only lasted for three months,” magistrate Mumba stated.
“And when you say such inhumane things to a child, you are indirectly speaking to the mother. Mulenga, you needed to show love to both the mother and child, this is very sad.”
By Sharon Zulu
Kalemba September 15, 2025
