THE capital city’s notorious reputation for illicit affairs has once again taken center stage at the Matero Local Court this week, as a house wife was ordered to pay compensation for unleashing a dose of ‘Kopala Stadium praises’ on a woman she accused of stealing her husband.
36-year-old Rita Mahumbe of Lusaka west, a woman who clearly took the slogan ‘Lusaka is for business’ to heart, is believed to have been conducting her own form of entrepreneurship, allegedly milking 50-year-old Christine Nakazwe’s husband, Peter.
Nakazwe testified that Mahumbe had turned her husband’s phone into a Zesco National Call Center when customers are experiencing an electric blackout, making it ring and buzz like a job on overtime.
This forced Nakazwe to snatch take down the number, call repeatedly and warn Mahumbe several times to stay away from her husband before the situation turned worse.
When warnings failed, Nakazwe admitted to storming Mahumbe’s house and verbally attacking her, proudly calling her a thigh vendor.
This unfolded in a case before senior magistrate Lewis Mumba where Mahumbe dragged Nakazwe to court, demanding compensation for insults and defamation of character, as she claimed her name had been tossed around the neighborhood like a gossip at a bus stop.
The plaintiff, Mahumbe, firmly denied ever entangling herself with the defendant’s husband, insisting that the only thing between them wasn’t love, but unpaid poultry.
She told the court that the man had once taken chickens from her on credit and had since been dodging payment hence, her frequent calls were nothing more than persistent follow-ups for her money, not stolen moments of romance.
“This woman surprised me, she followed me at my house and called me hule yopama. She thinks I’m going out with her low income husband but I only call him because he has my credit for chickens,” Mahumbe said.
“I will never forgive this woman for tarnishing my name. She proudly told me ‘your only work as a prostitute is to sleep my husband.”
But Nakazwe was adamant that the poultry story was bogus, narrating that Mahumbe’s calls were coming in persistently at 18:00 hours, 9 even 01 or 06, leaving her with no peace at home.
“My husband uses his entire money on her, even the attention I used to get, I don’t see it anymore because it has shifted. I told this lady, if she wants my husband, she can have him. I’m tired and frustrated. Nimwana opama uyu,” she claimed.
“I once caught them red-handed in an unfinished shop around 06 hours. My husband was busy pulling up his trousers while she stood there with nothing but a chitenge wrapped around her chest.”
After hearing testimonies, magistrate Mumba advised Nakazwe to direct her anger where it belonged – her husband, because he is the one who had chosen to pursue Mahumbe and initiated the affair.
“Going to someone’s house to insult them and call them names is outdated, you need to deal with your husband because he’s the culprit. However, the claim is upheld and you are required to compensate Mahumbe with K1500 for defaming her character,” ruled the magistrate.
By Sharon Zulu
Kalemba October 30, 2025
