RABECCA BANDA writes A HOT-TEMPERED Parmalat employee in Lusaka has demanded a refund of K3, 000 which he paid as dowry following the change of mind by the woman he planned to marry. Elizabeth Mbewe, 60, a retired teacher of Matero Township was sued by David Phiri, 26, of Garden compound for the refund of the dowry. Phiri told presiding Senior Local Court Magistrate Sharon Sichone sitting with magistrate Mpundu Mwape that last year he wanted to marry Mbewe’s granddaughter but the marriage could not take place after she changed her mind. “We went with my relatives to seek her granddaughter’s hand in marriage and they charged me K11, 000 dowry. I paid a down payment of K4, 000,” Phiri said. “But suddenly, her granddaughter started telling me that she was not ready for marriage and still wanted to play. I told her relatives about the situation and they sat down with her and promised to change,” Phiri said. But when he was about to pay K3, 000 towards the remaining balance, the girl insisted she did not want marriage. “I informed her relatives again and they sat down with her and she again apologized. She then went out of Lusaka to write her GCE exams but when she returned, she flatly told me that she is not ready to marry me. We sat down three times but still our marriage failed to take off. “I asked for the refund of my money and her grandmother only gave me a K1, 000. I have brought her to court because I want her to refund me the remaining K3, 000,” Phiri said. The grandmother promised to finish paying the balance by end of February, but kept giving excuses that she was facing financial problems,” Phiri said. Mbewe admitted that Phiri had asked her granddaughter’s hand in marriage and charged him K11, 000. “But unfortunately my granddaughter refused to get married to Mbewe because she claimed he had a temper. “My granddaughter said he slapped her when she told him that she was not ready to marry him. She complained to me and feared for her future if she got married to a hot tempered man like him,” Mbewe said. The court ordered Mbewe to pay K 3,000 in installments of K1, 000 per month.
Botched marriage in dowry poser
