Gokwe woman kicked out of the village for turning down Headman ‘sexual advances

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In a case of abuse of power by traditional leaders, a Gokwe woman had to travel 55 kilometres on foot to Chief Nemangwe’s place in her quest for justice after she was allegedly banished from her village after she turned down a local village head love proposal.

Writing for The Guiding Star, Perseverance Javangwe said the woman, identified as Mai Masvibiriri, was told to vacate her place by the headman in the village after she allegedly turned down the headman’s love proposal.

The village head allegedly want to give the plot to his alleged girlfriend identified as Tunye Dhlana.

Mai Masvibiriri told the publication that she was given the place by the headman identified as Sabhuku Mupasiwa five years back when her husband was still alive but sick during that time.

Following her husband’s death last year, Headman Mupasiwa allegedly proposed love to her but she spurned the proposal.

This reportedly did not go down well with the traditional leader, prompting him to notify Masvibiriri that she should vacate the premises and find another place to live. Speaking to The Guding Star, Masvibiriri said:

When my husband fell sick we were given a place to stay. While there, my husband passed on and the headman advised that he be buried where we stay since it was his will.

The headman is now proposing love to me but I turned him dome. So because I refused, he is now saying I should leave my stand and find another place to stay in order to make way for his girlfriend.

Last year, his girlfriend came and marked a place just behind my house and built a foundation there. I then went and reported the issue at the Chief’s kraal.

But, before that, the headman reported the issue to Chief Ngomeni and I felt cheated because he did not do justice to the issue, so I went to Chief Nemangwe to report the case.

Chief Nemangwe advised the headman to find another place for his girlfriend, but when we returned the headman went against that.

I then called Chief Nemangwe who then sent his police officer who came and told me that considering I was given the place by the headman no one was supposed to remove me there.

The headman kept coming until one day he said “you are not supposed to be here, I told you to find another place.”

Now they keep reporting me to the police and if I go to the police, the headman does not show up for discussions on the issue.

When I went to Gokwe, the police said I should return home since he did not show up.

I have gone to Gokwe three times and they keep saying no one showed up and I always return home empty-handed.

On top of that, I have a challenge with transport expenses which I cannot afford.

This prompted the woman to travel to Chief Nemangwe’s court on foot through thickets, a distance of 55km.

However, Headman Mupasiwa refuted the allegations levelled against him saying he was cleared by the Chief in the matter and was advised to leave the two women to deal with the situation on their own.

The Guiding Star reported a source as saying Village Head Mupasiwa is a habitual womaniser and Mai Masvibiriri was being punished for refusing to bed the traditional leader. Said the source:

What l know about Village Head Mupasiwa is that he is adulterous, and also goes after widows in our societies.