Musician Sulumani Chimbetu‘s ex-wife Marygold Rutendo Mutemasango has indicated that she wants to withdraw the maintenance case against her former husband. Marigold had taken Chimbetu to court complaining that he has defied a court order that compels him to pay $800 each month towards the upkeep of their children. She claimed that Sulu, as the 35-year-old singer is fondly known by his fans, was in arrears of $1 600. Sulu appeared at the Harare magistrate court charged with failure to pay maintenance. Although it was not established as to why she wanted to withdraw the charges, state counsel Devoted Gwashavanhu- Nyagano told the court that Marygold wanted the case dropped.
“The matter had come for trial but the complainant in this matter indicated that she wanted to withdraw the matter. We were waiting for our superiors to give me authority to withdraw the matter. The superiors are not present at the moment and we apply that the matter be rolled over to tomorrow,” said prosecutor Gwashavanhu-Nyagano. Magistrate Joy Chikodzore remanded the matter to today. Sulu, who was being represented by lawyer Simudzirai Machingauta, pleaded not guilty to the charges when he initially appeared in court.
Allegations facing Sulu were that on December 20 last year, he was ordered to pay $800 per month as maintenance for the upkeep of his children. The maintenance was supposed to be paid staring December 3 of last year. Reports are that Sulu failed to pay for the month of January and February this year accruing to $1 600 in maintenance arrears. – State Media