Divorced Woman Loses Bid For Mine Acquired 14 Years Before Marriage Woman Failed to Show Contribution By Fanuel Viriru A Zimbabwean woman based in Australia who demanded a 50% share of her husband’s Lalapanzi chrome mine – which he acquired in 2004 while married to his now-deceased first wife, 14 years before he married her […]

Divorced Woman Loses Bid For Mine Acquired 14 Years Before Marriage

Woman Failed to Show Contribution

By Fanuel Viriru

A Zimbabwean woman based in Australia who demanded a 50% share of her husband’s Lalapanzi chrome mine – which he acquired in 2004 while married to his now-deceased first wife, 14 years before he married her – has lost her claim in the Bulawayo High Court.

Mordeline Media Chirenje took her husband, Wickens Chirenje, to court demanding half of Exodus Chrome Mine in Lalapanzi after their marriage collapsed.

The couple married on 20 August 2018 and stopped living together in 2022. Wickens told the court his wife left for Australia in 2023 without telling him where she was going. He tried to contact her through her brother and their church pastor but failed. In January 2024, he sent a divorce token, known as gupuro, to show he was no longer interested in the marriage.

The parties had already held a round-table meeting and a pre-trial conference before a judge and agreed on most of their property. They left only two issues for trial: whether Exodus Mine is matrimonial property and whether she should get 50% of it, and whether she should get the bedroom suite and decoration equipment.

On the day of trial on 1 June 2026, Mordeline fired her lawyers and chose to represent herself.

Wickens, represented by Adelaide Mbeure of Katenaire-Mbeure Law Chambers, told the court he acquired the mine from ZIMASCO in 2004 and obtained a chrome licence in 2007, long before he met Mordeline. At that time he was married to his first wife, who has since died.

He said he only later invited Mordeline to work at the mine as part of a group of women the government had asked him to empower. She kept whatever money she made there for her own use and stopped working at the mine in 2020. The licence expired in 2021 and he had to obtain an exemption to stop operations. No new equipment was bought for the mine; it was all hired.

When Mordeline testified, she claimed she had applied for the licence and incorporated her husband into the mine through the Federation of Women. However, she had no documents to prove it. The court noted that both the application and the licence were in Wickens’ name. She also admitted she had not been to the mine since she left for Australia, and said she had given some documents to her former lawyer, but none were produced in court.

High Court Judge Justice Evangelista Kabasa said Mordeline was a poor witness who exaggerated her contribution and made claims not supported by documents. He said she was bent on denying the obvious.

The judge explained that although Section 7 of the Matrimonial Causes Act says all assets of spouses, including those acquired before marriage, can be considered when couples divorce, a person must prove their contribution to get a share.

Because the mine was acquired 10 years before the marriage, the marriage lasted only about three to four years, and Mordeline made no meaningful contribution, it would not be fair to give her 50%.

On the second issue, the parties actually reached an agreement in court. Mordeline agreed that Wickens can keep the headboard while she takes the rest of the bedroom suite. Wickens also said she can have the decor equipment because he has no interest in it and had already delivered part of it to her home.

The judge therefore granted the divorce.

Wickens was awarded as his exclusive property:
2 beds, hammer mill, 1x television set, Nissan Hardbody, headboard, and Exodus Chrome Mine, Lalapanzi.

Mordeline was awarded as her exclusive property:
Compressor, 2 beds (matrimonial and guest), bedroom suite minus headboard, 34-inch Sony TV, gas stove, Defy deep freezer, and decor equipment.

The court also ordered that leaching tanks at Essay 6 Mine be evaluated within one month, with Mordeline to receive 50% of the value to be paid within two

The gazebo, kitchen, fowl run and cottage at Essay 6 Mine will be evaluated within 14 days. The parties will agree on the estate agent, and if they fail, the Registrar will appoint one from the list within a further 14 days. Wickens will pay her the evaluated amount within one month of evaluation.

Each party will pay its own legal costs. #justice #marriage