Greedy 74-yr old granny fakes marriage certificate to gain ownership of property

Esnath Marufu

A 74-YEAR-OLD granny allegedly faked a wedding in a bid to acquire a marriage certificate to win her late ex-husband’s property,

H-Metro has learned. Esnath Marufu of House No.168 220 Close, Budiriro, is accused of illegally acquiring a marriage certificate to win ownership of a house left by the late Yisaya Anderson Moyo Ngombo.

Ngombo was said to have died in February last year. Rabson Sibanda, who claims to be Gogo Marufu’s stepson, said he suspected she could have lied or connived with people working at the Registrar’s office to acquire the certificate. But Gogo Marufu claims her marriage certificate is authentic. She even showed H-Metro the marriage certificate Sibanda claims was forged. Gogo Marufu and Sibanda live in the same house. Gogo Marufu is currently the landlady. Sibanda pays his rentals to her.

“To me,” said Sibanda, ignoring the significance of their proximity to each other, “it appears as if she had a wedding with a ghost because Ngombo died on February 4 2009. He divorced Esnath (Marufu) in 1976 when he married Matilda Moyo. “And their (Ngombo and Matilda’s) wedding took place on November 2 1978 in Bulawayo.

“When Ngombo divorced Gogo Marufu, they cancelled the wedding and all the details are in Glen Norah where she used to stay.

“I suspect she could have connived with someone working at the Registrar’s office, or she could have lied to the Registrar’s office to acquire the marriage certificate,” he said. Sibanda said he discovered that Gogo Marufu was holding a fake marriage certificate after the ownership wrangle.

That is exactly a month and two days after the husband died. “And this was done more than a month after the death of her husband. Yet she claims the certificate bears her husband’s signature. “On his marriage certificate with Matilda, it was clearly written that Ngombo came from Kasempa under Chief Kapijimpanga in Zambia. Yet her certificate says that he came from Juma under Chief Kasemtha.

“The marriage certificate she holds does not bear his surname. So how could she have a wedding with someone who was dead? Worse still, it was almost 34 years after they separated,” said Sibanda. But Gogo Marufu claims her marriage certificate is authentic. She even showed H-Metro the marriage certificate Sibanda claims was forged. She accused Sibanda of trying to “snatch” the house, taking advantage of her age.

“This story is more complicated. It’s a head-cracking one,” she said. Gogo Marufu said the house was, in fact, left in her custody when her husband died. She said what made the matter complicated was the fact that she divorced Ngombe some years back. There was also the fact that Ngombe married a second wife (Matilda) after she divorced him. It was during their separation that events occurred which complicated the whole story.

“This all started in 1996 when I came to stay here from Glen Norah. Rabson (Sibanda) claimed that this house did not belong to me. I think he is the one aiming to take ownership of this house,” she said. She blamed Matilda for her separation from her ex-husband. Gogo Marufu said Matilda used to complain in isiNdebele that she was bewitching her.

That was when Ngombe decided to kick her out of their matrimonial home and later divorced her. But, the two, Gogo Marufu and Matilda, had been staying under the same roof since Matilda was married to Ngombe. “She would complain in isiNdebele that I was bewitching her. She claimed that I had a cat that would give her sleepless nights.

“As a result, my husband then decided to kick me out and we later divorced. But this house belongs to me,” she said. She returned after Matilda’s death in 1996.  But, Sibanda insisted that her marriage certificates were not authentic.  This is despite the fact that Gogo’s certificate bears an original stamp from the Registrar’s office, giving it an authenticity. And it also bears a certification of originality on top of the certificate.

“That is why I said she could have connived with some people who work there. I have checked with internal investigations office at the Police Headquarters,” he said. Gogo Marufu said she once reported the matter to the police and an eviction letter was issued by the High Court ordering Sibanda to leave the house. “We went to court and he was ordered to vacate the house. But he seems to have ignored the order,” she said.

Sibanda dismissed the eviction letter as “fake” and “forged”. “That letter doesn’t exist in police records. That could have been a back-up to the marriage certificate. It was fake and forged,” he said. Gogo Marufu told H-Metro she did not know Sibanda until he came to her with the ownership wrangle. “I don’t understand why God has left me for this long. I have endured sleepless nights over this matter. “Also, I have never known this person, even when my husband was alive. We never met and I don’t know why he is bothering me like this,” she said.