SOURED MARRIAGE
While former Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Joseph Mathambo, maintains that he does not want to comment on his troubled marriage, his wife, Masego Mathambo, is breaking down in court.
This past Tuesday, an emotional Masego told the court that she has no access to her matrimonial homes in Shashe Mooke and Gaborone Block 9.
She told Magistrate Daniel Nkau that Mpho Koofitlhetse, who is the first respondent in a case where she seeks eviction, is her husband’s girlfriend.
Masego further explained that the second respondent, Tshepang Koofitlhetse, is Mpho’s daughter.
The third and fourth respondents, Katlego Mathambo and Nandi Mathambo, are her stepchildren, children born from Joseph’s first marriage.
Masego told the court that all the respondents are occupying her house unlawfully under her husband’s instructions, a claim which Joseph vehemently denied when reached by this publication.
According to her testimony, Mpho and the children have locked her and her children out of the house. She could no longer access the Block 9 property because they had changed the locks using a “skelem key,” an improvised key used to tamper with locks.
“I was standing outside and could see them inside,” she said.
When asked by the magistrate if she had tried to speak to her husband about the matter, Masego said she had attempted to handle the issue civilly and even sought family intervention, but nothing worked, leaving her with no choice but to approach the court.
She added that whenever the conflict arises, her husband is never around.
When asked where Joseph stays, Masego said he is usually in Shashe Mooke, Tonota, but when in Gaborone, he stays at Block 9.
Meanwhile, Ramalepa Attorneys, who arrived late and found the case already in session, informed the court that they represent the respondents as well as Joseph’s lawyers in the divorce case, which is being handled separately.
The respondents’ attorneys pleaded with the magistrate to grant them time to file their responses, and court agreed to give them an extra day.
When Magistrate Nkau asked who Mpho was and whether she was indeed Joseph’s girlfriend, the attorneys claimed that as far as they knew, Mpho was merely Joseph’s driver.
That response visibly pained Masego.
“My Lord, these people are deliberately delaying this case; they know what is happening. They are representing my husband’s girlfriend, and now they say she’s a driver. What driver? My husband
drives himself! They are intentionally delaying this matter.”
Despite her complaints, Magistrate Nkau ruled that the respondents should be given the requested time to file their responses.