Obidiah Tarumbwa
Tanaka Mrewa, Court Reporter
CHICKEN Inn FC striker Obidiah Tarumbwa has been caught offside by the law after his ex-wife dragged him to the Maintenance court for allegedly neglecting his two children.
Tarumbwa was not in court yesterday and his lawyer Tavengwa Hara of T Hara and Partners said the striker was still in Harare following Monday’s Independence Cup triumph over Highlanders at the National Sports Stadium.
Tarumbwa scored Chicken Inn’s first goal in their 2-1 win in the Bulawayo derby. His ex-wife Patience Tarumbwa was not amused and accused the striker of always finding excuses when it came to issues of his children’s welfare.
“It is his tendency not to avail himself in matters that concern his children. He did the same when we got divorced; he did not show up.
He also defaulted for a hearing when we were supposed to settle the matter on the upkeep of our two kids,” said Patience.
“Your Worship, you can proceed and make a decision on the matter and I will just serve him with the paperwork because he is never there for matters like these.”
However, magistrate Manasa Musiiwa told her that he could only preside over their matter when both parties were in court and postponed the case to tomorrow.
Patience was unhappy with the decision.
“The suggested date is too far Your Worship. Schools are opening soon and there is no assurance that he will be available on the suggested date,” she said.
Tarumbwa is not new to cases of alleged child neglect.
Last week, our sister paper B-Metro exposed the Chicken Inn striker for failing to take care of his child with a Kenyan woman who revealed that she was giving up the their child to an orphanage due his failure to take care of his offspring.
Tarumbwa turned out for Kenyan Premier Soccer League side Sofapaka in 2012 before joining South African Premiership outfit University of Pretoria in 2013 and then returning home the following year.