He took my underwear to a traditional healer to enhance his sexual power

A woman has told a local court in Lusaka that her husband, a soldier, took her underwear to a traditional healer to use as a charm for boosting his sexual potence, but the effort only resulted in her having menstrual complications.

Leya Phiri of Arackan Barracks in Lusaka told the Chilenje local court that her medical problem started after her underwear disappeared when her husband, Mackson Ntani, 42, sought help from a traditional healer to boost his libido.

Phiri was testifying in a case in which her husband, Ntani, sued her for divorce.

Ntani told the Chilenje local court that he and Phiri got married in 1993 and that they have two children. He said they lived well until August, 2008, when Phiri started sleeping in her boxer shorts. He also said that Phiri has hidden the certificate he was given for serving as a peace-keeper in Sierra Leone.

“She also cut and threw away the beads which I gave her when we got married,” Ntani told the court.

He said on May 26, 2009, Phiri went to his workplace at Burma Barracks to insult him in the presence of his superiors. Ntani said in June, 2009, Phiri left their matrimonial home and went to live with her elder sister. He said they asked elders to help resolve their problems and they prepared replacement beads, but Phiri refused to get them.

In defence, Phiri told the court that all was well in their marriage until Ntani fell sick in 2007 and that when he recovered in 2008, he told her that he had lost his sexual feelings. She said Ntani went to Malawi to consult a traditional healer, who told him to bring her (Phiri’s) underwear that should have been worn for two weeks without being washed.

“I refused to give him my underwear and he went to ask for another alternative. When he came he said I should sleep with another man so that he takes the semen to the traditional healer. Again I refused and he told me to go to my parents,” said Phiri.

She said that Ntani has not made love to her since 2008.

“He just wants to divorce me because he is retiring on medical grounds and doesn’t want to share the benefits with me,” Phiri said.

Passing judgement, senior presiding magistrate Irene Mundia said Ntani was the cause of problems in the marriage. She said that the traditional healer should have treated him without having to ask for Phiri’s underwear.

The court granted him divorce and ordered him to pay Phiri K10 million as compensation in monthly instalments of K500,000, and that the children should live with him.