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	Catholic Priest Caught in Love Triangle By Caroline Somanje Daily Times [Malawi] May 14, 2007 http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=4668 A Catholic priest, Joseph Munyapa, and a manager at Chichiri National Bank Laston Nazitwere have been implicated in a love triangle with a Blantyre woman Clara Chimkwende. Clara was married to Charles Chimkwende but the union has since been dissolved in court. Principal Resident Magistrate Jack N'riva nullified the Chimkwende's 13-year-old marriage on the grounds of adultery, irreconcilable differences and irretrievable breakdown. Charles Chimkwende testified in court that the two men have been openly dating his wife Clara who used to meet her lovers at different times after lying to him. Charles claimed that the priest at some point went to the couple's residence in the company of a friend where he hooted and called Charles on his mobile phone inquiring after Clara. "He gave the phone to his wife who refused to answer it. Later, Charles woke up and went to the gate. Fr Munyapa was in a pick up with a friend and had a panga knife threatening him. The petitioner called Monsignor Simbota after which Munyapa stopped hooting and left the gate," reads N'riva 's judgement. On another occasion, Clara allegedly left her matrimonial home to live with her sister only to be seen in the company of the priest at a restaurant on a Valentine's Day, after lying to her husband she was visiting a friend. Charles reportedly found his wife and her sister with Munyapa and complained to Limbe Cathedral where Clara at a meeting to resolve the matter denied that Munyapa was her lover but was "just a Catholic friend". Later Munyapa was transferred to Mwanza but the affair continued. "One day a woman (Munyapa's other girlfriend) visited Charles and complained of having problems with his wife each time she visited Munyapa in Mwanza. He confronted the two whereupon a quarrel between the two ladies ensued. The incident was reported to Catholic Institute (CI)," said the judgment. However, after the tryst with the priest, the couple made up only for the husband to catch his wife again in the company of Nazitwere. Charles testified that as he arrived home at around 05.55 pm one day, he saw a car, registration number BM 2598, packed near his gate. "His wife was on the passenger seat and Nazitwere was in the drivers seat. Later, the two drove off and the husband trailed them. Clara then called her husband saying "Dad, a Nazitwere ndi amene amandithandiza business after which she disappeared for seven days and never bothered to explain upon return home," according to court records. Charles again saw Nazitwere and Clara on the evening of April 22 last year as he was returning from watching a football game at a club in Mandala. Then he saw her again in August last year at a shopping mall in Blantyre after she apparently left home for Thyolo on a business trip. "Clara entered a car and when the husband tried to call her, her phone was switched off. "When he got home, he asked his step son who was picking up his mother, and the son said it was Nazitwere who works for National Bank," read the judgment. However, the hearing was not without drama as Clara denied being legally married to Charles and claimed that their marriage certificate presented in court was obtained out of deception. Clara said the lawyer on their marriage certificate, Silvano Namkwenya, would have testified if the two had indeed been married. Clara claimed that the certificate was obtained she was not available. She said she was told that the certificate was obtained for purposes of children and property acquisition. Clara told the court that she met Charles through her former husband. While her husband was away to Botswana, she started seeing Charles and upon falling pregnant, she was divorced from her husband.
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