HARARE – The High Court has ordered businessman Murombo Josiah Mimana to pay his estranged wife US$11,726 per month in maintenance and 80 percent of her legal fees, pending the finalisation of their divorce, after finding that he had the capacity to do so.
In a ruling handed down on October 9, 2025, Justice Fatima Maxwell found that Mimana’s wife, Marvel Mtisi, who was married to him under an unregistered customary union, had proved that she was financially dependent on him and had “reasonable prospects of success” in the main divorce proceedings.
“The application for maintenance pendente lite and contribution towards costs be and is hereby granted,” Justice Maxwell ruled, adding that Mimana must also “contribute 80 percent of the applicant’s legal costs to be determined at the conclusion of the matter.”
Mtisi, who has eight children with Mimana, told the court that her husband abandoned the family home in March 2024 but had been paying US$20,000 monthly towards the family’s upkeep until February 2025, when he abruptly stopped.
She said she was unemployed and excluded from managing their jointly owned companies despite being a 50 percent shareholder.
She accused Mimana, 50, of using company funds as his “alter ego,” adding that the business — which supplies Jet A1 fuel at major airports and operates a lucrative mine — could easily afford the family’s expenses and her legal costs.
In opposing the application, Mimana denied personally paying US$20,000 per month, insisting the money came from a company account and claiming Mtisi had misused the funds. He also argued that the stoppage of payments “did not cause any suffering to the family” because he continued to pay for airfares and school fees for their children.
However, the judge dismissed his objections, saying the evidence showed Mtisi had no income apart from the monthly contribution and that her husband clearly controlled the business.
“The bottom line is that the applicant does not have any source of income except the contribution she was getting,” Justice Maxwell said. “Respondent has not disputed that he is unilaterally running and controlling the company and that the US$20,000 was being paid on his behalf.”
The court trimmed Mtisi’s initial maintenance claim of US$21,936, ruling that several items — including private transport, pocket money, car services, and tutoring costs — were non-recurring or unjustified, leaving a final figure of US$11,726 per month.
“The request for contribution to legal costs cannot be said to be without merit,” the judge added, noting that Mimana was “in a position to contribute” personally or through his company.
The court also rejected Mimana’s technical objection that Mtisi’s founding affidavit was defective, calling it “a desperate attempt… to avoid going into the merits of the matter.”
Mimana must begin paying the US$11,726 monthly maintenance from February 2025 until the divorce case (HCHF 1566/25) is finalised.
The couple’s dispute centres on the termination of their 24-year customary marriage and the division of extensive assets, including 44 fuel tankers, tipper trucks, commercial stands, and two companies — one in mining and another in fuel supply.
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