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In a development that has shocked many people in Masvingo, Zimbabwe; a
Mwenezi widow has been made pregnant by her son, whom she says she now
wants to marry. Betty Mbereko (40), who was widowed 12 years ago, has
been cohabiting with her first child Farai Mbereko (23), and says she
prefers him to her late husband's young brothers. Now six months
pregnant, Betty said she had decided that it was better to "marry"
Farai because she did not want to marry her late husband's young
brothers, whom she said were coveting her.
The two appeared before a village court last week and Betty stunned
the villagers when she said the love affair with her son had begun
three years earlier. The Weekend Tribune attended the court session
where Betty poured out her love for her son, who is 17 years her
junior.She said after spending a lot of money sending Farai to school
following the death of her husband, she felt she had the right to his
money and no other woman was entitled to it. "Look, I strove alone to
send my Son to school and no one helped me.
Now you see that my son is working and you are accusing me of doing
something which is unheard of. Let me Enjoy the products of my sweat,"
she told the village court. Betty added that marriage was an agreement
between two people and no one was supposed to
interfere. She even accused her late husband's young brothers of
wanting to victimize her son, saying they also wanted to marry her.
Farai admitted that he was more than prepared to marry his mother and
would pay off the lobola balance his father had left unpaid to his
grandparents.
"I know my father died before he finished paying the bride price and I
am prepared to pay it off," he said. He, however, admitted that his
grandparents who referred this issue to his uncles had advised that it
was taboo for a son to marry his mother. "It is better to publicize
what is, that I am the one who made my mother pregnant. Otherwise they
will accuse her of promiscuity," he said. he added that it was better
for him to marry his mother because they understood each other well.
"I have been living with my mother since I was young and I know we can
have a fruitful future together," he added.
In Shona and many other cultures the two are not supposed to have any
sexual relationship. However, the two vowed to marry despite that
everyone else was against the idea. "We cannot allow this to happen in
our village, mashura chaiwo aya, (This is a bad omen indeed)" said
local headman Nathan Muputirwa. "In the past if such a thing
happened,they would have to be killed but today we cannot do it
because we are afraid of the police," he said. He warned the two to
either break their marriage or leave his village immediately. Mother
and son chose the latter option.
They have since left the village for an unknown destination. Zimbabwe
National Traditional Healers Association ZINATHA) president Gordon"
Mother and son love relations are there but many are doing it
privately," said  Chavunduka. He added that it is taboo for society to
accept those marriages but the situation is difficult to curb since
modern people are no longer respecting their culture. "I only want to
warn those who think they are wise enough to defy their cultural
regulations that a lot of evil spells are following them," he said.

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