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Enetty Midzi at her home in Magunje, Hurungwe, the polyandrous woman with her two husbands — Chamunorwa Ruramai (left) and Samuel Tsaramba

Kingston Mapupu
WHILE some nubile, eligible young women spend sleepless nights wondering when they will get a man serious enough to marry them, the opposite is true for 28-year-old Enetty Midzi of Magunje, Hurungwe.
She stays with two husbands under the same roof.
The two eat from the same plate and Enetty chooses who to be intimate with on a particular day.
This may sound like a script from a movie, but our news crew witnessed this rare union.

Enetty stays with her two husbands at 102 Tiger Section, Magunje and their house is now known as “kwaMai Two Husbands.”
She has four children with the first husband whom she married in 2001.

The two men who stay with Enetty in their unusual “2-in-1” relationship are Chamunorwa Rurami (36) who is the first husband and Samuel Pirkins Tsambara Chimora Soko (42) who came into the picture last year.
Chamunorwa is not formally employed, while Samuel is a builder.

Chamunorwa gathers and crashes quarry stones for sale to home owners.
Enetty confirmed the polyandrous affair this week.

“They are both my husbands. Chamunorwa is the first and I have four kids with him. What stops me from stripping and being intimate with him? There are some issues we do not agree on that is why I looked for a second husband. Right now, I love Soko (Samuel) more because he is the one who fends for me and gives me money and everything I need,” said Enetty.

According to Enetty, both husbands paid lobola to her parents.
“Chamunorwa paid US$70, while Samuel paid US$50, but the one I really love now, the one I am with these days is Soko Mukanya, Samuel,” added Enetty with a chuckle.

She said when she parted ways with Chamunorwa at one point, he did not give her a divorce token (gupuro), and he returned asking her to rekindle their love since he came to see their kids.

Chamunorwa told this writer that Enetty was his wife, brushing aside her relationship with Samuel.
“Enetty is my wife and we have four children. I am the one who deflowered her. Soko has to kill me first if he wants to take my wife and kids. He cannot do that while I am alive.”

Chamunorwa said Enetty absconded from their marital home and went to stay with her parents two years ago and that was when Samuel paid lobola.

He said the lobola was received by Enetty’s brother since her parents are late.
“Her brothers assaulted me saying I had divorced their sister. They said they were withholding their daughter and wanted me to pay US$300 lobola.

“At the time Samuel paid lobola, he started staying with Enetty at White House and I followed them. I took Enetty and beat her while Samuel watched. This is our way of living up to today. I say the wife is mine, and Samuel also says she is his,” Chamunorwa revealed.
Samuel said he was a prophet at Johane Masowe Wechishanu apostolic sect.

Samuel said he, and not Chamunorwa was Enetty’s real husband.
“I fell in love with Enetty when she parted ways with Chamunorwa and I paid lobola to her parents after they indicated that she was single. Our brother-in-law Edmore Midzi is aware of this issue and knows that I am the real son-in-law. I am the one who pays rent where we stay,” said Samuel.

He said he no longer wanted to see Chamunorwa where they stay, adding that he ( Chamunorwa) should only visit his kids once a week, on a Saturday when he( Samuel) will be at home.  Both men said they become intimate with Enetty and heaped praises on her.

“Just yesterday afternoon I was intimate with her while Samuel was busy with bricks that cause him cracked feet. Why did she become intimate with me if I am not her husband?” he queried. Samuel said Enetty told him that she last became intimate with Chamunorwa before they parted ways.

Enetty said she cooks for both men and that they eat from one plate.
“I serve their sadza in one plate and they eat together. I do not know what they will be discussing. They used to sleep in separate bedrooms and I would go and become intimate with the one I longed for, but Chamunorwa left.

“I do not know where he is now staying but he left because they fought all the time,” she said.
Villagers scoffed at Midzi and her two husbands, equating them to wild animals.

Tendai Chimuti (29) said: “I have never heard of a woman who has two husbands, even dogs give each other a chance. The husbands are fools or they were given love portions in the form of human waste. Imagine waiting for another husband to finish while you are salivating?”
She said Samuel should go back to his wife and look after his seven children who are living in poverty because of Enetty.

Samuel said he told his first wife that he was moving in with Enetty and she granted him the nod.
Melody Kanogocheka (22), a neighbour said the two men needed psychiatric help.

“They should be examined to see if they are not insane. Other men will beat a woman like a snake that has crawled into a house if they see her walking with a man they do not know,” said Melody. Molline Katunguru (23) said Chamunorwa at one time threatened to take poison after walking in on Enetty being intimate with Samuel.

“We pleaded with Chamunorwa to ignore the issue and we told Enetty what transpired. Chamunorwa went into the house and was given a “little bit of love” and the two came out happy, even doing high fives,” said Melody.

Other villagers said this was a first in the area and Enetty and her two husbands should be summoned to the chief’s court and pay a fine.
All Gospel Assemblies Pastor, Shadreck Kavhu (77) said: “This woman and her husbands are all possessed by evil spirits.”

Enetty’s brothers, Edmore, Israel and Fanuel who are said to have pocketed her lobola from both men could not be reached for comment.
Enetty’s sister, Abigail Dube (28), said both men were her brothers-in-law.

“I want my sister to get back with Chamunorwa and let Samuel go back and take care of his seven children who are living in poverty,” said Abigail.

Oswell Manyembere (42) Samuel’s client said this issue strips men of their dignity.
“Chamunorwa should just leave his wife because she is being promiscuous. They will infect each other with diseases soon,” he said.
A mob gathered at Enetty’s house recently threatening to beat her up.

Polyandry is a form of polygamy whereby a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time and is rare in Zimbabwe.
Polyandry is contrasted with polygamy, involving one male and two or more females.

Polyandry is also distinct from group marriage, involving plural participants of each sex. The practice is, however, not common in Zimbabwe and the region but there are individuals that have entered into such marriages. It is, however, common in northern India where fraternal polyandry is practised and among the Masai and the Irigwe of northern Nigeria in Africa.

Only last month, two Kenyan men agreed to marry the same woman, taking turns to stay with her and helping her raise her children. Joyce Wambui had been torn between two lovers for more than four years and was unable to choose between them. So she joined in a contract stipulating that Sylvester Mwendwa and Elijah Kimani would “share” her.

But Mwendwa’s decision to go public about the unusual deal infuriated Wambui, cost him his job and forced him into hiding to escape a public backlash in Kisauni, Mombasa.

Another Zimbabwean woman, Mbuya Mabewu Mainwa of Mazowe, has for decades lived with her two husbands — Jonathan Snake and his older brother Mr Punguzani a.k.a Kamuzezuru.

She has five sons with Punguzani and a daughter with Snake. — Additional reporting by Herald Deputy Features Editor.