Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani V and his wife were issued with a fake marriage certificate during their royal wedding on Saturday, a law expert says.
Gomani, real name Mswati Willard Gomani, got married to South African Rishaladza Khanyisa Mathebula at a colourful wedding in Ntcheu yesterday.
Their marriage was officiated at Ntcheu CAPP where the couple was also given a marriage certificate.
However, lawyer Ralph Kasambara has claimed that the certificate given to the couple is not accepted by the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act,2015 (MDFRA, 2015) which is the current legislation regulating all marriages (ie Civil, Customary, Religious, Permanent Cohabitation & Repute and Foreign).
Under the MDFRA of 2015, marriage certificates are issued by government offices and churches are required to obtain the certificates from offices such as Registrar General Department, government printer and District Commissioner.
“What the Ntcheu CCAP has issued to Ngwenyama and his beloved new wife is a FAKE document. I am failing to come to terms with what this respectable institution has done,” Kasambara wrote on Facebook.
He added that a genuine Marriage certificate is necessary because it is the best evidence that the marriage was celebrated or registered.
According to Kasambara, during disputes courts or churches don’t accept fake documents.
“Now I am thinking ahead. Imagine the Ngwenyama and the beloved queen have irreconcilable differences in 2039 and seek divorce. How would they easily prove their marriage? Surely it will be by production of marriage certificate,” he said.
Inkosi Gomani’s wedding ceremony was preceded by embarrassing episodes for the chief as his former lover Ovixlexla Bunya claimed that she is married to the paramount chief.
Bunya and Gomani have a child together and the woman wrote the Ntcheu church requesting it not to officiate Gomani’s marriage to Rishaladza.
However, the church went on to celebrate the wedding.
On Friday, Gomani also obtained an injunction restraining Bunya from stopping the wedding or acting as his wife.
