TROUBLED Dendera lead singer Sulumani Chimbetu has made an application for a downward variation of his maintenance fee of $800 for the upkeep of the upkeep of his two minor children on the basis that the fee was exorbitant.
Chimbetu was ordered to pay $800 maintenance of his ex-wife Marygold Mutemasango and their two minor children by the Civil Court in December 2016 which has to be deposited monthly into the wife’s bank account.
In the application submitted with the Harare Civil Court Chimbetu now wants the maintenance fee to be reduced to $200 a month since he has other three children whom he is taking care of.
“I must point out that the figure of $800 which I am currently paying is exorbitant and unsustainable in the current economic environment compared to my income. My current salary is $750 with a provision of %5 of the total earnings realized from each live show that the band would have staged, other 25% is retained by the company and the other 75% is retained by the promoter of the show,” said Sulumani in his founding affidavit.
To buttress his claims, Chimbetu attached his payslip together with those of two other band members Jonah Nyamungoma and Carlton Mparutsa whom he said were undisputed members of the Orchestra Dendera Kings.
He argued that international tours in the United States and South Africa that the band used to have are now difficult to come by.
“The other factor that has eroded our income as musicians is the illegal piracy of our music. That this not peculiar to me but other musicians is common cause,” said Chimbetu adding that releasing a new album was now very costly.
He pleaded with the court to reduce the monthly maintenance arguing that his monthly bill continues to ballon after his current wife lost her job in August 2017. Sulumani was customarily married to Marygold and were blessed with two minor children before their marriage irretrievably broke down in 2015.
