A bitter custody dispute involving businessman Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo has taken a dramatic turn after his estranged wife Sonja Louise Madzikanda filed a court opposition, accusing him of abusing the legal system and exaggerating claims of being denied access to their children.
In papers seen by NewZimbabwe.com now filed at the High Court, Madzikanda is opposing Chivayo's urgent application for access to their two minor children, arguing the case is not urgent, unnecessary and based on "falsehoods."
"This application... lacks urgency," she said, adding that Chivayo had waited nearly two years after their separation in 2024 to approach the courts.
"If there was any credible weight to the allegations, the applicant would not have waited for two years."
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Madzikanda said Chivayo already has access to the children and continues to see them regularly.
"I confirm that the applicant has and is enjoying contact with the minor children on a regular basis," she said.
She dismissed his claims of being blocked from seeing the children as exaggerated and unsupported, noting that even his own court papers admit he had "regular and meaningful access including alternate weekends, school holidays and daily communication."
"The applicant seeks to be granted a right which he already enjoys," she said, describing the application as "moot... and an abuse of court process."
Chivayo had alleged he was repeatedly denied access unless he met "extortionate" financial demands, but Madzikanda rejected the accusation.
She said it is highly regrettable that the applicant conflates the matrimonial dispute with the issue of contact with the children.
Madzikanda also said if it was not for his controlling behaviour, they would have settled their issues out of court long back.
"I deny and dispute that I have made monetary demands in exchange for the contact with the children. It is highly regrettable that the applicant conflates the matrimonial dispute where by right, I am entitled to claim whatever is permitted by law with the issue of contact with the children being separate and unrelated.
"It is so because the paramountcy of the best interest of the children demand that the question of the interests of the children be resolved first before any consideration can be made to the issues concerning the warring parents.
"I should hasten to state that numerous meetings have been held between my attorneys of record and the applicant's lawyers with a view of arriving at a settlement.
"But for the Applicant's hubris and tyranny, the whole dispute would have been settled. In amplification, I initially instituted divorce proceedings under case number HCHF 4890/25.
"The applicant demanded that I withdraw the matter in order for us to settle the dispute. I instructed my attorneys to withdraw the action.
"After it was withdrawn, the applicant refused to proceed with the settlement discussions and demanded that I apologise and submit to everything that came across his mind. Having noted that I was going nowhere with the discussions, I reinstituted the proceedings under case number 62/26 which is pending before this Honourable Court.
"I humbly submit that the prolongation of the dispute between me and the applicant is a product of the applicant's inherent arrogance and over-controlling disposition. I humbly submit that it is not in the best interests of the minor children that this matter survives any day longer. However due to the disingenuity of the applicant in the resolution of the issues between me and him, he now opportunistically drags the children into the dispute widening the scope of fields of contention. I ask the court to censor such conduct by a denial of this application," she said.
She described the allegations as "scandalous and demeaning," insisting that legal claims over property in their pending divorce case cannot be equated to extortion.
Madzikanda also pointed to what she called contradictions in Chivayo's case, saying he simultaneously claims regular access while alleging systematic denial.
"The contradiction... renders the allegation of systematic and unilateral denial a falsehood," she argued.
She added that apart from one cited date February 28, 2026 Chivayo fails to provide clear examples of being denied access.
On that date, she said, the children were on a medical trip to South Africa arranged by Chivayo himself.
"It is absurd that I granted his security personnel access and would then... deny him access," she said.
Madzikanda further alleged the application is not genuinely about parental rights but control.
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"In essence... it is an application for access to house keys and not access to children," she said.
She also accused Chivayo of attempting to dictate terms in their divorce, including pressuring her to drop legal representation.
"He has made it a condition... that I terminate my instructions to my legal representatives and... submit to whatever he considers justice on his terms."
Madzikanda warned that the access arrangement being sought could disrupt the children's lives.
"What is proposed would be detrimental to the children's routine, stability and structure," she said, stressing that any arrangements must prioritise the best interests of the children.
She is now asking the High Court to dismiss the urgent application with costs, arguing it lacks merit and was filed in bad faith.
"The application is an abuse of the process of this Honourable Court," she said.
However, an urgent hearing was before High Court judge Justice Amy Tsanga in her chambers on Thursday.
The judge's order is outstanding.
