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IT IS advisable not to mix business with pleasure; a lesson Sitayi Bwalya and Toni Ankew learnt the hard way after a whirlwind romance destroyed their business relationship.
Bwalya, 26, of John Laing Township told Principal Presiding Magistrate Mable Mwaba, senior local court magistrates Miyanda Banda and Davies Mpundu that Ankew, 40, was her business partner before the two decided to get romantically involved.
Bwalya, who appeared before Lusaka’s the Boma Local Court was testifying in a case in which she sued her former lover Ankew, a Nigerian national of Kalingalinga Township for restitution of document.
She said the two met in 2013 when they decided to enter into a business arrangement. However, they only started dating when their business flourished upon which Ankew proposed marriage.
“We started operating a bar together. Later, he promised to open a salon for me as well. Instead he opened two containers for me at City Market in my name where I started selling wigs. We even moved in together,” she said.
She said after five months, Ankew told her that his father was sick and that he needed to travel to Nigeria.
“When leaving he got all the money we had while I remained managing the businesses. He called me from Nigeria and informed me about his father’s death. Upon his return, he told me his family was against our marriage and that he wanted nothing to do with me,” she said.
Bwalya complained that Ankew has since been trying to change ownership of the two containers he had opened in her name.
“He is keeping the original documents of the two stands. I have sued him for the restitution of documents because the property legally belongs to me. He said I would get nothing because I have not given him children,” she said.
In a letter of consent to the court, Ankew admitted to the business agreement and marriage proposal.
Passing judgment, the court ordered that Bwalya be given one of the containers and papers of ownership.
Zambia Daily Mail
