Paralegals help Kigoma woman

”MY husband denied me my rights after divorce, but Kigoma paralegals helped me to claim them,” says Mwajumbe Ally (30), a resident of Mwanga-North Ward, Kigoma Urban District-Kigoma.


Before divorce, Ms Mwajumbe had been leading a happy life with her husband, Mr Muhidini Seif Msabaha. In their marriage, they have been blessed with two children (a boy and a girl).

Through their own business and related activities, the couple generated income which enabled them to construct a decent house in Kigoma Township. After sometime, they experienced conflict, which disturbed them.

The husband became so bitter that he would insult his wife almost daily. At the beginning, nobody knew the source of conflict, but as time passed by, it came to light that the husband was planning to marry another woman and divorce the first wife.

“I was aware of his plan, so I let him marry the woman of his choice on condition that I should be given part of our joint property such as a house and domestic appliances,” said Ms Mwajumbe. The husband issued a formal divorce basing on Islamic laws.

However, he was reluctant to give part of the joint property to Mwajumbe, thus prolonged the conflict. “Regular meetings organised by religious leaders to resolve this conflict could not yield any positive results, as most of these leaders were siding with my husband so that I lose my divorce rights,” said Mwajumbe.

“A friend of mine advised me to go to a Kigoma paralegal centre, where I met with one paralegal called Mr Elias Lukata,” she added. Paralegal assisted the woman to get a divorce (written by husband) certified by the court in order to secure her rights.

Paralegal provided necessary legal guidance to Mwajumbe--from the start to the end. At last, the Kigoma District Court certified the divorce-document, something which gave her legal powers to claim for her rights.

In course of court proceedings, husband was summoned to the court and ordered to pay Mwajumbe 2m/- as part of her share from a jointly-constructed house. The court also divided (fairly) other valuable properties amongst the two.

But paralegals went an extra mile, advised Mwajumbe to invest her money in income-generating activities, an idea which she bought and implemented. Mwajumbe used part of the money to buy a plot at Msingwa, purchase motorcycle (Bodaboda) and invest in small businesses.

All these business activities enable her to generate income, which she uses to construct her own house. Mwajumbe is now finalising construction of her house through money she gets from small business and Bodaboda.

“No doubt, I will finish my house...Bodaboda alone (apart from other businesses) gives me 5000/- every day. I thank paralegals, they pulled me from a pit, poor and miserable life to improved living standard...” noted Mwajumbe.