Tunakie files for divorce

By Elvis Muraranganda
OTYAKA queen Maria Tuna Omukwathi Kan­gowa, better known as Tunakie is embroiled in a bitter divorce battle, spiced with alle­gations of abuse and witchcraft, Confidente can reveal.
The Ekalanyana hitmaker is claiming in court papers that her husband of several years, music producer Simon Holmes ‘Trace’ Kangowa, does not want her to work, and insists that she remains unemployed.
She is demanding custody of their two children and mainte­nance of N$500 per month for each child.
The divorce application will come as a shock to many fans, who have been following the ro­mance between the former love­birds over the years.
“During the subsistence of the marriage between the parties, the defendant (Kangowa) wrongful­ly and maliciously, and with the fixed intention to terminate the marital relationship, emotional­ly, physically and psychologically abused the plaintiff (Tunakie),” the court papers read.
Tunakie also claims that their marital woes are the result of Kan­gowa refusing to “compromise on family values”, as they are “from different ethnic groups with dif­ferent values and customs”.
Tunakie, who released her de­but album, Ombwila, in 2004, has a string of hit singles and col­laborations to her credit over the years.
She won nine Sanlam/NBC Awards over the years, before it was transformed into the Namib­ia Annual Music Awards (NA­MAs).
She dropped her latest album back in 2015, titled, Onjila.
She has painted a sorrowful pic­ture in her divorce application pa­pers, also claiming that Kangowa is abusive to their twin boys.
She also says that he is refusing to let the boys visit her parents.
She says further that Kangowa is controlling her movements and her social life.
Tunakie, who has been absent from Facebook recently, posted on Instagram this week about a new business venture in Cape Town. She is the owner of HNJC Hair & Beauty Salon in Voor­trekker Road, Parow, which is situated in Cape Town. However, her court papers reveal a darker side to what she has been going through.
She says that Kangowa is accus­ing her of witchcraft, but does not elaborate any further.
She says further that he is “vi­olent towards (the) kids and is inconsiderate” towards her “needs”.
“(Kangowa) does not want the plaintiff (Tunak­ie) to find employment and insists that she remains un­employed. He refuses that the kids visit the plain­tiff ’s parents.
“He denies the plaintiff the oppor­tunity to live her life. He controls the plaintiff ’s movement s and social life. He ac­cuses plaintiff of witchcraft… (and) is violent towards the kids and is inconsider­ate towards the plaintiff ’s needs,” the court papers read.
Kangowa told Confidente that he cannot speak on the matter as it is still not concluded at the courts.
“If it was concluded I would have helped with some informa­tion, but at this stage, I cannot say anything more,” he said.
When contacted on Facebook, Tunak­ie said, “I’m not ready to talk about it with the media, hope you respect and understand my situation.” The couple were married in Au­gust 2011 in Windhoek , in of com­munity of prope r t y. Their twin boys are seven years old. The divorce pa­pers were filed on 19 January.