HARARE (Reuters) – A legal bid by a former lover of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to stop his wedding on Saturday has laid bare a messy private life and damaged the political reputation of the main rival to long-serving leader Robert Mugabe.
Locardia Karimatsenga, 39, has filed a High Court injunction to block Tsvangirai’s wedding to fiancee Elizabeth Macheka, arguing that she was his wife under the former British colony’s “customary marriage” law.
The filing, due to be decided on Wednesday, has sparked a frenzy in Harare newspapers, which have plastered their front pages with headlines such as “Tsvangirai wedding war”, “Plot against PM intensifies” and “D-Day for PM Wedding”.
Having the nuptials blocked would be a major embarrassment for Tsvangirai, who had been expected to invite Mugabe, his partner in a fractious coalition formed after a disputed 2008 election, and some foreign leaders to the ceremony.
While 88-year-old Mugabe has been criticised for turning what was once one of Africa’s strongest economies into a basket case, Tsvangirai is now being publicly questioned over his relationships with women and money.
His personal troubles started after the death of his wife, Susan, in a 2009 car crash. They have handed Mugabe political ammunition as he seeks to extend his three-decade rule in an election expected within a year.
Karimatsenga, a tall and sturdily built woman, said by local newspapers to have a taste for luxury, alleged she had suffered a miscarriage while carrying Tsvangirai’s child last year and that this had “mentally devastated him”.
In June, the 60-year-old also confirmed newspaper reports that he had fathered a love child with a 24-year-old woman in the second city of Bulawayo and that he was looking after them both.
“It is embarrassing, plain and simple,” a top official in the MDC told Reuters. “It is an unwanted distraction which we would rather not have.”
The High Court has also received another application from Karimatsenga in which she demands $15,000 from Tsvangirai for her monthly upkeep, including $1,700 for “hair and beauty therapy” and $1,200 for telephone bills.
She is also seeking $3,000 for rent, $4,000 for groceries and $1,500 as a clothing allowance – arguing that Tsvangirai has the money.
The sums compare to per capita GDP of $800 a year in Zimbabwe, where government workers earn an average $300 a month. Making matters worse for Tsvangirai is his recent move into a $3 million state residence.
ZANU-PF is certain to pounce on Tsvangirai’s private life in any election campaign, using it to paint him as an unreliable leader. Politburo member Jonathan Moyo has derided Tsvangirai in newspaper columns for his “open zip and shut mind” politics.
people should not lose sight because of someones social life,how many in zanu (pf)had worst love affairs which did not hit the streets but happened?thats cheap politicking,tired of people seeking political milage,kutsvaga uta nemugate.
Tsvangirai kuti hausi mutwin waZuma here? ngwarira chinhu chemukabudura unofa maikati machena.
The issue of somebody stoping Tsvangirai’s wedding must not make the people lose focus.The Prime Minister is human like us all and such things do happen. I know some people will fly to mars and back with the news but it will not change anything. We know what you have also done. Some of you have been associated with people of strange behaviour. Some of you have been involved in worse scandals than what has happened to the PM. If the people keep quiet do not mistake it for ignorance. So please shut up because most of you have ” your own” skeletons in your cupboards.
Thank you very much Maguta for your own opinion. We are also entitled to ours. You have reacted to the story the way you feel was right and we are also entitled to react the way we think fits our own evaluation of the issue. I personally feel that the prime minister got it all wrong. He is a leader and a person of influence. Most young people expect to be advised by him and he is a role model to many young men in the country. He has the right to choose who he wants to merry but womanising is not right for a person of his aplomb. What shocks me is that Tsvangirai is sleeping with all these women without protection, wow, I cant believe that considering that he knows of the dangers of contracting STIs. Mr Prime minister, you have disgraced me.
@maguta- you do have a point. This smells like a hatchet job like the Ari Ben Menashe saga..more women will be dragged out of the woodwork to nail Mr. Tsvangirai but like everything driven by malice it will fail. That is not to say the PM is a saint, with hindsight he could have handled issues of the heart differently.
Who ever is orchestrating all these new ‘character assasination’ plots is doing it in vain. If anything they are pushing those people who were fence sitters to sympathise with him. This is a guy who lost his wife and now this persecution everywhere is bound to elicit sympathy for him, whether he is wrong or right. Remember the human psyche seems to be programmed to side with the underdog..If all the corruption and indecision in the MDC had lost him support this new wedding “hatchet job” has thrown him a lifeline. The more the government media villify him the more people feel sorry for him this because the accusation is coming from a discredited source which has never had a good word to say about him. I think if anything this is making Tsvangirai a ‘social matyr’ who is being nailed to the mast by a known hostile government media. If elections were to be held tomorrow this would help him to a landslide..People shake their heads in wonder, what is it that brings out the brute in the government media about this man? Does it mean that this mam who is the Prime Minister in the land never does anything right? The geniuses who authored this policy have bungled again ( a known tradition?) it seems and of course no one is surprised. Dragging that South African woman out of obscurity was a transparent act of desperation!!! This lady coming so quickly on the heels of the Locardia debacle.
Sure one old man is staying with another man’s wife after forcibly sending the husband to china. Thats a big scandal.
We are talking of call of nature here,if he for sure did it with all the said women,they should not hate him for deciding on which brand to keep.Are they saying they never broke some men’s hearts.
Just dust up and move on,tough luck.
Are you in a way implying that because the old man did something wrong then your Tsvangirai must not be rapped fror doing wrong? How wrong you are!!! Maggot!! Dick head who believes two wrongs make a right!
Asi PM needs to be focused on why he is in that position, its not for him to lure all these women, but to be a change leader!! what change can he bring when he is busy with different women, abusing them in the process!!! look at what happened to the catholic bishop, it was women again who brought him down!! A renowned critic of Mugabe but had a dirty private life and it was brought out which led to his resignation!! the same with Tsvangira, if he hangs on to his post and Mdc, I’m sorry to say he will take them down with him!!! Mr PM please just resign, your shenenigans are not for people with high offices, and people of zimbabwe refuse to be associated with a woman abuser!!
Unfortunately Zimbabweans are not even focused on MT’s trivial social life but rather on the future of the country which basically is more concentrated on creating a new political and economic dispensation. this will only be possible by making sure that the government which had failed us as a nation is relegated to the periphery of politics. MT is an individual like many in the ‘moribund of thieves’ party who are on HIV spreading mission. We don’t mind about his sex life as long as he is not working against the freedoms and rights of the people of the peaceful country. Such revelations will not make us loose focus… we know where we are coming and the future we aspire for the people of zimbabwe. time is up for us to restore rights to the people and their choice to determine their destiny. very soon we will let ZANU to the dogs
That’s were it is now then wats the way forward Mr Pm & your enemies who in a single second try to open a bag of tricks….
The issues around this case are those of the PM’s judgement and morality, understanding of laws of the country. It is clear that he regards women as disposables. He can pick and drop as he wishes. There is no evidence of empathy and trating women with dignity. Leaders need to regard women as worthy citizens.
If I were Elizabeth Macheka I would pull out of this union with Morgan. Its about valuing yourself as a woman. Yes she might feel that she is the winner because she has got Morgan but surely not under these circumstances of cheating and circuses. Elizabeth should have pride in herself . Its not about material gains . Life is not about material gains only. Its about many other things. It is clear Morgan was double crossing women and this might not be the end. He will continues to abuse other women and her.
The sad thing is that we were all led to believe that Morgan and the MDC heralded a New Zimbabwe, a country where morality would shine, where graft and corruption would be a thing of the past, where Right and not Might succeeded, where the measure of a man was not how much money he had, but how he conducted his life.
However what has happened, is that the same venality that plagued Zanu PF for so long has worked its way into the very heart of the MDC. They play at being Politicians, no more serving their people than their former masters, they enrich themselves with farms, cars and luxuries our country can ill afford, they cannot be our role models because their immorality is plain to see for all. Shame on you Morgan Tsvangerai you have left the people who fought for you and now play at being a Prime MInister, a shepherd to you flock and a servant to your people. Zimbabwe will never rise up so long as men like you lead the Opposition.
I have cause to think that with the $100million that the state machinery has purportedly set aside to deal with “Operation Mess Up Tsvangirai” it is not surprising to all and sundry. The whole drama must not make us take our eyes off the bigger picture. That of removing an irresponsible, regime that has diverted 100million dollars to deal with somebody’s private life, when civil servants are crying for even an iota of pay rise!! Remember maDiamonds arikungogara Biti achingo chema kuti haasi kuona revenue yacho….Over 12 million people are being woodwinked into this stage managed theatrical! If I may ask, how many man have had to promise marriage and have not obliged..after some time? Ndokusaka kuchinzi kupfimba. Hazvisi zvinhu zvitsva panyaya yaSAVE iyi!! Dzakawanda dzirikuZanu kana kuvanhuwo zvavo!! The difference is only that hatisi kungozvitaura chete!!…Only hatisikudzitaura chete!!!Kune vanhu vakurusa varikugara nevakadzi vevamwe varume vacho vari vapenyu! What ever the outcome of SAVE’s case, people must not be decoyed by ZANU. form real issues…Handisikupembedza nyaya yacho, but its his(Tsvangirai’s) private life….Hands off Tsvangirai! and lets focus on taking out the murderer, rapist, antisocial ZANU (Pambe-Fumi).
Morgan Tsvangirai is a public figure hence he has no private life. Anything that concerns him is of public interest as it has an effect on this nation. We are talking about the country future first lady and as members of the public we want him to do things right and not to make decisions at the expense of causing harm and agony on others. Can we trust Morgan to lead this country especially when he demonstrates such recklessness with his money when so many of us are suffering from poverty, unemployment, disease etc. He is not different with the womanizers in ZANU(PF). I am a bit frighted that, Tsvangirai is a big spendor and when one day he becomes President of this country that will also give him a ticket to sleep with different women. If he had no money or riches would all these women really go out with him? I wonder where his money comes from and are the donors providing assistance to him and the MDC party with the way this man is spending tax-payers money on women. Please donors put your money towards the elimination of HIV and AIDS, economic empowerment of the impoverished majority Zimbabwean instead. There is no doubt that Tsvangirai and his wives will end up as the late Ferdinard Marcos and Emelda Marcos of the Philippines who acquired all wealth at the expense of their country. We are suffering and it pains us when we see such kind of people whom we viewed as leaders and different from the ZANU (PF) thugs seem to care very little about our social welfare as they splash their monies on women and shopping sprees abroad. Tsvangirai and all like him are not doing this nation any good as they are contra winds to everything that we are responding to positively as a country, HIV and AIDS, economic empowerment, water and sanitation, food, shelter etc. I wonder what kind of a pastor would entertain and promote his members to have sex in his house and before marriage for that matter. Shame on the Pastor from Borrowdale who turned his home into a sex cabin for Tsvangirai and his girlfriends. I wonder what kind of a marriage Elizabeth and Tsvangirai are going to have, obviously there won`t be any joy in this marriage except plastic happiness as the PM`s problems have just began. Locardia is going to fight and she will refuse Gupuro to complicate things, she will demand half share of all Tsvangirai`s money and properties as she is entilteld otherwise this will never end. There is also no gurantee that Tsvangirai being a cassanova and playboy will not marry another wife/wives. PM must do the right thing and start giving Locadia the respect and space she deserves as the first wife and stop making careless and public malicious statements on her personality. he must put all this behind and start concentrate on his two wives and as a nation we will respect him. He was once sexually intimate with Locadia, now why call her all those abusive names as Elizabeth is also just like her. The majority of women in Zimbabwe are behind her and Mr Tsvangirai must tread with caution as us women are the majority when it comes to voting, we have the power in our numbers. PM Tsvangirai must stop treating women as objects.
Agreed, we all make mistakes, but Tvsangirai is not showing any remorse, but rather justifies his actions by saying he was still searching when he moved from one woman to another and sleeping with all he came across, come on guys this does not sound right. he says people should mind their own business, is he forgetting that he is (should) be a people person, his life is our business private or public, coz what ever he does privately or publicly should reflect on whether he is a good (God) person or not. Unless we say that he can murder during the night and play saint during the day. Mr Tsvangirai i say you are not fit to be our president
Agreed, we all make mistakes, but Tvsangirai is not showing any remorse, but rather justifies his actions by saying he was still searching when he moved from one woman to another and sleeping with all he came across, come on guys this does not sound right. he says people should mind their own business, is he forgetting that he is (should) be a people person, his life is our business private or public, coz what ever he does privately or publicly should reflect on whether he is a good (God) person who can lead us or not. Unless we say that he can murder during the night and play saint during the day. Mr Tsvangirai i say you are not fit to be our president
Taita dambudziko revanhu vanoda kutonga vanhu vaJehovha ivo vasingazive mwari. Tingafambe takabatira chiuno mumaoko here nhai varume. All the hope has been destroyed.
Certainly God of our fathers will raise better leaders in our generation.
@richo- no need to despair..god has a plan for Zimbabwe and we the ordinary folk will one day near soon cal the real shots. For now, why not give the former widower the benefit of the doubt and look at his interfacing with the fairer from hereon.
@ Dorica- you have a point..Mr. Tsvangirai should be aware that holding public office carries with it certain responsibilites but then the women folk themselves have to answer too for their actions, not so? Why not give him benefit of the doubt this time around and hope he learns from this..to prove that he has learnt from his mistakes he appears to have made an honest woman out of Elizabeth, he could have gone on and on compromising our ladyfolk and himself.Elizabeth appears to know the score and she may be exactly what the doctor ordered for the PM.. we saw her visiting those incacerated children at the High court. This to me appears to me to be someone who is ready to take charge of her husband and is ready to take on the mantle of mother of the nation-in-waiting…This hopefully closes this last ugly chapter in his life.What throws the whole thing off kilter is all the hyprocrisy, dont you think? Most of his critics both in and outside the public eye treat their spouses and ladyfolk worse than the PM.
Am suprised by people criticising The Herald for carrying these headlines about Morgan, yet they are debating this, in this, The Independent under the following headings
…Tsvangirai Wedding: Premier walking minefield
….Love Tussels Tarnishes Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai
….Tsvangirai’s Wedding-A New Life Of Luxury
Every Zimbabwean publication has carried headlines on this story.
Truth hurts
I can not believe that my primeminister is now a polygamist. How can he manage the highest institution in the land when he is failing to manage his own body.He has failed the stewardship of the smallest object and we want to mandate him with the stewardship of all the families of the land.. Asazi…