MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s in-laws yesterday spoke out for the first time on his separation with their daughter Elizabeth Macheka, saying they are yet to be informed officially about the development that has set tongues wagging.
BY JOHN NYASHANU POLITICAL EDITOR
In an interview with NewsDay, Elizabeth’s father Joseph Macheka said no formal communication had been proffered to him on the reported separation which his daughter claims was triggered by health-related “sensitive personal issues”.
“I have heard she is now staying in Borrowdale, but I have not been informed about it officially. I never bothered to find out because as you know from our African culture, I would be the last person to know about their marital problems, if any,” he said.
Macheka, a Zanu PF central committee member and former Chitungwiza executive mayor, also refused to furnish NewsDay with his sister’s contact details, an aunt who would most likely be privy to the goings on in her niece’s marital problems.
“I definitely cannot give you her numbers. I think you can get it from those two (Tsvangirai andElizabeth),” he said.
Contacted for comment to establish whether Tsvangirai has formalised his separation, the former Prime Minister’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka refused to shed light.
“We are no longer talking about that issue. This case, as far as we are concerned, is now water under the bridge and what we have said is enough,” Tamborinyoka said.
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Elizabeth reportedly moved out of the couple’s official residence in Highlands and settled in the leafy Philadelphia suburb, Borrowdale late last year.
Elizabeth told a local newspaper last week that: “Let it be known that it is every woman’s dream to be happily married in poverty and even in the midst of plenty. He knows the genesis of the problem, what steps he has been trying in vain to address the situation, including visits to TB Joshua and others. The paralysis between us has nothing to do with the outcome of the July 31, 2013 elections, MDC-T, any other political entity, foreign hand or material worth.” Critics said the separation has all but dented the image of Tsvangirai, who suffered a humiliating defeat to Zanu PF in last year’s July 31 harmonised elections, though he disputed the outcome, claiming the polls had been rigged.
Tsvangirai lost his first wife of 31 years, Susan, in a road accident in 2009. Since then, he has been linked to several women as he sought to find a suitable partner.
Some of them include businesswoman Locardia Karimatsenga Tembo, whom he reportedly married customarily in 2011 before ditching her days later. He also allegedly dated South African Nosipho Regina Shilubane, who proceeded to sue him for wasting her time.
Before settling for Elizabeth, Tsvangirai also impregnated a Bulawayo woman, Loreta Nyathi, with whom he sired a child and reached an out-of-court settlement.
