Tsvangirai ‘marriage’ a political powder keg

By Dumisani Muleya

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s controversial “marriage” saga with well-off Harare businesswoman Lorcadia Karimatsenga Tembo has created a political powder keg which could explode in his face amid clear indications it is intertwined with simmering factionalism within his MDC-T party and Zanu PF.

Informed sources said this week Tsvangirai, whose wife Susan died in March 2009, was entangled in a web of money, love and power politics threatening to extensively damage his image.

“This is a Hollywood-like story of money, love and power. Tsvangirai fell in love with this woman (Lorcadia) after she was arranged for him by those close to him, including the Makone family, partly because she is well-off. The idea behind the whole arrangement was ultimately power and politics.

Those close to Tsvangirai wanted to be the power-brokers or kingmakers,” a source close to the situation said. “The issue has tentacles across Zanu PF politics because Lorcadia is a sister of Beatrice Nyamupinga, a Zanu PF MP and a relative of the Mujuru family,” the source said.

“The Karimatsenga family is Zanu PF to the marrow. For a long time now, there has been close cooperation between the MDC-T and the Mujuru faction in Zanu PF and this ‘marriage’ was going to consolidate that political relationship.”

The situation could be exacerbated by signs that state security agents are running the show behind the scenes to damage Tsvangirai’s reputation ahead of elections next year or in 2013. Reports indicate the state security agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation, has a detailed plan to expose real and imagined sexual escapades of top leaders of the two MDC formations ahead of the next elections.

A few months ago Tsvangirai was at the centre of a storm over an alleged affair with a Bulawayo woman, Aquilina Kayidza Pamberi. Tsvangirai has also impregnated another Bulawayo woman, Loreta Nyathi, daughter of famous football commentator Inglam Nyathi.

The prime minister has also featured prominently in the media over his romantic escapades involving other women, including his wife’s younger sister Leah Mhundwa and Dr Arikana Chihombori. Another woman, Elizabeth Guma, was this week linked to Tsvangirai.

Sources say more women will come out to join the fray. Intelligence sources say the clearest evidence that state intelligence services were pulling the strings in the fiasco was involvement of one of the women mentioned.

“There is a woman who has just come out hinting to be one of Tsvangirai’s girlfriends, and she might as well have been, but I know for a fact that she is a state agent,” a source said. “I know her personally and her history,” a source said. “The moment I saw her in the media I knew where this was coming from.”

The script of how Tsvangirai connected with and dropped Lorcadia is dramatic. “Lorcadia is a close friend of Theresa Makone,” the source said. “After she was introduced to him by those in the Makone family, the relationship went on very well for some time.

Tsvangirai would even meet her at her house in the affluent Dainfern suburb in Johannesburg. The relationship blossomed despite so many problems which they had, including the discomfort on his children around the issue,” a source said.

“However, things changed suddenly when Tsvangirai recently visited the United States. While he was there he sent an email to Lorcadia saying he was no longer interested in the relationship but she replied to it saying she was pregnant. That shocked Tsvangiraiand put him in a fix. He either had to marry her or pay some compensation or damages of some form to her family.

Sources said after his return from the US and agonisingover the issue, Tsvangirai eventually plucked up courage to send emissaries to the Karimatsenga family on November 18 “to perform traditional and cultural rites to formalise the relationship”.

The Makone family and their Zanu PF associates, including Beatrice, rallied behind Lorcadia, trying to lock Tsvangirai into the situation. They tried to use the occasion at Christon Bank to place Tsvangirai in a tight spot.

However, to show Tsvangirai did not intend to marry Lorcadia, the phrase “to formalise the relationship”, initially used loosely, was hastily removed from the first statement released on Wednesday to avoid giving the impression he wanted to tie the knot. The first statement said messengers were sent “to perform traditional and cultural rites to formalise the relationship” but the second one, correcting the first, only said “to perform traditional and cultural rites”.

After paying $10 000 –– contrary to the $36 000 initially touted –– the Karimatsenga family, working with their MDC-T and Zanu PF allies, stepped up pressure on Tsvangirai to marry the woman as he was already trying to wriggle off the hook. They then dispatched Lorcadia to Tsvangirai’s rural Buherahome in a bid to corner him to marry her.

“It’s clear Tsvangirai no longer wanted to marry Lorcadia by the time he sent envoys to pay damages. He thought the situation could be managed that way as he has done elsewhere in the past but things spun out of control, much to his horror and disappointment,” a source said.

“Tsvangirai was distressed by the situation and before he went to South Africa he met senior party officials who were gravely concerned about the situation. It was agreed a statement would be issued to clarify the situation but Tsvangirai was clear, he did not want to marry the womanwhich is why he refused to allow her to stay at his Strathaven home.”

Sources said Tsvangirai did not want to marry Lorcadia for personal and political reasons. “It’s a complicated situation. The premier’s close allies like those in the Makone family wanted him to marry Lorcadia but part of the Kitchen cabinet, some other ministers close to him, were against it. So around him there were serious divisions about it,” a source said.

“In the party it was worse. Most officials argued the marriage would ensure Tsvangirai would be firmly controlled by the Makone family through bedroom politics while he is also embedded in Zanu PF, which further complicates matters. Lorcadia’s fate was sealed last week when Tsvangirai was referred to in parliament as ‘son-in-law’ by Zanu PF MPs and Beatrice as ‘sister-in-law’ by legislators.”

The other factor why the affair collapsed, sources say, is that Tsvangirai has apparently found a new girlfriend in the US that he wants to marry in future. The Zimbabwe Independent