Man claims Mugabe is his biological father

A Mozambican man who is accused of illegally entering Zimbabwe through South Africa has told a Harare magistrates’ court that President Robert Mugabe is his biological father.

The man’s name is Gabriel Ricardo and is a Mozambican national who got arrested on May 30 this year, after entering Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border post without a passport.

Ricardo was only found with his Mozambican Identity Document. “I came here looking for my parents,” he said. When asked who his parents were, he said: “It is the president of the country”.

He claims Mugabe fathered him with an unnamed woman when he was still in Mozambique during Zimbawe’s war of liberation. Ricardo further claims he was raised by foster parents who told him before they died that his real father was the 91- year-old Zimbabwean president.

After the death of his foster parents, he says he left for South Africa in search of employment but found things tough in the country. He then left for Zimbabwe to connect with his roots and reunite with the president.

In the ruling, the court said Ricardo’s claim, would not save him from the principal charge of border jumping. The magistrate convicted and handed him a one month imprisonment sentence which was wholly suspended on condition he will not commit a similar offence.

The court also ordered his deportation back to Mozambique, Ricardo said he would go back to his country but will engage with the Zimbabwean embassy in efforts to be reunited with President Mugabe, whom he calls “my father”. The Citizen