News / National
MDC-T MP finally marries her Cameroonian lover
30 Mar 2012 at 06:28hrs | Views
MDC-T MP Evelyn Masaiti has married her Cameroonian lover at the second time of asking, having initially been refused by a court over concerns it was a marriage of convenience.
The Dzivarasekwa MP, 47, confirmed on Thursday that her marriage to Pentecote Ayina, 37, had now gone through before Masvingo magistrate, Jabulani Mzinyathi.
The magistrate earlier this month refused to solemnise the marriage after asking Ayina to produce a "certificate of no marriage" from his country â€" a new requirement under tough new measures to curb sham marriages used by crooked foreigners to acquire Zimbabwean citizenship.
Still bitter at the first refusal, Masaiti told the Voice of America's Studio 7: "They should have asked me what my spouse is doing in life, not to think that he is coming here because he would want to have a marriage of convenience.
"I am now officially married, it was my choice, it was my spouse's choice and it was out of love."
It is her fourth marriage, after three of her former partners died.
Pentecote Ayina, who says he's a United Nations humanitarian worker, claims his country is more advanced than Zimbabwe, making him an unlikely candidate to try to acquire citizenship through a marriage of convenience.
Cameroon has plantains and cocoa, for instance, which Zimbabwe does not have, he told Studio 7's Violet Gonda.
"It is out of love (the marriage), and when I even compare my country with Zimbabwe, really my country is a very rich country... so I don't even know what type of business I can do here," he boasted.
"Now that I have a Zimbabwean wife, I must make sure that everything that Zimbabwe does not have I have to bring it here for my wife to be happy and comfortable.
"Here in Zimbabwe you don't have plantains, you don't have cocoa, and yams. Even the cooking style is very poor and different."
Ayina accused magistrate Mzinyathi of leaking "private information" to newspapers after their initial bid to get married.
The magistrate had questioned Masaiti why she travelled 290km to get married, when she is a resident of Harare. Masaiti claimed most of the people she wanted to witness the union were in Masvingo, rejecting inferences that she wanted it to be secret.
"Once we left the court house, he (magistrate) called the press and gave them all our private details. That is what is unbearable for me. He deserves sanctions. He needs to be punished by his hierarchy," Ayina claimed on Thursday.
"I am going to complain as an international humanitarian worker, working especially for a big organisation like the UN. It is an offence against my privacy."
Under the new marriage regulations aimed at blocking multiple unions, fraud by foreigners and marriages of convenience, immigrants are expected to provide documentary proof from their home countries proving they are not married and are law-abiding citizens.
Finger prints, photos of the couple and full witness details are some of the features on the new highly-securitised marriage certificate unveiled by Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede this week.
The Dzivarasekwa MP, 47, confirmed on Thursday that her marriage to Pentecote Ayina, 37, had now gone through before Masvingo magistrate, Jabulani Mzinyathi.
The magistrate earlier this month refused to solemnise the marriage after asking Ayina to produce a "certificate of no marriage" from his country â€" a new requirement under tough new measures to curb sham marriages used by crooked foreigners to acquire Zimbabwean citizenship.
Still bitter at the first refusal, Masaiti told the Voice of America's Studio 7: "They should have asked me what my spouse is doing in life, not to think that he is coming here because he would want to have a marriage of convenience.
"I am now officially married, it was my choice, it was my spouse's choice and it was out of love."
It is her fourth marriage, after three of her former partners died.
Pentecote Ayina, who says he's a United Nations humanitarian worker, claims his country is more advanced than Zimbabwe, making him an unlikely candidate to try to acquire citizenship through a marriage of convenience.
Cameroon has plantains and cocoa, for instance, which Zimbabwe does not have, he told Studio 7's Violet Gonda.
"Now that I have a Zimbabwean wife, I must make sure that everything that Zimbabwe does not have I have to bring it here for my wife to be happy and comfortable.
"Here in Zimbabwe you don't have plantains, you don't have cocoa, and yams. Even the cooking style is very poor and different."
Ayina accused magistrate Mzinyathi of leaking "private information" to newspapers after their initial bid to get married.
The magistrate had questioned Masaiti why she travelled 290km to get married, when she is a resident of Harare. Masaiti claimed most of the people she wanted to witness the union were in Masvingo, rejecting inferences that she wanted it to be secret.
"Once we left the court house, he (magistrate) called the press and gave them all our private details. That is what is unbearable for me. He deserves sanctions. He needs to be punished by his hierarchy," Ayina claimed on Thursday.
"I am going to complain as an international humanitarian worker, working especially for a big organisation like the UN. It is an offence against my privacy."
Under the new marriage regulations aimed at blocking multiple unions, fraud by foreigners and marriages of convenience, immigrants are expected to provide documentary proof from their home countries proving they are not married and are law-abiding citizens.
Finger prints, photos of the couple and full witness details are some of the features on the new highly-securitised marriage certificate unveiled by Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede this week.
Source - Studio7
