News / National
Tsvangirai's love child controversy
28 Feb 2011 at 14:20hrs | Views
The private life of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a widower, is never far from media spotlight. After being romantically linked to a string of women, a lawsuit has been filed against the PM.
Mr Tsvangirai's love life has been a matter of speculation since the death of his wife, Susan who died in a car crash almost two years ago.
A 23 year old woman, Loreta Nyathi, from Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, on Friday (February 25), through her lawyers, Josphat Tshuma of Webb Low & Barry, filed court papers saying the premier is neglecting to financially support their child.
Lerato says that Mr Tsvangirai's has been avoiding her since the birth of their son three months ago. She said that every time she tries getting in touch with Mr Tsvangari, the response would be "am busy with issues of national importance".
Sources close to the developments say Miss Nyathi felt betrayed and humiliated by Mr Tsvangirai's neglect of his responsibilities to their child. The love child, reportedly the PM's seventh child, has been christened Ethan.
Miss Nyathi says that the last time she managed to get hold of Mr Tsvangirai in November she was given US$2,000 cash through a third party, Mr Ian Makone, Tsvangirai's close associate.
Mr Tsvangirai's spokesperson said the claims were "unfounded and baseless" adding that the allegations are "highly defamatory" and are in a bid to "besmirch the person and office of the Prime Minister".
Said spokesman, Mr Luke Tamborinyoka, "We are sick and tired of these stories. The PM (Tsvangirai) is worried about pressing national issues like violence, the issue of civil servants salaries and the roadmap to elections," said a journalist by training.
Despite the denials the sensational suit has set tongues wagging.
The hook-up
The pair first hooked up in 2009 at a hotel in Bulawayo.
The two are said to have kept in touch through phone calls and text messages before they met again in February 2010 when Mr Tsvangirai was on a tour to assess the food situation in Matabeleland.
After the tour they met and became intimately involved, and according to Lerato, she fell pregnant at that time.
Mr Tsvangirai has, in the recent past, been linked to another Bulawayo divorcee Acquilina Pamberi (37) and a string of girlfriends, but he has consistently headed off the claims.
Pamberi is divorcing her husband of 12 years, Mr Jacob Mandeya because of alleged emotional stress caused by verbal insults and physical assault.
Source - Byo24News
