'Tsvangirai's marriage to Liz was a mistake right from the beginning... it was bound to fail'

State media analysts on Friday said former Prime Minister Tsvangirai's marriage to Elizabeth Macheka was bound to fail from the onset and the widening fissures in the union do not come as a surprise.

Tsvangirai confirmed this week that his marriage was no longer rosy when he admitted that he was no longer staying with his sweetheart, Macheka, 16 months after they started living  together.

He even stated that he was making desperate attempts to prevent the collapse of his marriage to Macheka, a Harare-based businesswoman.

Tsvangirai said the couple has not been living together for about a month and that while he remained at the Highlands residence acquired for him while he was in Government, Macheka is now living at a property acquired by the couple in Philadelphia section of Borrowdale area.

In separate interviews with the state media on Friday, analysts said Tsvangirai's failed marriage would have a negative impact on his political career and adversely affect his dignity.

"First of all the collapse of his marriage is not a surprise considering the scandals he was involved in with other women earlier on," said Christopher Gwatidzo, a local political analyst.

"This simply exposes his questionable judgment and poor management of his career and political life. There is no chance of picking up the pieces."

After losing his first wife in a road accident he survived in 2009, Tsvangirai has had relationships with a parade of women. They include South African Nosipho Shilumane, Locardia Karimatsenga Tembo of Harare, Loreta Nyathi of Bulawayo, and Arikana Chihombori, a Zimbabwean based in the US.

Bulawayo-based political analyst Dumisani Mpofu said the MDC-T leader now has a mammoth task to manage his tattered image if he still considers himself a future leader for the country.

He said: "The success of Tsvangirai's political career will depend on how he will handle this marriage issue. We have heard reports that his subordinates were hunting for girlfriends for him in the past where his marriages resultantly failed. But if he manages to draw a line between the two, he might pick up the pieces and move on."

Mpofu said the widespread publicity on Tsvangirai's love life has a huge bearing on his political career.
He said: "Because of the publicity that this issue has received, it might affect the way people perceive him, while also destroying his personal esteem."

Another analyst who preferred anonymity said:
"Tsvangirai's marriage to Macheka was a mistake right from the beginning. If you look at the Locardia Karimatsenga saga, and the other partners he was involved with before he married Macheka, you can see that there was a bad omen in his marriage," said the analyst.

"Tsvangirai is psychologically unstable and that affects his moral uprightness. He should be emulated by young men and women but is unable to set that example and this is going to have serious consequences on his political career."

Analysts said Zimbabwe would not entrust a leadership responsibility to a man of Tsvangirai's calibre who cannot manage his family affairs.

They said the former trade unionist's career was already in shambles as there was a lot of pressure from his party for him to resign.

The analysts said the way Tsvangirai has allowed his personal life to ruin his political career, has reduced his tainted his image locally and internationally.

Some public sentiments are that Macheka might have not been genuine and that she might have rushed Tsvangirai for marriage with the hope that he would win the elections and she in turn be the first lady.

Tsvangirai lost his wife Susan in a road accident in 2009. He then briefly married Karimatsenga in 2012 but ended the union to wed Elizabeth, who is the daughter of former Chitungwiza mayor and Zanu-PF official Joseph Macheka.