'I didn't rape anyone,' says Tsvangirai

MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai says his alleged sex-scandals that have been in the public domain had nothing to do with the party's dismal performance in the 2013 general elections as they are a "private matter".

News of Tsvangirai's personal life have been awash in the local media, with revelations  that he sired a child with a Bulawayo woman, Loretta Nyathi, while two women, Locardia Karimatsenga-Tembo and a South African, Nosipho Shilubane, claimed Tsvangirai had promised them a hand in marriage.

The MDC-T leader is currently married to Elizabeth Macheka and reports are that it has not been all bliss as problems of their marriage were in the limelight last year, with reports that Macheka had, at one time, moved out of their Highlands home.

In a telephone interview with Voice of America's Studio 7 this week, Tsvangirai defended himself from allegations of promiscuity when asked on what he had to say

about his shenanigans contributing to the party's defeat in the 2013 election.

"Don't you quarrel with your wife? And if I have a problem in my own house, what has that got to do with the people?

"Surely, can we say people's lives can be determined by how Tsvangirai is conducting his personal affairs? No. These issues are private. They are my personal issues," he said.

Tsvangirai's alleged promiscuous behaviour earned him a lot of criticism across the board, with the Zanu-PF saying the opposition leader had an ‘open zip, shut mind' approach to life.

Last month, Tsvangirai's lieutenants Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma and others suspended him for bringing the name of the party into disrepute by ‘disrespect of women and abuse of the same'.

Tsvangirai said he did not abuse or ‘snatch' anyone's wife and also denied media reports he had broken up with Macheka, saying the ‘childish' accusations were a creation of his enemies.

"I didn't rape anyone, I didn't snatch anyone's wife, and I have not broken up with my wife. All these issues being raised about me are childish and being raised by those thinking, ‘If we raise the issue of women we can damage Tsvangirai's reputation'."

"If truth be told about those who are saying these things, the sun can set and rise while we are still revealing who snatched who's wife. These issues have nothing to do with the public, and besides, whatever I did wrong in my own matrimony, I will be judged by God. And this goes to everyone out there; as they say, those who leave in glass houses should not throw stones, we are all not saints."