Chiwenga fears for her life since marriage collapse

Jocelyn Chiwenga, the estranged wife to commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Constantine Chiwenga exclusive tells Sunday Standard that she fears for her life since her marriage to the commander collapsed over a year ago.

She bared her soul as she opened up on how, over the years, she has been subjected to physical and emotional abuse by her husband.

"… he used to beat me up and then send me to Malaysia for treatment? After that he told people I am the one who used to abuse him. How can one claim I abused a trained soldier? I could not report to the police because he would threaten to shoot me. I know these are serious allegations I am making but I was threatened that if I made a report I would be killed but now I have made peace with my God and I am not scared to die.

"If anything bad happens to The Standard newspaper journalists and me after the publication of this story, because I am telling the truth, the nation should know it came from his (Chiwenga's) office.

Right now, as we speak, I have soldiers living in my garden, peeing in my swimming pool. He put them there and I have to make a court application to get them out," she said.

Jocelyn said since Chiwenga moved from their Borrowdale Brooke home and went to stay at number 5 Rosary Road, Greystone Park some 19 months ago, she has had to live with threats and harassment from him.

He walked out on me and never communicated with me until I saw that newspaper article last month saying he had married a 28-year-old woman, maybe he wanted to spite me. I must say I was so embarrassed for him, how can he sleep with a girl old enough to be his own daughter?

Jocelyn also accused Chiwenga of bigamy after the defence chief recently married Mary Mubaiwa while still legally married to her.  Asked why she had not opened up before about the alleged abuse, Jocelyn said she had kept quiet because she didn't want to tarnish Chiwenga's image and embarrass President Mugabe.

She claims almost 2 years after Chiwenga walked out of their matrimonial home, her efforts to have him take his "things" together with his clothes that he left had yielded no results. Jocelyn accused Chiwenga of trying to "grab" her businesses and the Borrowdale Brooke house from her. "He forgets that when we married I already had some of my businesses running," she said.

Sharing of properties and companies between Jocelyn and the General is being fiercely contested. Some of the properties under dispute are 3 houses in Borrowdale Brooke and a farm in Shamva. The companies are namely Zimsafe, C&J, Kazungula, Vitlux and Lighthouse Investments.

Jocelyn's lawyers also asked Chiwenga that he returns a silver 5 series BMW motor vehicle, money he took from the Kazungula account while their adopted minor child reverts to his previous surname.

Jocelyn said Chiwenga wanted to take away everything from her. "In his divorce papers, he is claiming he found me with nothing but that's not true. I founded Zimsafe in 1995, almost four years before I married Chiwenga. He found me with my two children and already wealthy.

"I married him for love but instead he married me for my money. Now he is claiming Zimsafe is his company in the divorce papers. Nobody is going to take away anything I have worked for. I have made it in life out of hard work.

I never cheated on him. "sometimes we marry these men not knowing what they are. "If he thinks he is a clever cookie then he has met his match," she said.