Kabaridi
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 15, 2011
- 2,023
- 534
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai on
Saturday circumvented a
court ruling blocking his
wedding after an ex-lover
tried to stop the union.
Tsvangirai, 60, dressed in a
black suit and Elizabeth
Macheka, 35, in a white
gown exchanged rings
before hundreds of guests
at a plush Harare wedding
venue overlooking a
flowing river.
The premier, whose wife of
31 years, Susan, was killed
in a car accident in March
2009, had originally
planned his marriage
under the country's
monogamous laws.
But Tsvangirai decided to
get round the court order
resulting in the cancellation
of his marriage licence by
staging the nupitals under
the alternative customary
law that allows a man to
have as many wives as he
wants.
The court ruling on Friday
was ex-lover Locardia
Karimatsenga Tembo's
second attempt to block the
marriage after a high court
earlier in the week threw
out her case on grounds
that she failed to prove she
was the premier's wife.
(READ: Zimbabwe's PM
faces new bid to stop
marriage)
But she went to a lower
court armed with video
evidence of the traditional
marriage ceremony during
which Tsvangirai's
emissaries were shown
paying the bride price on
his behalf.
An urgent appeal lodged by
Tsvangirai early Saturday
at the high court to
overturn the magistrate's
ruling was dismissed,
forcing him to marry under
a different law or cancel
the ceremony.
Tsvangirai ended his union
with Tembo last year,
saying the relationship had
been "irretrievably
damaged" to the point
where marriage had
become "inconceivable".
The magistrates court on
Thursday dismissed a
similar case by a South
African woman who
claimed the premier
promised to marry her.
"Our celebration is a
customary one.... We still
have to celebrate (a
monogomous marriage)
when the climate is clear,"
said the Catholic priest who
conducted the ceremony.
The pair did not sign a
register recording the
marriage as monogomous,
as they had wished.
A senior officer from
Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party told AFP the
"wedding... is different
from the one that was
denied by the courts".
Macheka is the daughter of
a senior member of
President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party which was
forced into a compromise
coalition government with
Tsvangrai's MDC after
election chaos in 2008.
But Mugabe boycotted the
ceremony which was
attended by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara and the Prime
Minister of Swaziland
Barnabas Dlamini.
A pipe band from one of
Harare's top private
schools played as
Tsvangirai walked on a
white carpet into the
wedding ceremony, while a
violinist played 'here comes
the bride" for Macheka.
A banquet reception was
due to be held at Harare's
25,000-seater Glamis
Stadium.
Tsvangirai's first wife died
just weeks after he went
into a unity government
with his long-time rival
Mugabe following failed
elections in 2008.
Source. nation.co.ke
Morgan Tsvangirai on
Saturday circumvented a
court ruling blocking his
wedding after an ex-lover
tried to stop the union.
Tsvangirai, 60, dressed in a
black suit and Elizabeth
Macheka, 35, in a white
gown exchanged rings
before hundreds of guests
at a plush Harare wedding
venue overlooking a
flowing river.
The premier, whose wife of
31 years, Susan, was killed
in a car accident in March
2009, had originally
planned his marriage
under the country's
monogamous laws.
But Tsvangirai decided to
get round the court order
resulting in the cancellation
of his marriage licence by
staging the nupitals under
the alternative customary
law that allows a man to
have as many wives as he
wants.
The court ruling on Friday
was ex-lover Locardia
Karimatsenga Tembo's
second attempt to block the
marriage after a high court
earlier in the week threw
out her case on grounds
that she failed to prove she
was the premier's wife.
(READ: Zimbabwe's PM
faces new bid to stop
marriage)
But she went to a lower
court armed with video
evidence of the traditional
marriage ceremony during
which Tsvangirai's
emissaries were shown
paying the bride price on
his behalf.
An urgent appeal lodged by
Tsvangirai early Saturday
at the high court to
overturn the magistrate's
ruling was dismissed,
forcing him to marry under
a different law or cancel
the ceremony.
Tsvangirai ended his union
with Tembo last year,
saying the relationship had
been "irretrievably
damaged" to the point
where marriage had
become "inconceivable".
The magistrates court on
Thursday dismissed a
similar case by a South
African woman who
claimed the premier
promised to marry her.
"Our celebration is a
customary one.... We still
have to celebrate (a
monogomous marriage)
when the climate is clear,"
said the Catholic priest who
conducted the ceremony.
The pair did not sign a
register recording the
marriage as monogomous,
as they had wished.
A senior officer from
Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party told AFP the
"wedding... is different
from the one that was
denied by the courts".
Macheka is the daughter of
a senior member of
President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party which was
forced into a compromise
coalition government with
Tsvangrai's MDC after
election chaos in 2008.
But Mugabe boycotted the
ceremony which was
attended by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara and the Prime
Minister of Swaziland
Barnabas Dlamini.
A pipe band from one of
Harare's top private
schools played as
Tsvangirai walked on a
white carpet into the
wedding ceremony, while a
violinist played 'here comes
the bride" for Macheka.
A banquet reception was
due to be held at Harare's
25,000-seater Glamis
Stadium.
Tsvangirai's first wife died
just weeks after he went
into a unity government
with his long-time rival
Mugabe following failed
elections in 2008.
Source. nation.co.ke
