Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s plan to get married this weekend faced a second legal challenge yesterday from another woman who said she was romantically involved with him, fuelling a scandal that has already hurt his reputation.
The dispute has handed long-serving president Robert Mugabe political ammunition as he seeks to extend his three-decade rule in an election expected within a year since Tsvangirai is his main rival.
Nosipho Regina Shilubane, a South African woman, yesterday lodged a legal challenge to try to block the premier’s wedding, the day after the High Court threw out an application by another former lover to halt the ceremony. In papers filed at a magistrates court she said she was engaged to Tsvangirai after being introduced to him by her church pastor in September 2009.
Shilubane, who did not appear in court, said she and Tsvangirai were “still engaged to be married”. – (Reuters)