{"id":14671,"date":"2012-09-16T04:29:35","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T02:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/09\/zimbabwe-pm-marries-woman-under-polygamy-custom\/"},"modified":"2012-09-16T04:29:35","modified_gmt":"2012-09-16T02:29:35","slug":"zimbabwe-pm-marries-woman-under-polygamy-custom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/zimbabwe-pm-marries-woman-under-polygamy-custom\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe PM marries woman under polygamy custom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

HARARE, Sept 15<\/span> (Reuters) – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
\nTsvangirai, whose wedding plans appeared to have been thwarted
\nwhen a court ruled he was already wed to a former flame, pressed
\nahead with his marriage on Saturday under a custom that permits
\npolygamy.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The scandal – which had also seen another woman challenge
\nhis wedding plans – has gripped the nation and handed his rival,
\nPresident Robert Mugabe, political ammunition as he seeks to
\nextend his three-decade rule in an election expected within a
\nyear.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Tsvangirai could not be married in a legally recognised
\nceremony because of the embarrassing ruling. In an apparent bid
\nto save face, he instead held a ceremony under Zimbabwe’s
\n“customary marriage” practice.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The 60-year-old and Elizabeth Macheka, 35, exchanged rings
\nand promised to love each other. But there was no signing of a
\nmarriage certificate or vows of monogamy.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

A magistrate said on Friday that Tsvangirai’s former flame
\nLocardia Karimatsenga had proved she was his wife under the
\ncustomary marriage practice. A man can have several customary
\nmarriages, but if he has wed under the practice is precluded
\nfrom holding a legal marriage ceremony.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Days earlier, another woman, South African Nosipho Regina
\nShilubane, also filed a court challenge to stop the wedding,
\nsaying she was engaged to the prime minister, with whom she said
\nshe had been romantically involved since 2009.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Tsvangirai on Saturday hosted a lavish reception party for
\nhundreds of guests who had already gathered in Harare for his
\nwedding, but Mugabe and several other heads of states invited
\nfrom region did not turn up.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The ceremony, at a Harare garden venue, was presided over by
\na priest. Tsvangirai wore a black business suit and Macheka a
\nflowing white gown, and they smiled and waved at the guests.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The prime minister’s aides said he intended to have just one
\nwife.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HARARE, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose wedding plans appeared to have been thwarted when a court ruled he was already wed to a former flame, pressed ahead with his marriage on Saturday under a custom that permits polygamy. The scandal – which had also seen another woman challenge his wedding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-14671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}