Open Advice to Locadia

My dear sister I have never met you or your husband Mr Morgan Tsvangarayi. I am giving you this advice based entirely on reports I have seen and read in the media.

I understand you are Mr Tsvangirayi's customarily married wife. I also understand that he is currently planning to wed another woman behind your back.

I am not saying your husband should not marry a second wife. It is entirely his choice. If that is the case, there are proper traditional ways of informing you as the first wife of that intention. Your husband seems a bit confused at to which customs he wants to pursue, traditional customs or European customs. His confusion is none of your business.

He can certainly not change horses in mid-stream. Having at first traditional married you, he cannot turn around and say he now wants to forget about you and marry another woman according to European customs, pretending as if you do not exist.

You do exist and you are doing the proper and legal thing taking him to court so that he continues to fulfil his duties and obligations towards you. After all he is the one who proposed to you, unless I am mistaken.

Your husband is politically powerful and your will be faced propaganda driven attacks on you from his powerful political allies. But my sister, do not let such attacks dissuade you from fighting for your rights as a woman. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

You should make it a point of formally objecting to Tsvangirayi's wedding with Elizabeth. If you allow the wedding to go ahead it might negatively affect your court case and impinge on your rights.

For best result, you have to go yourself to make that objection. However his security might stop you from entering. So as a backup plan send in a number of people with instructions to object on your behalf.

I do not know if it is possible but you can also lodge an objection with the church ministers supposed to conduct the wedding. You are his wife and he should not be marrying another woman behind your back. Fulstop.

If he wants to marry a second wife he should inform you properly. My sister, as per our tradition, I would advise you to let him go ahead, but within the proper channels.

As per our tradition, his second marriage does not nullify your own marriage. However if you allow the European type marriage to go ahead, this might change. I am not a lawyer, so I don't know exactly what will happen. However I do think it is very important for you to lodge your objection to the European style marriage. The law and Europeans customs do allow for such objections.

His political career is none of your business. It is his business. He should be keeping his affairs in order by himself. My apologies for the pun.

Your business is to safeguard your rights as a woman. Do not be intimidated by his political power. It is not morally right for him to move on pretending as if you don't exist. If he is a man of honour he should do the right things for you first. He cannot use your as a wiping cloth for his sexual satisfaction and then discard you.Hanzvadzi yangu, hausi chikorobho chaTsvangirayi.

My sister, you are under no obligation whatsoever to take my advice. I do not know the inner workings of your relationship with Mr Tsvangirai so my advice might be completely off the mark and irrelevant. If that is the case, please discard it.

I just wanted you to be aware, that your rights are not secondary to husband's because of his political power. He may be rubbing shoulders with Obama today, but that still does not give him a right to treat you, or any other woman, like trash.