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MP accused of child neglect

27 Apr, 2014 - 00:04 0 Views
MP accused of child neglect The late HON Kizito Chivamba

The Sunday News

MP Kizito Chivamba

MP Kizito Chivamba

Midlands Correspondent
A GWERU woman has levelled sensational claims against Gweru-Chiwundura legislator Cde Kizito Chivamba, accusing him of seducing her when she was a minor before dumping her with his child.
The woman, Alice Magodhi (30), claims she bore a baby girl during her six-year relationship with the married Cde Chivamba, who is also the deputy chairperson for Zanu-PF Midlands province.

She is now accusing the MP of neglecting his child, Zelma, who is now seven years old.
Cde Chivamba has, however, denied fathering a child with Magodhi and insisted that the woman had never engaged him on the upkeep of the child, an indication that the child was not his.

However, in an exclusive interview with Sunday News, Ms Magodhi claimed Cde Chivamba ruined her life by impregnating her when she was 17.

She said she had long been suffering in silence for fear that the MP was a prominent politician in the Midlands province but was now willing to lay all bare.

“I was only 17 years old when I was introduced to active sexual life by Cde Chivamba. Then he was a senior figure in the Zanu-PF youth league at national level and I was also an active party youth. Cde Chivamba was also employed at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority in Gweru and he would invite me to his office where we would have sexual intercourse in the office,” she claimed.

Ms Magodhi said in 2001 when she was among the thousands of Zanu-PF youths who went to the Zanu-PF conference in Victoria Falls she would meet Cde Chivamba in his hotel room before she got pregnant with the MP’s child some years later.

“Our love affair was kept a secret since I was a child and one day I arrived home very late during the night and my parents chased me away. I went to my sister’s house in Mkoba Village 19 and told her my story. We called Cde Chivamba and told him that my parents had chased me away since I was with him when I reported home late,” she said. Ms Magodhi said her sister was puzzled when she first met Cde Chivamba as she could not believe the age difference.

She said her sister and other relatives even suggested that the matter be reported to the police since she was still a teenager but Cde Chivamba pleaded with them and went as far as paying some lobola money after promising to marry her.

“In a desperate bid to convince my parents, Cde Chivamba went as far as renting me a house in Mkoba Village 19 and later Village 17. He also secured employment for me at Kaguvi Training Centre where he was the chairperson of the advisory board for the vocational training institution,” said Ms Magodhi.

Ms Magodhi said she got pregnant with Cde Chivamba’s child in 2006, the pregnancy which she said was the turning point to her life.

“When I got pregnant, he started distancing himself from me and stopped paying rentals for me. I had to engage my parents for him to buy some preparatory clothes for the child and since then, I have never received any support from Cde Chivamba. The girl is now seven years old and I am struggling to provide her with food, shelter and school fees yet she has a prominent father with business interests in the Midlands province,” she said.

Ms Magodhi said she had been reluctant to take the legal route to have Cde Chivamba pay maintenance for his child as she felt his influence as a politician would frustrate her efforts.

“I have suffered in silence for long but at times I feel I am not doing justice to this innocent child. Cde Chivamba once insisted that he needed us to go for paternity tests first before he could commit himself to the child but he has been dragging his feet. I have since approached my lawyers as I take the first steps in my case,” she claimed.

Cde Chivamba denied impregnating Ms Magodhi when he was contacted for comment.
Cde Chivamba who, however, acknowledged that he knew Ms Magodhi since she was a Zanu-PF youth, claimed that she had never approached him about the child.

“I want to believe there is politics at play here which is meant to smear my character and person. This woman has never come to me and engaged me whatsoever. I cannot deny my blood if she comes and proves to me that it’s my child. Why did she choose to go to the media before engaging me? It means she has been instructed by my enemies who are bent on tarnishing my name,” said Cde Chivamba.

The MP, who threatened to sue this reporter and the newspaper if his story was published, said Ms Magodhi should approach him so that they could engage each other outside the media.

“Why didn’t she come to me in person. She should have approached me or sent a mediator instead of approaching the media. I will sue you, the paper and the woman in question if all these falsehoods about me are published and you need to advise her,” said Cde Chivamba, who also admitted that he once secured a job for Ms Magodhi at Kaguvi Training Centre.

When Sunday News visited Ms Magodhi’s sister who is said to have played a pivotal role in convincing other relatives to accept Cde Chivamba after they objected because of the age diference, she said she was also surprised when Cde Chivamba later made a U-turn and disowned Ms Magodhi’s child.

“At times, Cde Chivamba would come and sleep with my younger sister in the same bedroom here at my house. I was surprised when my younger sister later told me that Cde Chivamba was now refusing to take responsibility of the pregnancy. I told my sister to just pray to God for the upkeep of the child and now the girl is seven years and God has been protecting her,” said the sister who declined to be named.

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