Army chief's wife threatens to sue for US$1 billion
Harare - Jocelyn Chiwenga, wife of army commander Constantine Chiwenga, told a press conference convened in Harare that the reports were an attack on her private life, the radio said.
Websites and private news sites were awash on Thursday with reports that the general's wife had slapped photographer Tsvangirai Mukwazi, who was accompanying Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) president Morgan Tsvangirai during a tour of a South African-owned shop in Harare on Wednesday.
Seeing the mainly empty shelves at the store, Tsvangirai was reported to have criticised President Robert Mugabe's controversial price slash last month.
Mugabe, 83, ordered shops, businesses, hotels and restaurants to slash their prices by at least 50%, leading to widespread shortages.
The MDC said the move was a political gimmick meant to shore up waning support for the ruling party ahead of next year's polls.
Chiwenga was enraged to see the MDC leader accompanied by his bodyguards and journalists in the store, and immediately ordered guards to close the shop. The MDC leader escaped.
Trapped and slapped
Photographer Mukwazi didn't, and was trapped within the supermarket, before he was allegedly slapped and insulted by Chiwenga, who was shopping at the time.
He said, "She came to me, grabbed my T-Shirt and demand that I surrender my camera. I refused and then she started saying I am working for the West; I am not patriotic and so on.
"She asked me 'do you know who I am' and for some reason I said didn't know. That must have really got her angry and she slapped me on my cheek. I didn't retaliate or anything."
Mukwazhi said he escaped when other shoppers, who wanted to get out of the supermarket, forced the doors open.
Two other journalists - Kumbirai Mafunda who is the Financial Gazette's acting political editor and a reporter from Zambia's Post newspaper sustained minor injuries in the stampede to escape from the shop.
State radio said the army commander's wife was furious to hear Morgan Tsvangirai, who she said had called for sanctions on Zimbabwe, referred to as the president.
During the heated confrontation in the supermarket, Chiwenga yelled at Morgan Tsvangirai, "I want to take away your manhood today."
But on Thursday, she denied ever making the threats. She said she was suing every media outlet that reported the attack on Mukwazhi for a total of US$1 billion.
No stranger to controversy
Asked on SW Radio Africa if reports that she had attacked the journalist were true, she replied: "No. They are not true at all. And you know what, why don't you book yourself on British Airways, first class, I will pay for it.
"You can come and see for yourself. You people started the writing without checking, now you have seen my answer. I am suing you for US$1 billion and I mean business. And I am not 'chef's wife', my name is Jocelyn Chiwenga."
Sounding very incoherent, and in stages beside herself with anger, Chiwenga said the media reports were a declaration of war.
She added, "You have started all over again, this war you are not gonna win it. If it were you, what would you think? You wake up in the morning and everybody in the whole world is phoning you. How would you feel?"
After an intense exchange with SW Radio Africa's Violet Gonda, during which the reporter insinuated she was mentally unbalanced, Chiwenga thundered back: "We are gonna pick you up baby! And you are coming to write the truth, so tonight watch BBC to CNN and Zimbabwean television, you will see the truth and when you do, tomorrow you will be apologising."
The line cleared shortly after. SW Radio said she had terminated the interview.
Jocelyn is no stranger to controversy. In 2002, she threatened to kill a white commercial farmer, reminding him that she had not "tasted white blood for 20 years", according to papers filed at the High Court.
A year later, she assaulted Gugulethu Moyo, a lawyer for the now defunct Daily News. Moyo said she had twisted her arm, slapped her on the face all the time shouting: "So what if you are a lawyer? You want to encourage anarchy in this country. You want to represent our enemies."
Article courtesy New Zimbabwe
