Zimbabwe: The political marriage of convenience saga continues

Disclaimer: This is fiction and any resemblance in names and the plot of the story is purely coincidental.

In the last episode of this saga we saw how the wife, Tsvangirai, was showing characteristics of being the handiende type of wife, a type that sticks to the marriage inspite of being ill treated by the husband. This type of wife insists on staying in the marriage for the sake of the children, "Handiende, ndinogarira vana vangu." We wondered how this wife, Tsvangirai, thought he was going to provide for the needs of the children when the husband, Mugabe, was hell bent on doing things that repel well-wishers of the marriage from offering help in cash since the joint bank account of this couple is almost bankrupt. We also wondered if the children of this marriage wanted their mother to continue being abused mentally by their father or prefered to see her walk away from the marriage and never turn back. In a democratic family the children should be constantly informed and asked for their opinion, we wondered if the opinion of these children has been sought and acted upon.

I delved deeper trying to find out what is causing this marriage of convenience to have problems and found out that part of the reason is because the husband, Mugabe is refusing to fire the housekeeper, Gono, and the garden boy, Tomana, whom he employed a month before he got married to this wife. This housekeeper is unpopular with the children of this marriage as well as relatives from both sides of the marriage because he at one time set house rules that made living in this household feel like living in hell. The garden boy is known for bullying the relatives of the wife and locking them up in the storeroom for no apparent reason or for the mere reason that he would have heard them talking badly about the husband. The wife want the husband to fire this housekeeper and the garden boy, she feels that as an equal partner in the marriage she should have a say as to who is employed as the housekeeper and the garden boy as well as any other epmloyee in the household. The husband is refusing to fire the housekeeper and the garden boy and is saying so very loud and clearly even going to the extend of shouting that at a funeral of the housekeeper's brother. He has even gone further and mobilised his close relatives to rally behind him and support the housekeeper and the garden boy's stay as employees in his household. The wife is not amused by this yet he is holding on to the marriage.

Why is she allowing the husband to treat her like his doormat? Where has her pride gone to? Is this marriage of convenience really worth the humiliation she is being subjected to by her husband? Why is she afraid of divorcing this husband? You will get the answers to these questions and will hear more about why this marriage has turned sour in the next episode of this saga.