Tanya: cutting through a web of lies

Tanya: cutting through a web of lies

• Tanya seeks gag order to hide 'dark past'

Zim asylum seekers double after UK ruling

• UK minister loses job over sex-for-asylum scandal

• 'Sex for asylum' UK officer suspended

• 'I will help you,' he said. Then he asked for sex

• Mugabe in 'come home' plea to exiles

• Home Office wins key Zim asylum ruling

• Decision will impact on all Zim asylum seekers

• UK sham marriages law struck down

Tanyaradzwa Maisiri, the teenage girl at the centre of the sex-for-asylum scandal in Britain has claimed that she was raped by one man, pushed into a forced marriage with another and starved by a third. In the public interest, New Zimbabwe.com today presents the story of Giggs (name withheld), the man Tanya (as newspapers identified her) claims she was forced to marry. In his own words, he describes a teenager locked in eternal confusion:

By Giggs

I HAVE read and watched the Tanya sex-for-asylum scandal unfold from the sidelines like many other Zimbabweans.

To say I have been shocked by Chief Immigration Officer James Dawute's attempts to take advantage of a young and vulnerable girl would be an understatement.

Society should never tolerate any public figures who abuse their positions of authority in any form or manner. It is for this reason that we all are united behind Tanya in criticising and exposing the corruption and abuse of power at the Home Office.

Tanya, for her sense of duty, deserves our greatest praise and appreciation for a job well done.

I have joined other Zimbabweans in voicing my concerns and anger about the handling of asylum cases and believe much improvement is needed if justice and fairness are to be realised. The Home Office has failed many applicants whose applications have deserved urgent and sincere attention, because of the current confusion and corruption that seems to be deeply engraved in its system.

However, there are few things that have to be made clear to the reading public.

Tanya's story, while achieving the sought end of forcing a minister to quit and triggering an investigation at the Home Office, was full of inaccuracies and damaging claims made against some people who were never given an opportunity to defend themselves.

They were exposed and humiliated in the eyes of ordinary and right thinking members of the public.

One of these individuals is myself, the so called abusive ex-husband who denied his ex-wife basic needs like food and maintenance costs.

Well, it is only in the interest of fair play that, like Tanya, I give my own account of the story to defend and protect my already battered reputation. I am doing this not for any motive other than to defend myself and let the truth be known.

The truth shall never be swept under the carpet for it to die. No amount of intimidation will deny the public the right to know what they are entitled to. It is a right that every small or mighty democratic institution will protect and fight for, and New Zimbabwe.com has shown it is willing to do that.

History will judge us harshly and remember us for the wrong reasons if we do not stand for honesty and integrity. In the same way, we will go down as cowards, people of questionable principles and morality if we allow the truth to be bended.

I want to set the record straight once and for all, and God will help me in my account.

Justice demands that we revisit the story of Tanya. If there are powers who want to protect the truth from being told for any political gains or reasons, then the evidence is there, clear and in black, for them all to see.

My Zimbabwean heritage and spirit will never allow me just to publish information that is unfounded, especially about a fellow Zimbabwean, young for that matter, and more importantly my ex-wife.

But I have lived through intense provocation, and suffered the indignity of friends coming to ask if her allegations were true. I believe it is only fair to respond with equal determination to such unacceptable and irrational behaviour.

The story of Tanya that has been covered extensively in the media, has had us all sympathise with the situation that befell this "innocent" teenager. We have rightly condemned the behaviour of the Immigration Officer, James Dawute, for what is a clear abuse of his powers.

However, one thing justice does not promote is curing another evil using unfounded and difficult-to-believe stories, and thus justifying the end itself.

The story of Tanya as first published in The Observer, sadly, did just that. It is a genuine story of a teenager taken advantage of by an Immigration Officer, but built on lies and unfounded allegations. I have made it clear above, and I will make it crystal clear once again here, I do not question the validity of the abuse of authority by the Chief Immigration Officer, and it has to be condemned in the strongest language possible.

My problem is with the supporting information that Tanya has given to support her otherwise valid, strong and genuine story. Once you mix lies and the truth, the strength of your case becomes questionable. The question that will haunt me to the grave is why The Observer failed to do what any responsible and good newspaper would do, that is verify the facts before rushing to print. Surely they have a strong and valid story, but why construct it on lies?

The Observer did not need to go that low to gain the public’s sympathy or support for the subject of their story, the story itself was compelling and strong enough. Any sensible human being would have felt pity for what Tanya went through at the Home Office. It was unacceptable and totally unprofessional, coming as it did from a Chief Immigration officer whose task was to assist this teenager in her time of great need.

Starting tomorrow, I will take you through a journey from the day I met the teenager called Tanyaradzwa Maisiri, right up to the day she went to the newspapers with her abuse story.
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