Mugabe's spokesman beat wife in HIV row

Mugabe's spokesman beat wife in HIV row

George Charamba, Mugabe's press secretary

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• Charamba: Mugabe's backward front man

• Charamba let off on wife battering charges

• Professorial folly, by Nathaniel Manheru

• Charamba attacks Zanu PF editor

• The 'useful idiot' has gone too far this time

• Charamba tried to kill wife in cold blood - Moyo

• Moyo wants Charamba fired

• Power struggle at Information Ministry

• Zimbabwe's information minister Jokonya dies

By Mduduzi Mathuthu

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's official spokesman, George Charamba, who is also the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, nearly killed his wife after she accused him of infecting her with the deadly HIV virus, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.

Earlier media reports had suggested that the brutal assault in February 2004 had been triggered by a dispute over a missing gun.

Charamba was arrested for the bloody assault, but the case was later dropped, reportedly after Mugabe's direct intervention through Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri.

New Zimbabwe.com has obtained irrefutable information that the savage assault was prompted by Rudo Charamba's accusations that Mugabe's wordsmith had infected her with the killer virus that causes Aids.

In signed affidavits that are in the possession of New Zimbabwe.com, sources said this week that Rudo, who is being supported by several women's groups in Harare, tackled Charamba a day after he arrived from a trip with Mugabe to Cuba.

A family friend, in one of the signed affidavits, said: "Upon arrival, Charamba did not go home but instead he went to visit a friend and spent a sweet night there until 6am the next day.

"Meanwhile, his wife had gone for HIV testing when Charamba was away. She confronted him, first about why he had not come home after arriving back with the President and where he had spent the night.

"She also knew the woman who had spent the night with Charamba, a woman she considered to be of very loose morals. The woman is also known to a top MISA official (name withheld) who is very close to Charamba.

"Charamba and the top MISA official are known to look for women together because they have been very close for years, partly because they were together recruited by the CIO around the same time when they were students at UZ.

"Rudo was crying helplessly when she confronted Charamba, accusing her of 'bringing the disease' into their marriage. Charamba was taken by surprise and he totally lost it.

"He beat her so severely that she fell unconscious. Her blood-stained dress, which tells the whole savage story, was kept by a close friend of hers in case the matter goes to court."

Charamba was arrested after the attack following intervention by Rudo's friends and relatives who helped her report the matter at Borrowdale police station. This was done in the presence and knowledge of Tinaye Mutazu, a senior DDF official who is Charamba’s uncle, and Moses Chihuri, a close friend of Charamba who was at the time a member of Mugabe’s senior security personnel based at State House.

After Mugabe’s intervention through Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, the case file at Borrowdale Police Station went missing and the matter went unreported until Lovemore Mataire, the former editor of Zanu PF's official newspaper, The Voice, accused Charamba of "spousal abuse and other immoral activities" in a column.

This followed an earlier attack on Mataire by Charamba in the state-run Herald newspaper, in which he called the journalist a "failed and incompetent editor".

Months later, the case was mysteriously withdrawn. Charamba's lawyer, Johannes Tomana, said Rudo withdrew the charges. But government sources insisted that she withdrew the case under immense pressure from officialdom after President Mugabe stepped in.

Police Commissioner Chihuri advised Rudo to "avoid a messy public affair in the courts which could see Charamba go to jail, lose his job and tarnish the image of the President and his Office", according to sources.

But Rudo's friends have refused to let the matter lie or die. They have encouraged her to seek assistance from women's support groups where her ordeal and HIV status is now an open secret. Even women with senior management positions at ZBH and others in the Newsnet newsroom know about Rudo’s fate and they complain openly about the brutal assault she suffered under Charamba’s hands without recourse to any justice.

Rudo's sister in law (name withheld) who is married to her brother, a leading banker (name withheld), has also taken the matter up and has been helping her to get counselling and professional assistance.

Sadly, friends say, Rudo’s health is failing. Although both she and Charamba have the HIV virus, friends say hers is now fully blown and the symptoms are "all there for any naked eye to see".

A friend told New Zimbabwe.com: "She is very emaciated and is not responding well to any medication. It’s really very sad to see her waste away just like that.

"Contrast that with Charamba who appears to be doing well from the anti-retro viral drugs that he gets for next to nothing from PSMAS through Mavis Gumbo, a former Information Ministry officer who resigned in 2002 and is now working for PSMAS."

Sources say Gumbo got the PSMAS job through her sister who works for HICC and who is a very close friend of Cuthbert Dube, the PSMAS boss.

As a 'thank you' for supplying the life-saving drugs, Charamba has brought Gumbo back to the Ministry of Information on a part time basis as a coordinator of musical fetes called galas which were introduced by Mugabe's former spin doctor, Jonathan Moyo.

A ZBH source who has been working on galas since their inception told New Zimbabwe.com: "Gumbo has remained very close to Charamba who has given her the job of coordinating the galas to the annoyance of many full time officers in the Ministry of Information and even here at ZBH who query why Mavis is allowed to moonlight by getting what they see as two full time jobs in government and at PSMAS, given that there are too many galas in the calendar year, making their coordination a full time job.

"She has no particular knowledge or experience in the production of live events compared to a person like Douglas Dhliwayo who used to coordinate the galas until he was controversially fired by Charamba to make way for Mavis in April 2005."

Charamba, who got a British education through the British Council, has been picking up enemies across the political divide in Zimbabwe through a largely incomprehensible weekly column in the state-run Herald newspaper.

Writing under the name Nathaniel Manheru, Charamba has aimed his invectives at a cross section of politicians, journalists, diplomats, African presidents and members of the clergy, including opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube and the Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube.

In one of his columns, Charamba accused the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, of being a pervert and suggested he pays prostitutes for sex. Archbishop Ncube was described as a "lone old bishop".

But the Charambas' family friends this week told of a "heavy and reckless womaniser who turns into a monster and bully at home". His wife has been on the receiving end of his brutality, particularly since she confronted him over the HIV virus issue, sources said.

A Harare based public relations executive who knows Mugabe’s wordsmith very well said: "Charamba is known to be a heavy and reckless womaniser with a record of picking up prostitutes in Harare 's avenues.

"Those who have travelled with him during presidential trips tell us that wherever they go, he is the first to spot red light districts and never checks into proper hotels with the rest of the delegation. He always finds some dingy places frequented by prostitutes using the excuse of looking for cheaper accommodation to save forex for use back home."

We asked Charamba to comment on these allegations. He said it was an "internal matter" before telling our reporter to "go to hell". His phone went silent soon after, and repeated attempts to get him to comment failed.

Gumbo was uncooperative, and refused to respond to the central allegation that she has been supplying Charamba with ARV's from PSMAS at virtually no cost. Instead, she railed against this journalist before concluding the brief conversation by saying: "I am a very loyal civil servant, don't ask me useless questions."
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