By Staff Reporter

MDC-T president Nelson Chamisa has reportedly apologised for the “sexist” joke in which he pledged to give president Emmerson Mnangagwa his 18-year-old sister if the Zanu PF leader garnered just five percent of the votes in the forthcoming election.

Chamisa told party supporters in United Kingdom that Mnangagwa would suffer an embarrassing defeat.

He added that should the Mnangagwa defy that prediction, he would give the Zanu PF leader his single and searching 18-year-old sister as a wife.

Rights activists and Zanu PF supporters strongly condemned the opposition leader for using insensitive language for political expediency.

According to the critics, such kind of statements are responsible for high rape, abuse and human trafficking incidence.

They further demanded that Chamisa apologises for reducing women to objects available for men to bet and batter over in politics.

While maintaining that Mnangagwa faced a humiliating defeat, Chamisa swallowed his pride this Thursday and asked for forgiveness of those he angered “unintentionally”.

“If anyone felt hurt about the joke I am sorry,” the opposition leader said in an interview with South Africa-based News24.com.

“It was just a political banter that I used to illustrate that even if I promised to give him (Mnangagwa) my most prized position, he would still not be able to defeat us in a free and fair election.”
He however, accused his political opponents of majoring on the minor when Zimbabweans expected bread and butter issues to be addressed.

“The joke should have been a non-issue because most Zimbabweans are worried about issues of survival.

“This is just a sideshow that is being used by irrelevant people to score cheap political points at my expense,” he said.

Chamisa, who took over power after the death of founding MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has constantly faced fierce criticism over what his critics have termed “childish” and “unrealistic” political statements and promises.