The Secretary General’s underage lover

The Democratic Party had travelled from Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe to Bulawayo, the second largest city of Zimbabwe. Comparing the two, one could not believe that Bulawayo was the second largest city: It was painfully marginalised and it was the politicians’ playground. Nothing beats promising a disadvantaged people ‘development’ if you are a politician. The Democratic Party had ‘big news’ for Bulawayo: Cabinet had been ‘ordered’ to release US$5 million to thirty Bulawayo firms. Ha ha ha.

The Democratic Party was on a ‘whirlwind tour’ in preparation for the elections that had been called by the chairman of the ruling party. The Democratic Party often referred to the ruling party as the ‘former ruling party’. But the ruling party often laughed at this and their spokesperson would say:

“If we are not the ruling party, why is the opposition complaining about the soldiers and the policemen? Why are they saying we should make sure that the elections are free and fair? Isn’t it the ruling part that controls all that?”

The ruling party was feeling very confident about the forthcoming elections because the Democratic Party was being torn apart by scandals and infighting. A recent survey had shown that the Democratic Party was not as popular as it had been a few years back. The chairman of the ruling party was busy distributing farming inputs worth millions of dollars and the Democratic Party and some Cash Laden Organisations (CLOs) were questioning the source of the chairman’s funds.

“But you can’t question the chairman’s expenditure from the presidential suite of the Meikles hotel”, pointed out a few sane voices, “and besides, no one ever asked where the Secretary General of the Democratic Party got the half a million he gave to Lorrain Matibaya when he dumped her for that other woman.”

The Democratic Party officials were travelling in a convoy of twenty top of the range vehicles that included BMW X5s, Prados, Range Rovers...They had passed through all the towns and cities between Harare and Bulawayo and now they were travelling from Bulawayo to Mutare and they would sleep over at Nhandaro lodge at Nyika growth point, about halfway between Bulawayo and Mutare. There had been drunken sexual orgies along the way, but it was what happened at Nyika growth point that got the country talking.

            The owner of the lodge, a Mr Mdenda, was very happy the Secretary General of the Democratic Party and his party’s executive were sleeping over at his lodge: He had been given money to paint the lodge and to buy new beds and all the regular customers had been kicked out. The Secretary General and the party executive arrived at Nhandaro lodge at around three in the afternoon and immediately went to their rooms. They would hold a rally in the morning and then proceed to Mutare and onwards to Harare.

 The Secretary General’s driver gave Mr Mdenda a thick wad of money and put two fists to his chest. Mr Mdenda got the message very clearly and put some local boys to the task of finding girls for the Secretary General and members of the Democratic Party’s executive.

            Those who had seen the girl Tanaka said perhaps the Secretary General had every right to say he did not know the girl was underage. Even though she was fifteen, Tanaka looked like a twenty year old and had sexuality written all over her. She was a big girl, but not fat as such. She was gifted in the area of breasts and hips and she obviously had taken a lot of men between her legs: By the following morning, when the secretary general lay exhausted in bed, he had promised Tanaka a job in Harare and a house in one of the upmarket suburbs. That did not happen eventually.

            Before the Secretary General and his team got to Harare they were confronted by chilling news. They were in Rusape, on their way to Harare when they saw the newspaper headlines:

SG at it again!

Underage sex scandal for the SG.

Secretary General accused of rape.

“It’s the National Intelligence Service (NIS)”, moaned the Secretary General’s apologists.

“But didn’t the Secretary General have sex with an underage girl? Does it matter how the information got to the public?” enquired a few rational voices, to loud jeers from the Democratic Party supporters.

“But what the Secretary General does in his private life is his business”, reasoned the Democratic Party supporters.

“Including raping fifteen year old girls?” Quipped some excited ruling party supporters.

The whole thing died down a few days later when one of the newspapers aligned to the Secretary General of the Democratic Party published a copy of the girl’s birth certificate. According to the birth certificate, she was clearly seventeen. Those in the know whispered that the birth certificate was a fake and the girl’s family was now receiving a monthly stipend of five thousand dollars. But questions were now being asked regarding the Secretary General’s ability to run the country: He was fond of scandals and too interested in enriching himself and a few close allies. Just like the chairman of the ruling party. Should we change government in name only? An increasing number of people were now asking.