By Nigel Pfunde
Love is a treacherously vicious creature and if it bites, it often never lets go!
In a typical case of hopeless romanticism, former Zimbabwe senior national football team star Shingi Kawondera has revealed his undying love for his ex-wife and former ‘second lady’ Marry Mubaiwa-Chiwenga.
All this in spite of a messy break up that separated them for more than a decade without even laying eyes upon each other.
In an exclusive interview with Zim Morning Post , a day after he visited Marry in hospital, Kawondera wore his heart on his sleeve and said he had since forgiven Marry and wished her a speedy recovery .
He gave a blow-by-blow account of their two hour long ‘passionate’ reunion where they were both “relieved” after more than a decade of two hearts that were distant apart but seemingly loyal to each other, at least according to Kawondera.
“We were both relieved to see each other,” he said.
“I think we were missing each other. Remember we never really got divorced? We were separated, not that we are planning on reconciliation but my personal belief is we shouldn’t fight after divorce because in the end we are all somewhat related and we still have family gatherings and are bound together by our daughter Destiny,” Kawondera told Zim Morning Post .
He recounted how Marry paid condolences for the loss of his friend Genius ‘Ginimbi’ Kadungure who was in fact the match marker to their short-lived marital bliss that produced the now 13-year-old daughter.
“We discussed a lot akandibata mawoko aGinimbi (she extended her condolences over Genius death). She said sorry about your son Ginimbi, she said he (Ginimbi) used to respect her because of me. It was like we last met yesterday! It was as if it had not been a decade since our last meeting,” he said.
Kawondera revealed that one of the major talking points when they spoke was their only daughter and how she is performing at school .
He last saw and physically connected with the fruit of his loins when she was only two-years-old and the closest he saw her since then was on Wednesday when Marry showed him Kodak moments of their holidays abroad.
“We talked about Destiny our only daughter together and how she is doing at school and how she looks like me. She showed me her pictures and some places they visited like Dubai, France and so on,” narrated Kawondera.
The former footie star bemoaned the treatment that Marry was receiving by the media and the justice delivery system.
Marry has attended court on a wheel chair due to her rare medical condition which requires treatment abroad, according to medical experts.
“She doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment, especially the media abuse. We all make mistakes and who are we to judge people?” Kawondera questioned.
“The Marry I last saw in Cyprus is the same Marry l saw on Wednesday; a loving, caring, and spiritual woman- a woman who knows there is God.”
“She got carried away a bit but who wouldn’t?” lamented Kawondera who has made a massive behavioral metamorphosis from a drug junkie who lived on the fast lane, to a devout Rastafari.
In a trait which smacks of a hopeless romantic, Kawondera declared his undying love, insinuation that Marry was his soulmate.
“I don’t believe in those divorce stories,” he said.
“As far as I am concerned, our marriage was never terminated, and as a Rasta(sic),or an aspiring Rasta, I believe if you take an oath in court and swear to love someone, you should love them till death do you part (sic).”
“Love is not only sexual. I still love Marry with all my heart, if she needs any of my body parts (laughs), I’m willing to give her. What l mean is love is more than sex or even living together l have been loving her ever since we separated. I never stopped loving her.”
“We may not get back together again but l will always love her for Destiny’s sake,” Kawondera declared.
Interestingly, ever since she left him, Kawondera has remained single, perhaps Forrest Gump and Jenny style hoping for the return of his one true love.
The former Warriors’ and Darryn-Tornadoes midfield maestro had an acrimonious break up with the former model after which she customarily married Vice President Constantino Guveya Dominic Chiwenga amid unconfirmed reports that the purported divorce with Kawondera was not done procedurally.
Kawondera had also ‘scooped’ Marry from her former husband Terry Mandizha.
It appears at the material time, the former model had a ‘magnetic’ force to the rich and famous!
She fell for macho men with excellent marksmanship as one dribbled the other for a chance at having her hand and companionship.
Kawondera never missed the back of the net, while the Vice President’s prowess with the gun is an open secret hence, he assumed position of Commander of the Defence Forces.
Kawondera refused to comment on unsubstantiated claims from some sections of the society that Marry milked him dry.
Some sections claimed that Marry used Kawondera’s money to amass personal wealth including starting Lachelle Travel and Tours. At his peak, Kawondera lived in the fast lane wining and dining with the ‘big boys’.
He played for lucrative leagues in Cyprus and Turkey and it is common knowledge that the Cypriot pound ranks as one of the world’s most powerful currencies.
“I really don’t want to discuss that (the alleged milking), it’s something very personal it will implicate and complicate a lot of lives and if l keep on circling it, that simply means l haven’t forgiven her or myself,” said Kawondera who was at pains to categorically state whether or not Marry contributed to his loss of wealth.
Explaining his loss of properties and massive nosedive in his net-worth, the footie star gave a Biblical analogy.
“Trust me; my earthly loss was my spiritual gain,” he said.
“All I want to add is that my loss of everything I just took it like the Biblical Job’s loss. He who once provided will provide again.”
“I’m more spiritual than l was before and to my fans l will be back in a bigger office than football,” said Kawondera.
How Kawondera met Marry and the Ginimbi factor
Relationships often begin in least expected places as long as Cupid’s arrow hits both parties.
Such was the case of Kawondera.
He met Marry in 2004 through Ginimbi. To whom he had been introduced by Terrence Mtandwa (brother to rapper Mudiwa Hood and entertainment consultant Mahwindo).“I met her (Marry) through Ginimbi.
“I had met Ginimbi around 2004 but was more close to his cousin Terry who is Mudiwa’s brother.”What happened is I was in camp at Cresta Lodge hotel and l wanted a local number since I had just got back from Cyprus.”
“Terry sent Ginimbi with the line. l gave him (Ginimbi) an old US$100 akabva atadza kuichinja (he failed to make use of it) and he came back the next day when I was preparing to go for lunch. Then l opened my drawer to take my perfume and Ginimbi achibva awona mari (Genius saw my money).
“l had something like $7000 and he was like mdhara mari yese ndeyei ndakati if we win our game ndeye party If we lose hameno.” (You have so much money, if you win the game we ought to party and if you do not we will still make a plan!).
“He went on his knees. Remember I didn’t know him? This was our second meeting zvikanzi mudhara please if u can give me this money about $5k I will buy Econet sim cards, I will come back in two to three days even before your game and repay you.”
“l trusted him and gave him $US5000.”After three days he came back and he had sold them in two days.”I didn’t ask for my money back since we were like partners.”
“He was already into gas but he didn’t have the enough capital so we used to sell only two to three tanks per day.”
“When l went to Turkey around 2005-2006 that is when Pioneer Gases started.”I brought in about US$60,000 then we drove to Ndola in Zambia takahodha gas, rakawanda, I know they are some people who claim to have helped Ginimbi but they can never tell that to me as far as Pioneer gases is concerned. I know better, ” said Kawondera who was evidently nostalgic.
Marry was at the same hotel where she wanted to meet Charles Mhlauri with view of asking him to be one of the judges at one of the beauty pageants.
So Ginimbi then introduced him to her and they exchanged numbers because he wanted to assist her to convince Mhlauri, he said . Ginimbi was to later tell him that she (Marry) was his niece. When he returned to Turkey, he kept in contact with Marry who was interestingly still married to Mandizha but their conversations were purely business, he claims.
“When l was in Turkey l was a bit bored remember we didn’t have WhatsApp those days and l couldn’t send text to Econet so I started scrolling my phone you know looking for someone with a Netone number and only Mary was available so we started chatting.”
“She was still married then and it was a genuine clean chat.”
“When I came back from Turkey I was staying with Ginimbi in Strathaven. I called Marry just to check on her, she said she would visit, but l wasn’t putting much pressure.”
“Then one day we were just chilling in the morning myself ,King Labash and Ginimbi and I was like Ginimbi do you know that I still talk to the queen of your clan zvekuti ndichida kutopedza masports ndogona kutopedza (laughs) (If I want to win her heart I can).
“Ginimbi laughed at me and said wakuda kuzvi bigger (you’re bragging too much). Then l called Marry and she said she would come within an hour.
“Ginimbi musi iyoyo akakorobha mumba ndati,(Ginimbi swept the house to clean up), well that’s how Marry is important to their clan, she came after an hour,” he recalled.
After that visit, friendship blossomed into love and later into marriage.
It was however not a Captain Smith and Pocahontas story as the marital bliss was soon to end in a nasty fashion.
zim morning post
