Last week, ZimSeen broke an exclusive story of a Harare man claiming to be former president Robert Mugabe’s alleged wartime son. He produced DNA tests, affidavits, name change and other important documents to buttress his story.
In the first part of the story, it was noted that Tonderai Gabriel Mugabe formerly Maeka was spotted by the late national liberation war heroine Bridget Mugabe; sister to former president Robert Mugabe at Zanu PF headquarters in 1997.
Mugabe told ZimSeen that he could not immediately believe what he had heard even though the confidence in Tete Bridget’s voice could not be questioned.
An avalanche of emotions gripped him as he tried to wrap his head in pieces of this intricate puzzle.
The emotional rollercoaster took him to his upbringing where he sold scrap metal to pay tuition fees, and why no one close to him gathered the courage to inform him he was probably the son of one of the most powerful men in the world.
Thoughts that the man presiding over the country’s affairs, a polarising figure in local and global politicking might be his father were too much to fathom.
“I did not immediately tell my grandfather about this when I got home. I was still in shock and did not easily establish a way of putting this across to him. It now dawned on me why my mother rested without uttering a word about who my father was,” said Mugabe.
Asked why he delayed telling his grandson about his father, Mugabe’s grandfather Thomas Maeka said it was not an easy thing to do.
“He was still young and we were not sure how he was going to take it. I did not want him to do anything silly since he was still immature to handle such information,” he said.
Mugabe added that he secretly kept this information to himself for a very long time because of family issues that he could not disclose.
He only shared the information with his grandfather in 2014, a period when Tete Bridget’s health deteriorated.
“I constantly visited Tete Bridget at Parirenyatwa Hospital in the company of one of her sons called Raphael. I was one of the close relatives allowed to see her.
“As her condition deteriorated, I decided to share the secret with my maternal family and requested that one of them accompany me to the hospital. I did this so that they know the extent to which I had gone with the issue. The fact that whoever was going to accompany me will be denied entry while I got access was going to be evidence enough to them,” he said.
Mugabe went to the hospital with his uncle Benson Maeka, brother to his late mother.
ZimSeen reached out to Maeka for comment.
“Indeed, I accompanied my nephew to visit Tete Bridget when she was admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital around 2014, if my memory serves me right…. – ZimSeen
