adminA CHIKANGA woman who accused a Mutare couple and ex-soldiers of dumping two children at her residence in June before disappearing is in fact the maternal grandmother of the couple’s daughters and has been exposed as a gold digger and attention seeker.
The Weekender can reveal that Agnella is Sibusisiwe’s mother as well as Lentsoe’s mother-in-law and not neighbours as Agnella claimed. The birth certificate shown to The Weekender serves as proof of the relationship.
The couple — Lentsoe Moyo and Sibusisiwe Siziba — who are both ex-soldiers visited The Manica Post offices on Monday with their own version of the story saying the woman, Agnella Rusakaniko, cooked the whole tale, possibly with the intention of soliciting for money from well-wishers who would have believed the seemingly well-coined gimmick.
The exposed and shamed Angella admitted in an interview at her Chikanga home that she had cooked the story as a way of hitting back at Lentsoe after a fall-out at a funeral in Beitbridge.
Agnella last month alleged that the couple left their children aged eight and about 14 months old respectively in her custody on June 2 purportedly going to town and promised to take them back later on the same day. She also described them as heartless and inconsiderate.
It, however, emerged that she voluntarily took one of the children. This explains why she did not take the children to the police or children’s home when The Weekender advised her to do so.
It can also be revealed that the couple’s elder child, Tibello, was coached by Angella to say bad things about her parents to the Press by her granny.
The couple’s eight-year-old daughter, Tibello, confessed in an interview that Agnella had coached her on what to say to The Weekender to corroborate her allegations against the couple.
“All what I said were lies. She told me what to say to you. Ndakanzi handei tinopihwa mari and I complied,” she said.
Lentsoe said he left Mutare for Beitbridge in July to attend his brother’s funeral and left Sibusisiwe and his children behind.
“My uncle died a few days later after failing to fathom the death of my brother, Rendani Moyo, who was based in South Africa. I went to attend the funeral in Beitbridge in the company of my mother-in-law (Agnella).
“Agnella quarrelled with my relatives at the funeral after she was accused by the latter of spreading gossip. This did not go down with her and she left in a huff. When she came back to Mutare she cooked up the whole story as a way of hitting back at me,” he said.
“She sent my wife to Chigodora and gave her a portion of land to grow vegetables and beans. However, Tibello was left behind so that she could attend school.
“Having realised that my wife was now out of the picture, she seized that opportunity to settle scores. That is when she decided to come to you (The Weekender) and claim that we had dumped our children. She loves money and she probably thought that sympathisers would quickly come aboard and help her financially. She is a gold digger.
“She left Beitbridge a bitter woman and went back to Mutare prematurely after she had an altercation with almost everyone. I came back to Mutare on September 3 only to hear people from church and neighbourhood calling me all sorts of names. I got hold of the articles and I was shocked to say the least,” he added.
“Can we call that dumping? Agnella is my mother-in-law. She is my wife’s mother. She took advantage of my brief absence and tarnished our name. I got suspended from church because of this,” added Lentsoe.
Sibusisiwe confirmed that Agnella was her mother and said she lied that they dumped the children.
“I was always with my daughters especially the little one. To say we dumped them is a lie. My husband was in Beitbridge and I was home in Dangamvura Area 16 before I later went to Chigodora. That article shocked us, that was unbelievable,” she said.
The Weekender on Monday afternoon visited Agnella’s residence in Chikanga for her own side of the story and witnessed a real-life drama.
Agnella, who previously appeared so innocent and reserved, was breathing fire and looked set for a fight with her daughter and son-in-law who accompanied the Press. One would have easily mistaken the gritty war of words between Lentsoe and Agnella to boxers and rivals, Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana.
“He is disrespectful,” said the irate Agnella who was taken aback by The Weekender’s unexpected visit.
She also confirmed that indeed Sibusisiwe was her daughter. She, however, vehemently denied that she coached her granddaughter what to say to The Weekender in a previous interview.
“Akandinongedzera nechigunwe when we were at a funeral in Beitbridge. He disrespects me yet he has not paid any cent for lobola. I use a lot of money to take care of this couple especially now when they are unemployed.
Ndakazviitira mawone. I came to The Manica Post deliberately. I came to you so that all soldiers would learn to be responsible,” she said.
Agnella later ordered the couple to leave immediately and threatened to throw salt-shakers at the ‘‘unwelcome’’ visitors.
Online Reporter