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Pokello and Elikem

Bruce Ndlovu
For weeks, rumours have suggested that Pokello’s marriage to Elikem Kumordzie is teetering on the brink, with reports from her beau’s native Ghana suggesting that it might already have plunged over the cliff.

The rumour was sparked by Pokello’s failure to acknowledge her husband’s birthday on November 7. This broke with tradition as the two have always been known to celebrate each other on their special days.

The social media silence from Pokello as all and sundry celebrate the Ghanaian’s birthday sent the rumour mill into overdrive.

Social media detectives immediately went to work, and upon further scrutiny some stumbled on the fact that the two social media darlings no longer follow each other on Instagram.

While Pokello has been mum on the rumours, Elikem’s reply fell far short of a flat out denial.

“Why are people dwelling on what is on social media . . . I don’t understand because there hasn’t been a post where people will not jump to a conclusion to say A, B or C.”

“Secondly I’m not ready to spit out what’s private at home out on air (sic) to say yes I’m divorced so whether there’s a divorce or not, I’m sure it is not anyone’s business, so to speak,” he said.

An outright denial would have been enough to fend off the vultures that are seemingly intent on satisfying their hunger for juicy gossip from the carcass of the two lovebirds’ relationship.

For a union that had such a fairytale beginning in front of thousands on continental TV via Big Brother Africa reality television series, it would certainly be a far from glorious end.

Long time sceptics would certainly start asking the wisdom of two young people, who met on TV, getting married when they live in two distant countries on the African continent.

Add to hat the colourful fact that she had risen to infamy after a video of her being burrowed by musician Desmond Chideme came to light. Surely any mother-in-law would have not warmed up to that person as a daughter-in-law.

Meanwhile, that is not the only trouble brewing on Planet Pokello.

The winds of change currently howling through the Zimbabwean political landscape are threatening to sweep away not just some major political players, but fringe personalities that were feeding from crumbs they scattered from the high table including her.

The high table was a treasure trove for some who for years many fed with reckless abandon from the choice cuts that fell from it. However, the new political dispensation, means that feeding time may be over.

For years the former reality TV show star has been the envy of many women and equally, the apple of many a man’s eye.

The combination of (reasonably) good looks and impeccable style can be hard to resist and true to form, Pokello has been hard to look away from since she came into the public eye.

Social media has given her the platform to flaunt her remarkable command of style. Figure hugging outfits and an array of elegant shoes have gone a long way in building the myth and reality that is Pokello Nare.

This week, media reports indicated that they might be trouble in paradise for the self-confessed shoe addict.

With legal charges and questions hanging over her step-father, Ignatius Chombo, who was a very long-serving Cabinet Minister and a wealthy man, there are suggestions that his wealth may have trickled down to finance the lavish lifestyle that Pokello so freely advertised on her social media pages., that it was family not work.

Listed amongst the assets that belonged to the embattled former minister who stands accused of graft, criminal abuse of office and contravening the Anti-Corruption Act is a Toyota Hilux Vigo that Chombo had given to the country’s former Big Brother representative.

With Chombo facing the music before the courts, many will no doubt be wondering what becomes of Pokello and the lavish lifestyle that had become her trademark.

Is she the great standalone businesswoman that her numerous posts always claimed she was or was she the beneficiary of a generous step-father.

Indeed, when one looks around the country’s affluent social circles, it is not hard to find Pokello types – young men and women whose considerable wealth seemed to have no connection whatsoever to the sweat shed during the working week.

Now Pokello, like all others gets a clean slate to prove that the ‘hustle’’ was indeed real.

Famous for her famous, take-no-prisoner comebacks on social media, Pokello will have a chance to let her deeds to have the final say on whether she is the businesswoman she always touted herself as.

As she tries to weather the storm on two fronts, it remains to be seen whether the queen of swag will come out unscathed when all is said and done.