The elderly vice president of Zimbabwe, Kembo Mohadi, resigned from his post on Monday, bashed by reports of a sex scandal, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.
Local news outlets have been awash with audio clips since late last month of phone conversations allegedly of the vice president soliciting sex from married women, including a staff in his office.
Mohadi said he decided to step down "not as a matter of cowardice but as a sign of demonstrating great respect to the office of the president," reports said.
The 70-year old Mohadi claimed that he was a victim of voice forgery, according to a letter released to the media by the president's office.
On Monday, Mohadi continued to dismiss the allegations saying he would seek legal action.
"I've been going through a soul-searching pilgrimage and realized that I need the space to deal with my problem outside the governance chair," Bloomberg quoted Mohadi as saying in a statement.
The Ministry of Information published Mohadi's resignation letter on Twitter in which he apologized to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his cabinet and all the people of Zimbabwe for his alleged misconduct.
Mohadi's resignation sparked a buzz on social media with speculation fast shifting to whom President Emmerson Mnangagwa would select as his replacement.
Mohadi divorced his wife of 30 years, Tambudzani Mohadi, accusing her of engaging in affairs. He later lived with a young woman who allegedly left him over his alleged infidelity.
The resignation made Mohadi, who was appointed vice president three years ago, the first Zimbabwe vice president to quit from office since independence.
