Naked truths about Vannesa Cheruto's HIV claims

Vanesa  Cheruto             PHOTO:PULSE

Glued in a quiet spot with her two friends, party girl Vannesa is lifeless. She is disconnected from the big thrill. Thousands are jamming to the music at this Arboretum party night. Flirty as she is dressed, she is a caged beauty, distraught.

Milling on her side is a battery of paparazzi waiting to pounce. Like a prey to a big catch, this is the girl they have been looking for since rumours broke that she was sleeping with numerous celebs so that she could infect them with HIV.

Like on judgment day, we are all here to hear from the horse’s mouth; the Vannesa verdict!

A few metres away stand some of her alleged victims; radio king Shaffie Weru, and smooth operator TV host, singer and actor Nick Mutuma, often called the bad boy of showbiz.

 Slowly, we close in; recorders and lenses out!

“Who has a joint? We can smoke it. I smell some,” Vannesa shoots first, catching us off guard.

Awkwardly we follow her lead. She does not mince her words this girl. In fact, setting up another day to carry this interview seems a waste of time.

“How can a girl whose name is in everyone’s mouth for the wrong reasons be so brave as to let us in into her private world? How can she be so wounded yet so trusting?” I sigh, as I sip from the unnerving concoction in my glass.

 “You can accuse me of having any other terminal disease, but to say that I have HIV and I am spreading it to others is the most humiliating thing you can say. That is very offensive,” says the chocolate-coloured girl, an enviable innocent beauty by all standards.

“I suspect a former friend of mine of starting the rumours. We parted ways because she was a green-eyed monster,” Vanessa informs the press, brushing off the rumours of her having slept with a chain of celebrities in six months and infecting them with HIV as wild allegations.

She poses to take a breath. I hold my patience.

 “My former friend spread the lies to some blogs through one Timothy, who is not in the country. It distressed me and left me confused and dejected. It shocked my family. However, I am glad I have come out of it stronger,” she chats on convincingly.

“But why on earth would someone bring this up now, six months down the line? Why would big names like Shaffie, Nick, Ephy Saints, rapper Rumaz and the host of celebrities in the alleged shame list be used in vain on a story fetched from the past? I mean, we even saw photos of you and Shaffie plastered on Facebook while you were barely 17,” I charge on.

She responds: “Shaffie was a very good friend of mine before all this started. Like him, I am a party animal and we met through the many events we attended. We would take photos together and someone somewhere decided to compile the collection of pictures and make up a story.

“The rumours strained our friendship, and we hardly hang out these days. I have never ever slept with Shafie. Besides, he is in another relationship, which I cannot compromise for sex.”

What about the rumours about her having a fling with Nick Mutuma and Ephy, the two other guys she is said to have had romantic moments with?

“Nick and I are friends. I did a show with him on radio last year. He just interviewed me on some matters relating to youth and urban life and we just talk and hang out from time to time,” says Vanessa.

 “As for Ephy (Saint), I met him for the first time a week ago (February). I had never met him before, but here I was, being accused of having spread a disease to him. Was that supposed to be airborne or by text?” jokes the lass who is a second year Business student at Graffins College, Westlands.

But it is not just the popular celebs being lined up in the beauty’s alleged sex life. In the picture is an elderly old man of foreign origin, one who is said to be her current lover, and one who is said to be housing her and pampering her after buying her a luxurious car.

After a deep thought, she reveals:  “The guy is my fiancé. We got engaged nearly two years ago. He understood all this,” she says of the older man, said to be in his 80s.

“He is supportive of me, and that is why I try my best to keep him out of the public eye,” Vanessa concludes.