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Broadcast chief faces sex charges
02/04/2002 14:40 - (SA)
Harare - The government plans to investigate the powerful head of the state broadcaster on allegations of homosexuality, a
newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The inquiry was prompted by allegations Alum Mpofu, chief
executive of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp, caused a disturbance on Thursday at a Harare nightclub after being caught "in a compromising situation" with a man, the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Mpofu refused to comment.
President Robert Mugabe has been reviled by gay activists around the world for outlawing homosexual acts and describing same sex partners as "worse than pigs and dogs".
The accusations against Mpofu came two years after Zimbabwe's
former ceremonial president, Canaan Banana, was jailed for
committing homosexual acts and indecent assault on members of his
presidential guard in a case that deeply embarrassed Mugabe's
government.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Mpofu, a ruling party
loyalist appointed to lead the state broadcaster ahead of last
month's presidential elections, "will be given a fair hearing and
allowed time to tell his side of the story", The Herald reported.
Moyo said the broadcasters' board of directors was asked to
determine the truth behind the alleged incident at a night club
owned by a ruling party lawmaker.
Moyo recruited Mpofu, a Zimbabwean working at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, last July to head changes at the ZBC that streamlined its role as a government mouthpiece. However, the government did not act like "bedroom policemen" when hiring public officials, Moyo was quoted as saying.
Mugabe, declared the winner in the disputed March 9-11
presidential poll, scoffed in his campaign at homosexuality in
Britain, the former colonial power he accused to backing the
opposition.
He repeatedly said British Prime Minister Tony Blair led "a
government of gay gangsters and lesbians" who needed biology
classes on human reproduction.
Moyo said Mpofu's alleged behaviour was "totally unacceptable"
from a public official, regardless of whether a man or woman was
involved.
But Moyo also condemned homosexuality.
"Sexual perverts need to be told once again that homosexuality
is unnatural," he said. "The only people who accept homosexuality
are liberals who think it is a way of getting votes." - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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