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Zim's 'gay' broadcast chief quits
03/04/2002 11:07 - (SA)
Harare - The powerful head of the state broadcast station quit his job
ahead of a government inquiry into allegations of homosexuality,
the main state newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Alum Mpofu, chief executive of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp,
resigned after he was accused of being caught in a homosexual act
in a Harare night club, The Herald newspaper said.
President Robert Mugabe is reviled by gay activists around the
world for outlawing homosexuality and describing same-sex partners
as "worse than pigs and dogs".
The accusations against Mpofu came two years after Zimbabwe's
former figurehead 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.
The resignation of Mpofu, the architect of Mugabe's propaganda
campaign by the state broadcaster ahead of last month's
presidential elections, headed off a damaging inquiry ordered by
the government into an incident on Thursday at a night club owned by a ruling party lawmaker.
Chained to fire hydrant
Gideon Gono, chairperson of the board of directors of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp, said Mpofu cited "personal reasons" for his resignation, the newspaper said.
The report said Mpofu was chained to a fire hydrant by a
security guard at the night club after being found in "a
compromising position" with a man in a corridor but was released
after the owner was called to intervene.
Information Minister Jonathan 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.
Mugabe, declared the winner in the disputed March 9-11
presidential election, scoffed in his campaign at homosexuality in
Britain, the former colonial power he accused of 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 on Tuesday also condemned homosexuality.
"Sexual perverts need to be told once again that homosexuality
is unnatural," he said. - Sapa-AP
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