Jan Raath in Harare
INVESTIGATIONS into allegations that former Zimbabwean president Reverend Canaan Banana repeatedly raped and sexually abused at least one police aide-de-camp have begun “in full seriousness”, a police source said here this week.
“The commissioner [of police, Augustine Chiuri] said inquiries would begin immediately, and they did,” the source said.
He would give no further details, but pointed out that Inspector Jefta Dube, Banana’s former aide who claimed that the ex-president had raped him, had indicated at least one police officer – still in the force – and an army captain, were also victims.
Dube’s claims surfaced during his trial for murder, in which he claimed he had killed another officer for calling him “Banana’s homosexual wife”.
“This is very important for us,” the source said. “There are a lot of angry policemen over this.”
The court heard that police had been receiving reports of Banana’s alleged improprieties since 1981.
Dube was sentenced last week to 10 years in jail for murdering Constable Patrick Mashiri in 1995. Dube’s defence partially accepted by Judge David Bartlett, was that his ordeal under the former head of state caused him such severe psychological distress that he was mentally disordered at the time of the killing.
Banana has made no attempt to change his normal routine, and turns up daily in his grey Gauteng-registered Mercedes at his office at the University of Zimbabwe where he heads the department of religious studies. He has refused interviews, and told reporters he is consulting his lawyers over the allegations.
The country’s state-controlled media covered the issue as briefly as possible. The Herald, the country’s main daily paper, reported it under the headline: “Policeman jailed for 10 years for murder.” Banana’s name was mentioned far down in the piece.
The privately owned Zimbabwe Independent, however, ran the story in detail, and the entire print run was sold out early last Friday morning.
The M&G, which reported comprehensively on the revelations, also sold out in the city centre.