Gay man claims to have dated 3 Zanu-PF politicians

Bulawayo - 'Steven', a man in Bulawayo, has some news for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe: some of his senior party officials are gay. Steven should know. He claims to have dated three of them himself.


Forty-year-old Steven, a pseudonym I'm using for the sake of his protection, claims that these Zanu-PF politicians vocally attack homosexuals at public rallies. That's by the light of day. At night, they sleep with them.

I was connected to Steven by a human rights activist who wants the government exposed for its hypocrisy on homosexuality. We organized to meet at a restaurant in downtown Bulawayo because he thought it would be safer there than near his home in the wealthy suburb of Khumalo.

As Steven and I sit down, some of the waiters stare at us. We order and their eyes talk, probably wondering what I am doing with this man. As the waiter brings our breakfast, Steven tells me how being gay in Zimbabwe is a curse. Gays, he says, live in fear of being attacked by ordinary people, arrested by police and abused by agents of the state security agency, the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Zimbabweans call the agency "Gestapo", after none other than Hitler's notorious secret service, accused of the massacres of thousands of Jews.

"Never listen to what politicians say"

"How did you become aware of being gay?" I ask Steven. He says he realised it back in high school in Bulawayo. His classmates used to tease him, saying he behaved in a strange manner, unlike many men. In the mid-90s he was fired from his workplace after he told friends he was gay. Later, Steven says he hooked up with other homosexuals through the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), an organization founded to protect homosexuals in the country.

Nearly two decades ago, Bulawayo's small gay community had bought a club where members could meet and socialise. It was here that Steven got to know about gays within Mugabe's government. Senior party and government officials would frequent the gay club in the evening. During the day, they would be bashing gays at public rallies.

"Never listen to what politicians say at rallies about gays and lesbians. They have to attack us to please the old man - Mugabe. They are hypocrites," Steven tells me as he pours his third cup of rooibos tea.

He says while at the club one night, a friend introduced him to a top government official who was a regular there. After a few months, his friendship with the politician blossomed into a hot romantic affair.

"I knew the man was a senior government official, but I did not know he was also gay -although he has a normal marriage and has children," he says.

Politician #1, as I'll call him, gave Steven strict instructions never to reveal the secret affair to the media or his family. In fact, he threatened to kill Steven if he ever tried to reveal his secret life to journalists. But, Steven tells me, the romance lasted less than a year.

After that he found himself dating another senior government official.

"Did he also call you Sweetheart?"

The romance with Politician #2 lasted more than a year, a year during which he paid Steven's rent. Reflecting on how they made acquaintance, Seven explains how one night at the club he saw a former cabinet minister drinking beer. The minister knew very well it was a gay club. He was not there to campaign for his party, but to look for a partner.

Steven says Politician #2 was very romantic. He would bring him flowers each time they met, sometimes at Steven's house or at a hotel room in the outskirts of the city.

"Did he also call you Sweetheart?" I ask.

"Oh, yes, I liked hearing those words. They make you feel special," he replies. "I will never reveal their names because I would not see the sun rise. This is Zimbabwe. They don't tolerate same-sex relations here," he tells me, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

Steven sometimes operates as an escort for rich folks who seek sexual escapades, though he is now in a relationship with Politician #3. He says his current lover, who is another senior government official, is a simple man.

According to Steven, you don't mess with Mugabe and get away with it.