News / National
Man faces jail for commenting about Mugabe's sexual prowess
19 May 2012 at 10:24hrs | Views
Maxwell Mutsetse (30) from Mutare faces jail after he was overheard commenting about the sexual prowess of the country's president Robert Mugabe, it was reported yesterday.
Mutsetse allegedly told his friend he believed the 88-year-old tyrant was infertile as he had been castrated.
He was arrested after the cheeky remark was apparently overheard by a supporter of Mugabe's ruling party Zanu-PF.
Mutsetse has since been charged with undermining Mugabe's authority, according to Radio VOP news website.
The publication reported how the suspect appeared before a magistrate this week in relation to his alleged remarks, which he made in his native Shona.
It reported: 'State prosecutor, Fletcher Karombe, told a Mutare Magistrates Court that Mutsetse uttered the following words: "President Mugabe vakatenwa, handina basa nemusangano weZanu (PF) ndinosapota MDC uyezve President wangu ndiMorgan Tsvangirai", which the State interpreted to mean, "President Robert Mugabe was not his President as his private parts were castrated."
'Karombe said an unidentified Zanu-PF youth information and publicity secretary for a Mutare urban ward reported Mutsetse to the police who arrested him for insulting the Zanu-PF leader.'
Radio VOP reported that Mutsetse had been charged with contravening section 33 of Zimbabwe's Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which makes it illegal to criticise or undermine the president.
He was released on a $50 bail and is due to return to court next month.
The legal proceedings against Mutsetse are the latest in a string of draconian prosecutions brought against critics of Mugabe.
The octogenarian former liberation hero has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
He has cemented his power through the orchestration of a string of human rights abuse and has used the law to stamp out opposition to his rule.
In recent months several people and organisations have faced prosecution for allegedly criticising Mugabe.
In December MP Lynette Kerenyi, a member of the main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change, was briefly jailed after she was accused of insulting Mugabe at a rally where she criticised his stance on homosexuality.
The following month a bookshop owner was arrested under suspicion of undermining the president after he stocked copies of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's autobiography at his store in the town of Victoria Falls.
Last August private security guard Zebediah Mpofu was held by police and warned he faced a year in prison after he allegedly joked about the state of the dictator's health.
In June 2011 a minister in Mr Tsvangarai's office was arrested for allegedly calling Mugabe a liar.
And the previous month a police officer was detained for two weeks after he was caught using the tyrant's private toilet.
Mutsetse allegedly told his friend he believed the 88-year-old tyrant was infertile as he had been castrated.
He was arrested after the cheeky remark was apparently overheard by a supporter of Mugabe's ruling party Zanu-PF.
Mutsetse has since been charged with undermining Mugabe's authority, according to Radio VOP news website.
The publication reported how the suspect appeared before a magistrate this week in relation to his alleged remarks, which he made in his native Shona.
It reported: 'State prosecutor, Fletcher Karombe, told a Mutare Magistrates Court that Mutsetse uttered the following words: "President Mugabe vakatenwa, handina basa nemusangano weZanu (PF) ndinosapota MDC uyezve President wangu ndiMorgan Tsvangirai", which the State interpreted to mean, "President Robert Mugabe was not his President as his private parts were castrated."
'Karombe said an unidentified Zanu-PF youth information and publicity secretary for a Mutare urban ward reported Mutsetse to the police who arrested him for insulting the Zanu-PF leader.'
Radio VOP reported that Mutsetse had been charged with contravening section 33 of Zimbabwe's Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which makes it illegal to criticise or undermine the president.
He was released on a $50 bail and is due to return to court next month.
The octogenarian former liberation hero has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
He has cemented his power through the orchestration of a string of human rights abuse and has used the law to stamp out opposition to his rule.
In recent months several people and organisations have faced prosecution for allegedly criticising Mugabe.
In December MP Lynette Kerenyi, a member of the main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change, was briefly jailed after she was accused of insulting Mugabe at a rally where she criticised his stance on homosexuality.
The following month a bookshop owner was arrested under suspicion of undermining the president after he stocked copies of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's autobiography at his store in the town of Victoria Falls.
Last August private security guard Zebediah Mpofu was held by police and warned he faced a year in prison after he allegedly joked about the state of the dictator's health.
In June 2011 a minister in Mr Tsvangarai's office was arrested for allegedly calling Mugabe a liar.
And the previous month a police officer was detained for two weeks after he was caught using the tyrant's private toilet.
Source - radiovop
