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Gay activist goes
into hiding, threatens to expose Mugabe's six gay ministers
19 Apr 2007- Harare- The dreaded Zimbabwe state security agency
the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) has launched a manhunt for
gay activist Dumisani Dube after the activist made a stunning disclosure
to ZimDaily last week that he had a love affair with cabinet minister
and Mugabe loyalist Stan Mudenge who infected him with the deadly HIV
virus five years ago.
The hunted gay
activist who fears for his life has gone into hiding and says he is
making arrangements to flee the country before he is captured.
The CIO is well known
in Zimbabwe
for their rank brutality and savagery when dealing with suspected
culprits.
Dube, a member of a
fringe association Gays And Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has threatened
to expose names of six well known cabinet ministers, priests and several
ZANU PF bigwigs who he claims are gay and have solicited sex from his
friends and other GALZ members over the past ten years.
The HIV positive gay
activist is a long-standing member of GALZ which was established in 1989
and has a membership of over 500 people most of them black Zimbabweans.
It has offices in Milton Park, Harare
and its executive director is Keith Goddard a well-known, gay activist.
Dube phoned this
reporter on Tuesday complaining that the story posted by ZimDaily
a few days ago had created unnecessary problems saying the CIO are now
on his trail. Dube faces possible arrest and prosecution.
The activist revealed
that he was not a “closet homosexual” and was not ashamed of his sexual
orientation and HIV status.
“I am not saying that
you exposed me or anything like that. But I feel my life is in danger
now. I went public about my homosexuality over ten years ago and about
my HIV status some five years ago. The Lord is my Shepard and he knows I
am gay”, declared Dube.
Dube added that if
people continued bothering him about his sexuality he was going to spill
more beans and embarrass a lot of big people who pretend to be straight
in public when they are gay in private.
He added that he was
currently worried about his security although he was making plans to
slip out of the country without delay.
He promised to “spill
the beans” as soon as he is safe and out of the country.
Asked about his
destination Dube said there were many gay friendly countries in the
world and he would choose one.
“If people continue
phoning me, abusing me, harassing me and bothering me like this I am
going to embarrass some people who think they are being clever by
joining the band wagon of gay bashers.
I know several
government ministers, including priests and top ZANU PF officials who
are gay. In fact I know about six ministers and former ministers who are
gay. Some of them have slept with my friends.
Ask Morgan,
Chesterfield, Samuel and Lewis at GALZ and they
will tell you that they have gone out and slept with government
ministers at one time or the other”, said the soft-spoken Dube. He said
his friends could be easily located at GALZ center in Milton Park.
He added that one of
the cabinet ministers had actually bought a car- a Nissan Sunny sedan -
and was presently renting a flat for his friend Chesterfield Samba in
Harare’s Avenues area adding that the two are
deeply in love.
Samba is also the
programs manager at GALZ.
When pressed by
ZimDaily to reveal the names of the six gay cabinet ministers,
priests and ZANU PF officials Dube referred ZimDaily to his four
friends saying they were better placed to name their partners.
However efforts by
ZimDaily to contact the four were fruitless as their cell phones
were either unreachable or went unanswered on Tuesday.
Dube has gone into
hiding after plain clothed man who identified themselves as security
agents paid him a visit four times at his
Marlborough
home on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
The CIO have also
visited his friends' houses and GALZ offices looking for Dube.
Dube was not home all
the time and the state agents traveling in an unmarked white Nissan
truck left a message that he should report at Harare Central Police
Station without fail.
The gay activist says
he suspects the CIO wants to interrogate him over his claims that he had
a sexual relationship with Minister Mudenge for a period of six months
in 2002 or even arrest him.
He disclosed to his
friends that the minister had infected him with HIV.
Dube was recently
fired by GALZ as its publications manager on allegations of recklessly
infecting 12 other homosexuals with HIV. GALZ executive director Keith
Goddard confirmed Dube’s dismissal.
He has since been
replaced by Millicent Tanhira a lesbian formerly a reporter with
The Sunday Mirror.
Sources in government
have said that the revelations by ZimDaily of Mudenge’s
homosexuality has embarrassed and angered President Robert Mugabe who
has publicly called for the arrest of all homosexuals in the country.
Mugabe has
on several occasions said that homosexuals are “worse than pigs and
dogs”.
Mugabe has also
referred derogatorily to the British cabinet as “Blair’s gay cabinet”.
Critics however say
Mugabe is a pretender and a hypocrite who has readily accommodated
homosexuals in his government and ruling party while bashing gays in
public.
It remains to be seen
how the unpredictable but vindictive Mugabe is going to deal with the
latest revelations that his cabinet and party is packed with
homosexuals.
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