ANALYSIS(ZimEye)The recent suspension of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC-TV) reporters’ manager, O’Brian Rwafa on allegations of sexual misconduct has opened a can of worms for the troubled state broadcaster.

Rwafa was scheduled to appear before a disciplinary hearing on Monday (Nov 9) to answer the charges brought by an intern whom he allegedly made pregnant against her wishes, Concilia Mukwecheni, sources at the parastatal said.

Rwafa was suspended on October 30 after a public outcry from journalists’ unions, human rights groups and members of Mukwecheni’s family.

Apparently, Mukwecheni reported the matter to the human resources manager, Bernania Shumba in June and Rwafa was briefly questioned over the matter. However, ZBC chief executive officer Happison Muchechetere intervened and ordered Mukwecheni and other interns who complained of sexual harassment fired.

In an interview recently Muchechetere threatened to fire other women who complained of harassment by Rwafa and news and current affairs head Tarzan Mandizvidza as well as programming manager Allan (Ndoro) Chiweshe. He labeled the women ‘prostitutes’ and said their complaints were ‘lies’, a charge rebutted by Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president Mathew Takaona who said sexual harassment of women in the media was rife, including at ZBC.

The decision to suspend Rwafa has, therefore, raised many questions at the corporation and elsewhere. Why has the ZBC suddenly made this major U-turn and decided to prosecute its allegedly errant officials?

There are no easy answers. However, speculation is rife that pressure from the unions, rights groups and information ministry officials may have ststrted to pay off.

Some members of the new ZBC board, especially the fiercely anti-sexist cleric Bishop Trevor Manhanga could have had an impact as well. Manhanga, who chairs the national anti-domestic violence council told this publication before he was even formally appointed that he would not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet, if he had his way. The bishop recently assisted a member of his church to get justice after she was abused at a local university. He became the star witness before a commission chaired by chief Harare magistrate.

A more cynical suggestion is that by pretending to be investigating this matter internally, the ZBC bosses will torpedo a more devastating external probe that could implicate more senior officials like Mandizvidza, a blue-eyed boy of information secretary George Charamba and president Robert Mugabe.

Asked about the allegations, Mandizvidza could only say, “I really appreciate you getting to me to get my side of the story but I cannot comment. If its something to do with ZBC the CEO can comment.”

Some of the victims were also threatening legal action.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) projects lawyer for public interest litigation Zviko Chadambuka said the women were within their rights to demand protection from the employer (ZBC).

“An employer who fails to redress an environment of sexual harassment when it has come to its attention or one that a reasonable employer should have foreseen commits an unfair labour practice,” Chadambuka said in an e-mail to me.

He added, “The conduct alleged constitutes a serious, shocking violation of the freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex/gender. Certainly, there is need to investigate it and take further legal action as the state of affairs is simply unacceptable.”

Democratic Party president Wurayayi Zembe said the ZBC was ‘full of lies’. He said people were justified to boycott paying licence fees in protest over the corporation’s failure to deliver quality services, which was forcing people to resort to costly foreign services. (ZimEye, Zimbabwe)

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