Minister sacked after Zimbabwe sex tweets

A ZIMBABWEAN government minister has been sacked after suggesting that three opposition members allegedly sexually abused by the security services suffered their injuries during a row over payment for sex.

The ordeal reportedly suffered last week by Joana Mamombe, the 26-yearold MP for Harare West, and two of her female colleagues in the opposition MDC Alliance horrified many in Zimbabwe.

However, Energy Mutodi, the deputy information minister, disputed their version of events, claiming that the women suffered their injuries after a romantic night with illegal miners went wrong.

“[They] went for a romantic night to Bindura with their lovers who are artisanal miners,” he wrote in a now deleted tweet.

“They parked station for safety, but tragedy struck when they demanded foreign currency for services.”

A curt government statement announced that Mr Mutodi had been relieved of his duties. It did not explain why he had been sacked.

Ms Mamombe and her colleagues were detained after staging a small demonstration to protest over the failure of the government to offer any relief to poor Zimbabweans during the imposition of a coronavirus lockdown.

Government officials said the three women would be charged for failing to observe social distancing during the demonstration.

Heads of mission from EU countries as well as United States representatives based in Harare said yesterday that they “expect from the government of Zimbabwe a swift, thorough and credible investigation into the abduction and torture” of the opposition members and two others assaulted in the second city of Bulawayo.