'Ncube Bonked 10 Other Women' - TV Report, New Zimbabwe, July 17, 2007

'Ncube Bonked 10 Other Women' - TV Report

New Zimbabwe
July 17, 2007

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/roma36.16689.html

A Zimbabwean cleric accused of having an adulterous affair with his married secretary bedded at least TEN different women during the period when he was being trailed by a private investigator, state-run television reported Tuesday night.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's flagship Newsnight programme made the damning claims, accompanied by a video of Archbishop Pius Ncube apparently sitting on a bed with Rosemary Sibanda, whose husband, Onesimus, is claiming $20 billion (about £80 000) from the cleric.

Another clip apparently showed Archbishop Ncube with another unidentified woman getting under the bed cover. Shortly after, two figures appear to be coming together under the blankets followed by uncoordinated sideways movement. They had sex, the ZBC claimed.

A caption to a picture published on the front page of the state-run Herald newspaper reads: CAUGHT RED-HANDED...Archbishop Pius Ncube is captured by a secret camera while sitting in his bedroom (insert) waiting for his lover Mrs Rosemary Sibanda. In the main picture, Ncube removes his shirt while Mrs Sibanda (partly obscured) sits on the bed

The latest claim about the extent of Ncube's sexual activities came as the cleric's lawyers vowed to fight the charges, a day after the controversial cleric appeared on ZTV and refused to directly answer a question on whether he had broken his celibacy vow.

"We all have weaknesses, that's why when we pray we always ask God for forgiveness," Ncube, an ardent critic of President Robert Mugabe's government, said in the ZBC interview which state media interpreted as an admission of guilt.

Although Ncube is currently facing civil action, adultery is illegal under Zimbabwean law although very few cases are prosecuted.

ACCUSER: Onesimus Sibanda, the man who says Ncube slept with his wife

"We are a sinful church," the bishop continued, "we are doing our best, yes, but we do fail, yes, we don't deny our failures. I will not answer those questions (whether he broke celibacy vow)…questions which concern my private life. Yes, I did take a vow, yes; there are a whole lot of other circumstances that take place in a person's life so that I would not be able to answer those items."

Ncube's supporters have accused the Zimbabwe government of a hatchet job aimed at silencing his criticism of President Mugabe's government which stands accused of human rights violations and presiding over the country's economic collapse.

MASIBANDA: Ncube's alleged lover

Ncube has said in the past that he prayed for Mugabe's death. He was also amiable to a foreign military intervention to oust the Zimbabwean leader, he said.

The Bishop's lawyer Nicholas Mathonsi came out fighting on Tuesday, insisting that Ncube had not admitted to anything.

"At the moment, I am not at liberty to say a lot on this case because it's sub judice," Mathonsi told the Voice of America's Studio 7 last night.

Responding directly to a question on whether the ZBC interview was an admission to the illicit affair, Mathonsi replied: "It certainly wasn't. I have seen a video clip of that interview, it is nowhere near an admission of guilt, and it's certainly not."

Mathonsi described as "totally unacceptable" the publication of photographs in Zimbabwe's state media apparently showing Ncube frolicking with his secretary.

Said Mathonsi: "The manner in which the matter is being handled is totally unacceptable. If these people have taken their case to court, then they should go and prosecute their case there instead of prosecuting it in the newspapers.

"One would want to believe that if you have got that kind of damning evidence you would rather reserve it for court rather than to continue debating it in public."

Mathonsi said Ncube would not make any announcements about his future before the conclusion of the court proceedings.

"This is a matter that has been placed before the courts, we cannot speculate about the future as things stand now," he said.

ZBC TV on Tuesday showed a man, apparently hired by Onesimus Sibanda, who planted a hidden camera in Ncube's bedroom at his residence inside the St Mary's Cathedral yard in Bulawayo.

ZBC identified the man as a 'private investigator', but questions were already being raised over how Sibanda – who is claimed to be a radio communications technician attached to the National Railways of Zimbabwe – funded the elaborate sting operation.

The private investigator, who was not named, labelled Ncube a "womaniser".

"The man is a womaniser. During this investigation, we counted 10 different women, many of them members of his church, whom he had sex with," the 'private investigator' told the ZBC.

The Vatican has yet to comment on the swirling crisis building around Ncube.

If the claims are proved, he may face ex-communication from the church, the same treatment given to former Zambian Catholic archbishop Emmanuel Milingo who at the age of 71 received a marriage blessing from Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, despite the prohibition on marriage for ordained priests.