BishopAccountability.org
	Zimbabwe: State Media Should Not Turn Masses into 'Peeping Toms' By Mavis Makuni allAfrica July 26, 2007 http://allafrica.com/stories/200707260847.html Zimbabewe — A CRUDE and unethical attempt was made to turn Zimbabwe into a depraved nation of voyeurs or "peeping Toms" when explicit images touted as depicting an alleged sexual scandal involving the Archbishop of Matabeleland, Pius Ncube and a woman identified as Rosemary Sibanda, were splashed on television and in the official press over the past 10 days. The images, which were reported by the official media to be the result of private surveillance undertaken over a two-year period by a private investigator hired by Onesimus Sibanda, were obscene in every sense of the word and should not have been shown on public television and reproduced in publications regarded as family newspapers. Moreover, if Sibanda genuinely undertook the operation to prove his wife's infidelity so as to deal with his marital problems, there is no earthly reason why the whole sordid affair should be foisted on the public as a national issue requiring everyone's attention and input. For a private investigation touted as having been undertaken for the ostensible purpose of enabling a cuckolded husband to prove a sexual liaison between his wife and Archbishop Ncube, the operation is itself replete with sinister motives and questionable ethics. If, as it is now abundantly clear, Sibanda undertook the operation so as to "donate" it to the media, questions must be asked about his motives for making such a move and whether this is the kind of "investigative" journalism this country needs. Sibanda has to be a glutton for emotional punishment to have required two years' worth of pictures from this intrusive operation when one episode of his wife's sexual intimacy with another man would have been more than enough to prove that she had committed adultery. If Sibanda had undertaken the investigation purely for the purpose of solving his marital problems he would then have had to decide quietly how to proceed. The overkill surrounding the whole saga raises questions about who was behind it. The government should not stoop to the level of acting as an "agony aunt" in the personal affairs of individuals when there are numerous, serious national problems to be attended to. If I were an agony aunt, I would tell Sibanda that a man who feels compelled to share this kind of personal information about his wife with the whole nation is making a big statement about himself. The authorities rail regularly against Western culture, saying it condones abnormal practices such as homosexuality and other forms of deviance and permissiveness. But here they are enthusiastically condoning the elements of voyeurism and exhibitionism written all over this lurid saga. Voyeurism is defined as "sexual gratification through clandestine observation of other people's activities or sexual anatomy." The surveillance on Archbishop Ncube indisputably involved an illegal break-in into his residence to install spy cameras which remained in place for two years, transforming the exercise into a sexual perversion rather than a simple information gathering exercise. The official seal of approval given to this intrusive and unwarranted violation of privacy implies that the images culled over the two-year period were first submitted for high-level previewing so that those to be foisted on an unsuspecting public could be chosen and approved. It is not only sad but tragic to imagine anyone in officialdom being so morally depraved as to derive pleasure from ogling at reel after reel of these images and gleefully pronouncing them to be fit for public consumption. It may be politically expedient for the powers-that-be to condone this episode because of the identity of the woman's alleged lover, but it is reckless and dangerous to promote the erroneous impression being created that "private investigators" are above the law and can infringe on the rights of others with impunity. It is preposterous that a dishonest attempt has been made to recruit the public, a captive audience through television and newspapers, as an accomplice in this squalid affair. There are more pressing issues that should be the focus of national discourse, namely, rampant public sector corruption, human rights abuses, curtailment of freedom of speech and other liberties, hyperinflation, record unemployment and widespread poverty. At the time the pornographic "peep show" was released into the public domain, most Zimbabweans were devoting their energies to hunting for food and other basic commodities in the aftermath of the confusion and anarchy sparked by Operation Dzikisa Mitengo/Slash Prices. It is cruel and insensitive for the authorities to try to divert attention from these bread and butter issues by regaling a harassed population with the obscene details of an individual's marital problems. Today it may be Pius Ncube but who knows whose bedroom is to be targeted next if the state sees nothing wrong with snooping around illegally when it cannot prove that its intervention is called for because national security is threatened. Moreover, the privileged audience that previews these indecent images may become addicted to the pastime and demand more and more to be presented for their viewing pleasure. If the Ncube debacle could be pulled off now, just imagine how things will be when the controversial Interception of Communications Act comes into force.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.