Ncube Discredited: Scandal or Smear?

Zimbabwe's Archbishop Pius Ncube, outspoken critic of Mugabe has either become the target of an official smear campaign to discredit him, or has most regretfully made the kind of mistake that destroys anyone in the public eye and brings the Church's reputation into disrepute. One hopes it is a case of the former.

This is what NewZimbabwe.com is reporting:

ZIMBABWE'S state-run media has published what it said were photos of Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube in bed with a woman, a day after the outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe was sued for adultery.

The scandal has dominated radio and television news on Zimbabwe's state-owned stations, beginning on Monday when a state TV crew filmed Ncube being served with the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, the government-owned Herald and Chronicle newspapers ran the photos under the headlines "Pius Ncube Shamed" and "Pius in Sex Scandal." Several photos showed a man identified by newspapers as Ncube removing his clothes and lying in bed with a woman.

The two dailies said the photos were from a security camera hidden in Ncube's bedroom in Bulawayo by a private investigator hired by Onesimus Sibanda, who is suing Ncube for allegedly having a two-year sexual affair with his wife, Rosemary Sibanda.

Adultery is illegal in Zimbabwe.