Zimbabwe will deport a Ugandan tourist who was discovered to be in possession of a sex toys

After being acquitted of the charges, a Ugandan tourist who was in a Zimbabwean jail for 24 days for possessing a sex toy is now pending deportation.

On August 2, Tom Ssekamwa, 24, and Czech tourist Lucas Slavik were apprehended outside a lodge in Masvingo, a city located 292 kilometers south of the capital Harare.

At the peak of a government crackdown on dissent, the two were apprehended in anticipation of a regional summit. The summit was the site of the arrest of over 200 opposition and civil society activists, who were purportedly involved in a conspiracy to disrupt the event.

This week, magistrate Isaac Chikura acquitted Mr. Ssekamwa of the allegation of criminal nuisance.

Additionally, he was exonerated of charges of violating the Censorship Act after a rubber male organ was discovered in his satchel.

The sex toy was discovered by the police during their examination of the individual, according to the prosecutors.

The magistrate dismissed both offenses, concluding that Mr. Ssekamwa’s possession of the sex toy did not endanger the public or cause any disturbance.

Mr. Chikura stated that he believed the sex toy was discovered in the tourist’s luggage and had no intention of exhibiting it in public.

According to Knowledge Mabvuure, a counsel with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), his client is currently in the custody of the immigration department, awaiting deportation.

Mr. Mabvuure stated, “The current obstacle is that he is required to purchase his own air ticket to depart the country, and the police are still holding his phone, which is the means by which he can access his funds.”

“In order to expedite the process, we are involving the police.”

Repression by the government

Mr. Slavik, Mr. Ssekamwa’s colleague, was accused of publishing fraudulent statements with the intent to incite the public.

Prosecutors claimed that he recorded a video in which he stated that Masvingo was devoid of electricity and water.

Another charge against Mr. Slavik, in which he was accused of being a criminal nuisance, was withdrawn by the prosecution. Subsequently, he was absolved and deported last week.

The drought has resulted in a reduction in the flow of water for power generation at Kariba Dam, the primary source of hydropower in Zimbabwe, causing an outage of over 18 hours in the majority of communities.

The arrests, according to Roseline Hanzi of the ZLHR, which provided free legal services to the tourists, would damage Zimbabwe’s reputation.

“A rather unfortunate incident that has the potential to have far-reaching implications for Zimbabwe’s status as a safe tourism destination,” stated Ms. Hanzi.

“The Czech Republic has an obligation to protect its nationals under international law, and as such, it has the ability to investigate international law rules. However, this situation could have been prevented.”

“States have occasionally taken each other to the International Court of Justice when they believe that the rights of their citizens have been violated.”

Ahead of the 44th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in Harare, over 200 civil society activists and supporters of the opposition were apprehended for alleged crimes that date back to 2019.

The government claimed that it had intelligence that the activists were preparing to organize protests in order to disrupt the summit.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, the spokesperson for the governing ZANU PF party, recently informed journalists that the remaining 100 activists can now be released, as the visitors who had previously arrived in Zimbabwe for the summit have since departed.

“Those individuals are deviants, and they were appropriately addressed.” Additionally, we are exceedingly pleased that they were unsuccessful in organizing demonstrations. Mr. Mutsvangwa declared, “And they will never succeed.”

Critics have accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of being more authoritarian than his predecessor, who was brought to office following a 2017 military coup that replaced strongman Robert Mugabe.