The Gays and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has said that it appreciates that under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule, the harassment of gay people from state agents has gone down. Chesterfield Samba, the director of the GALZ told Khuluma Afrika,
We have seen arrests for petty crimes such as disorderly conduct, public nuisance. These are the cases we normally react to.
It is not illegal to be homose_xual in Zimbabwe. But the previous statements of the former president Mugabe may have contributed to that assumption…Public emotion was whipped up by Mugabe statement. His statements were taken as law, and state machinery was set on us. It made it difficult. The time under the unity government saw us getting raided for the first time since the 1990s.
Tsvangirai was not consistent on policy; he would offer support on the international stage, but change posts home. It made us vulnerable… It is different under President Mnangagwa.
More: Khuluma Afrika
