Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South) – State media publications the Sunday Mail and its sister paper Sunday News have apologised to former Zanu-PF Minister Ray Kaukonde for allegations of sexual immorality made in the issues over two years ago in a move that may be a thawing of relations between the ruling party and the expelled politician.
The state publications have more often than not revealed the hidden workings of state machinery.
The ruling party-run papers expressed regret over allegations they carried at the height of the hounding of a number of politicians out of the party which led to the expulsion of some like Kaukonde, Didymus Mutasa, former VP Joyce Mujuru and Rugare Gumbo.
“In our issue of November 2, 2015, and also in the issue of our sister newspaper The Sunday News of the same day, we published articles titled “Ray Kaukonde in sex-for-power storm” and “Kaukonde in sex scandal”.
” In the publications allegations were made against Mr Ray Joseph Kaukonde, then Zanu-PF Mashonaland East provincial chair and Minister of State for the same province that he was an unprincipled and immoral politician and leader, demanding sex from married and unmarried women in exchange for political positions, that he slept with a married member of the National Assembly, that he was a womaniser who had ruined many families, and was generally unworthy”.
The article further claimed that many women had succumbed to Mr Ray Joseph Kaukonde’s demands and others had abandoned their political ambitions for the fear of sexual harassment by him.
The paper retracted saying “It has come to our attention that the allegations appearing in the articles referred to above were completely and utterly untrue and were based on sources of information that have been established to have no credibility at all.”
“Consequently, therefore, we hereby retract in their entirety the allegations in the articles and wish to apologise unreservedly to Mr Ray Joseph Kaukonde and his family for the damage done to his good name and reputation, and embarrassment and anguish caused by the publication.”
Its still unclear how such an old story has come to the fore to the extent of deserving a full retraction and apology though with elections beckoning its not beyond the old party to resurrect Kaukonde within its ranks.
Stranger things have already been seen within the revolutionary party whose shenanigans daunt any hyperbolic television drama.
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