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Harare Bureau
A PHOTOGRAPHER from our Harare Bureau Justin Mutenda was on Thursday forced to strip by a female security officer at the Harare International Airport who went on to soak his clothes in water before forcing him to put them on before chucking him out of her office.
Mutenda had gone to the airport to cover the departure of the Zimbabwe national cricket side for Bangladesh when he was picked up by the female officer.

Mutenda reported the case at the airport police base under RRB 1948800.
The female security officer, who claimed to be a member of the Central Intelligence Organisation, verbally abused Mutenda, asking him why he was carrying a camera at the airport.

“She denied me the chance to identify myself as an accredited journalist despite my efforts of trying to do so before she force-marched me to an office, said Mutenda.

“She told me to sit on the floor, telling me that the powers of her office were much bigger than those of The Herald. She said she wanted to teach me a lesson on how to respect women and commanded me to remove all my clothes”.

Mutenda said he succumbed after being threatened with assault.
“The male security officer in the office tried to restrain the lady, telling her that her actions were way out of her line of duty, but she insisted that I needed to take my lessons”, he said.

“There she was, directly in front of me as I removed all my clothes and to my surprise, she was actually wearing a broad smile at seeing me stark naked. She took my clothes away and returned with them dripping with water”.

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president Michael Chideme condemned the barbaric actions of the airport official.
“Zuj condemns this dehumanising act by State agencies”, he said.

“The officer should be brought to book and made accountable for her degrading acts, especially when she is doing it at the airport, an entry point for visitors to Zimbabwe.

“This potrays a very negative picture of our country as it shows barbarism on the part of the officer. Imagine if this was done to a tourist. What image of Zimbabwe will they take back to their country?” said Chideme.