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The suspect, Tom Ssekamwa spent over three weeks in jail before he was acquitted of all charges.
Ssekamwa was arrested on August 2 outside a lodge in Masvingo, a city located 292 kilometres south of Harare, along with Czech tourist Lucas Slavik.
The arrests occurred during a government crackdown on dissent ahead of a regional summit, leading to over 200 opposition and civil society activists being detained.
Ssekamwa faced charges of criminal nuisance and violating the Censorship Act after police found a rubber male organ in his bag. However, magistrate Isaac Chikura acquitted him, ruling that the possession of the sex toy did not compromise public order or cause any nuisance. The magistrate noted that the sex toy was in Ssekamwa’s personal bag and there was no intention to display it in public.
Deportation
Ssekamwa’s lawyer, Knowledge Mabvuure of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), confirmed that his client is currently in the custody of the immigration department, awaiting deportation.
"The challenge we have at the moment is that he needs to buy his own air ticket to leave the country, and his phone through which he can access his funds is still being held by the police,” Mabvuure stated, adding that efforts are underway to expedite the process.
Lucas Slavik, Ssekamwa’s colleague, faced charges of publishing false statements intended to incite the public after recording a video claiming there was no water or electricity in Masvingo.
Slavik was acquitted of a separate criminal nuisance charge and deported last week. Zimbabwe has been facing severe power shortages, with many towns experiencing more than 18-hour power cuts due to reduced water flow at Kariba Dam, the country’s main source of hydropower.
Roseline Hanzi, from ZLHR, criticised the arrests, suggesting that such incidents could damage Zimbabwe's reputation as a tourist destination.
“A rather unfortunate incident that can have far-reaching implications on the ranking of Zimbabwe as a safe tourism destination,” Hanzi said.
She also noted that such issues could lead to international legal disputes, referencing cases where countries have taken others to the International Court of Justice over the treatment of their citizens.
The arrests of Ssekamwa and Slavik were part of a broader crackdown that saw more than 200 activists detained ahead of the 44th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in Harare.
The Zimbabwean government claimed the detentions were necessary, citing intelligence reports suggesting planned protests to disrupt the summit. Christopher Mutsvangwa, spokesperson for the ruling Zanu PF party, stated that those detained were “deviants” who were dealt with appropriately, expressing satisfaction that no protests took place.
Critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power following a military coup in 2017, accuse him of being more authoritarian than his predecessor, Robert Mugabe.