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Blessing Karubwa
AN elder at the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) Forward in Faith Ministries, who is also a supervisor at a micro-insurance company in Kwekwe, is at the centre of a messy sexual harassment scandal involving a female trainee amid sensational revelations that he subjected her to a string of inappropriate and indecent behaviours.
The damning allegations as gathered by B-Metro are that the church elder Stewart Mangwiro who is also a team leader at Coverlink Micro-Insurance Holdings was in the habit of inappropriately and indecently touching a 19-year-old female subordinate (name withheld) who is employed as a marketing agent.
The sexual harassment allegations arose from an incident during a work trip where Mangwiro requested to share a room with the victim. Later that night, he sneaked into her blankets without her consent and removed her jacket which she was wearing and started kissing and caressing her body.
Recounting the most shocking details of her victimisation, the victim said the harassment began when Mangwiro was tasked with training, supervising, and accompanying the company’s agents to Nkayi District in Matabeleland North Province to market their products.
She claimed Mangwiro would visit their sleeping quarters under the guise of providing work guidance. These visits escalated to inappropriate touching, including touching the victim’s thighs while ostensibly explaining tasks.
“When I started work, everything was fine. Mangwiro was the one who inducted me, and as the team leader, he was assigned by the branch manager to accompany us to the field. Initially, I interpreted his kindness as a team leader’s protectiveness, ensuring I quickly grasped my duties. For example, he would readily volunteer to get water for me if I expressed a need,” she recounted.
The victim said that despite loving the job, her workplace had become a place of torment for her.
“In the evenings, while out in the field, he would abruptly enter our room claiming he wanted to teach me. During these interactions, he would touch my arms, thighs, breasts, and stomach, getting uncomfortably close. I knew this behaviour was inappropriate, as people of opposite sexes shouldn’t be this intimate. We would go to sleep around 10pm because he would be in our room, my female colleague and me, pretending to teach me.
“I remember instances where I was covered with a fleece, but he would forcefully put his hand inside. Despite feeling extremely uncomfortable, I endured it because I was an intern desperate for the job,” she said.
She said she has been forced to tolerate her boss’s sexual harassment to keep her job.
“The other time two of our colleagues had emergencies and had to leave us in the field. Mangwiro said we couldn’t return to his relatives’ house where we had slept for the past two days, claiming it would tarnish his image as a church elder because he owed them money.
“Instead, he arranged for us to stay at a police station, telling the officers on duty that our company allowed employees to share rooms. Although we were in the same room, we slept far apart, him in one corner and me in another,” she said.
She added: “At midnight, he darted to my blankets in my corner. As I woke up, I discovered he had already removed my jacket, which I was wearing, and was busy sucking my breasts and romancing my thighs with his hand. I felt his weight on my body and had to scream to remove him, but he instructed me to keep quiet and returned to his blankets.
“He could have raped me if I hadn’t felt him and screamed. My powerlessness gnawed at me, and I had to keep quiet but could not have a peaceful night as he did this again at around 2am in the same night. When I tried to scream, he would speak in a scary voice urging me to be quiet. I am now working in fear because I am afraid, he might get me fired if I do not allow him to keep on sexually harassing me. I love my work, but at the same time, my workplace is no longer a conducive environment for me.”
She said Mangwiro, a father of two and a former police officer, was allegedly transferred from the company’s Gweru branch to Kwekwe. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, the victim eventually reported Mangwiro’s behaviour to the branch manager Chris Mudzingwa.
Contacted for comment, Mangwiro fumed: “Where did you get that? That being an allegation, I would have loved to know the source of information so that we know how best to address that issue.”
Mangwiro reportedly later contacted the victim on WhatsApp shortly after the call and apologised for sexually harassing her.
“My apology, I could have been unprofessional in the manner I approached you, and please accept my apology. It can’t be over simply because I am asking for an apology. The onus to have me penalised, fired, or otherwise prosecuted lies with you, which is why I consciously asked for dialogue, which you say is way out of the question,” reads a screenshot of his apology.
One boss at the company reportedly held an urgent meeting with the victim. During the meeting, he reportedly pressured her to forgive Mangwiro and keep the incident under the carpet. He reportedly argued that pressing charges or pursuing dismissal could lead to Mangwiro’s termination of employment or even prosecution.
Contacted for comment, Mudzingwa confirmed the allegations being levelled against Mangwiro.
“We promoted him recently, but he has been working at this company for about four years. I have received some information about the issue, but we are still investigating the matter. For now, I haven’t seen the evidence yet.
However, we do not tolerate this behaviour and will not keep such a bad character at our workplace. We will ask them to write reports, which will be sent to our head office,” Mudzingwa said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter