NEWS Ex-president's aide alleges sodomy by Banana June 1, 1998 HARARE - A former aide testified Tuesday that he watched pornographic videos at State House with ex-President Canaan Banana who is charged with homosexual offenses. ``At times, he would ask me to commit what we were watching,'' Jefta Dube, 36, said on the second day of the trial. Banana, 62, an ordained Methodist minister and figurehead president from 1980 to 1988, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sodomy, three of attempted sodomy, and six of indecent assault. Eleven people allege Banana made unwanted sexual advances toward them. Banana's attorney Chris Andersen intends to challenge the legality of Zimbabwe's ban on sodomy and to cite gender equality and privacy guarantees under the constitution, legal sources said. The law allows consensual sex between women. Andersen, who was justice minister under white-ruled Rhodesia, said Monday that any sexual intimacy with Banana took place with consent. The case is being closely watched by Zimbabwe's gay and lesbian communities who have been told by President Robert Mugabe that they are ``lower than pigs or dogs'' and have ``no rights at all''. Dube, a former police inspector, is serving a 10-year jail term for murder. Dube made the first allegations about Banana's homosexual advances during his trial last year. Psychiatrists testified Dube was only partly responsible for killing a constable he alleged had taunted him for being Banana's ``wife''. The prosecution claims top political figures and military commanders covered up Banana's homosexual indiscretions. Vice President Simon Muzenda and Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa are expected to testify. Dube claimed that he reported Banana's assaults to Muzenda, who failed to take legal steps but transferred Dube to another post. Andersen said Dube's alleged dates of the offenses did not square with the official calendar of events. -Sapa-AP