Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday April 5th - Sunday April 11th 2004
Media Update 2004-14

CONTENTS
* General Comment
* Ati-graft campaign or succession war?
* Human rights abuses

1. GENERAL COMMENT

Recent comments on Press freedom from Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo clearly confirmed the suspicion that repressive media
laws such as AIPPA and POSA reflect government's pathological terror
of a free media environment in Zimbabwe.
ZTV (7/4, 8pm) and The Herald (8/4) quoted Moyo dismissing the
universally held doctrine of democratic societies that media freedom is
an indivisible element of freedom of expression when he addressed
diplomats at a luncheon during the week. He told the diplomats that
Zimbabwe did not believe Press freedom was a basic constitutionally
guaranteed human right because it was merely "the baggage of uni-
polarism" that "only came about after the end of the Cold War".
Said Moyo: "We do not agree that there is something called media
freedom and that it is a fundamental value and that we should
kick ourselves and spend sleepless nights trying to achieve that".
Typically, the two media organizations allowed Moyo's comments to
pass without inquiry - and robustly refused to seek comment from his
"diplomatic" audience.
The Herald also quoted Moyo justifying his control of the media saying
it was meant "to put across our national views and not those of
the United States or Britain or the Voice of America" thereby
preserving the country's sovereignty.
He stated that this was the reason ZBC had scrapped CNN bulletins.
Unwittingly revealing who controls ZBC's content, he vowed: "We will
never have it (CNN) again as long as we are still around".
Interestingly, the authorities have previously denied government control
of ZBC's programming.
This obsession to control media content has resulted in the authorities
abusing the media they run for their own political interests - and a
classic example demonstrated this fact in the same week.
The Chronicle (2/4) and The Herald (3/4) both ran a bizarre story that
tried to divert public attention away from an alleged affair Moyo had
with a Kadoma woman, Irene Ali, by portraying the minister as a victim
of his political "detractors".
Ali claims Moyo fathered her son.
Instead of treating the matter as a personal dispute, the two papers
gave the story prominent front-page space and sought comments from
"political analysts" to lend credence to their conspiracy theory that
there were politicians bent on derailing Moyo's campaign to represent
the Tsholotsho constituency.
As The Zimbabwe Independent (8/4) wondered, it remained unclear as
to how "this private matter turned out to be a campaign strategy to
elicit the comment of any self-respecting political analysts".
The Herald and the Chronicle's (5/4) passive coverage of the issue
was further demonstrated by the manner in which they handled Ali's
subsequent arrest under criminal defamation laws. The papers
presented Ali's arrest as proof of Moyo's innocence.
This contrasted with the way the private media handled the matter.
For example, The Zimbabwe Independent, The Tribune (9/4) and The
Standard (11/4), offered an alternative view on the issue when they
cited officials from women and human rights organizations challenging
Ali's arrest. The groups accused the police of "being used to
advance the interests of Moyo" and they challenged Moyo to take a
paternity test to prove his innocence.
As the week ended, The Standard reported Ali as having gone missing
following her arrest. Subsequently, the media have not explained her
whereabouts.

2. ANTI-GRAFT CAMPAIGN OR SUCCESSION WAR?

A double-pronged approach characterised the government-controlled
media's coverage of the effects of government's anti-corruption
crusade on the political and economic fronts in the week under review.
The government electronic media generally used the development to
spruce up ZANU PF's image ahead of Zimbabwe's 24th independence
anniversary, while the government press presented it as a committed
effort by the authorities to eradicate graft.
Revelations that some directors of ZANU PF companies had fled to
Britain following the ruling party's decision to investigate its own
companies, were craftily presented by the government Press to relay
this notion.
As such, these newspapers failed to ask pertinent questions about the
circumstances surrounding the alleged flight of directors Jayant Joshi,
his brother, Manharlal Chunibal, and their colleague, Dipak Pandya.
But this was hardly surprising as they sought to absolve the ruling party
of any wrongdoing by shifting the culpability to the alleged fugitive
directors and giving the impression that the companies were operating
independently of ZANU PF.

As a result, they were blind to other political manoeuvres, such as the
current jostling for President Mugabe's post within ZANU PF, which
was seen by some of the media as a factor in precipitating the probe
and possibly a potential purge of some of the frontrunners in the
succession issue.
This angle only appeared in the private media.
Following up on The Sunday Mirror's breaking news (4/4), The Herald
(5/4) reported that the escape of the three directors was facilitated "by
a top politician who has worked with them over the years". The
paper did not name the politician.
Rather, its comment of the same day likened the probe to a fulfillment
of the adage, "charity begins at home," adding "President Mugabe
and his Government's commitment to this war [on graft] is now
beyond debate".

This fixation with endorsing government's anti-graft campaign resulted
in The Herald (7 & 8/4) reducing its reports on the saga to mere follow-
ups on the flight of the directors at the expense of vital information
disclosing the operations and set-up of the companies.
A clue on the composition of the companies' directorship only
appeared in The Financial Gazette and The Zimbabwe Independent
(8/4).

The papers revealed that the Speaker of Parliament, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, long touted as President Mugabe's heir apparent, and the
three fugitives were among the directors of the ZANU PF holding
companies, M & S Syndicate and ZIDCO.

The Gazette thus noted that the investigation into ZANU PF
investments was "focused on him [Mnangagwa] as the immediate
past finance chief for the party".
An unnamed "senior" ruling party official was quoted saying, ". this
whole thing boils down to the succession issue. as you know,
Mnangagwa has always been seen as the front runner."
However, not all private papers agreed. The Sunday Mirror (11/4) for
example, dismissed the succession angle, saying it was "unfortunate
that such perceptions should exist, worse that they should even
gain currency".

The paper's opinion was echoed in The Sunday Mail (11/4). It quoted
Police Commissioner Chihuri dismissing the speculation as "bizarre"
and "one of the strangest things that I have ever heard".
Moreover, the paper provided him with a political stage to accuse
Britain of trying to "politicise criminality" by frustrating government
efforts to punish those accused of economic crimes who had fled to
that country: ".Britain is becoming the only country, which is
establishing itself as a safe haven for our local criminals. This is
being done for none other reasons but political [sic]".
If the government newspapers glossed over the reasons behind
government's investigations into ZANU PF companies, its electronic
media was equally guilty of being used to portray the probe as part of
Zimbabwe's economic achievements ahead of its 24th independence
anniversary.

It was therefore not surprising that only government sources, or those
aligned to it, were given platforms in these media to propagate one-
sided assessments of the country's economic accomplishments.
Consequently, the subjective successes of government's controversial
agrarian reforms and anti-graft campaigns were sanitized and
presented as the beacon of hope from which all Zimbabweans should
derive inspiration and celebrate independence day (Radio Zimbabwe,
7/4, 1pm and 8pm).
Earlier, ZTV, Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM (6/4, 8pm) passively
quoted Information Minister Moyo claiming that Zimbabweans would
celebrate Independence against a background of "high rainfalls, a
successful land reform (and) a good harvest"

Said Moyo: "We have a reason to celebrate. the people are
saying finally, we have taken the land. we have started using it.
to empower ourselves as a nation."
President Mugabe, Finance Minister Chris Kuruneri and pro-
government analyst Augustine Timbe were also quoted reinforcing this
notion (ZTV, 6/4, 6 pm and 8pm).

While ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe (6/4, 8pm) claimed that
independence celebrations came at a time "when the country's
economy is on the path to recovery, thanks to government
policies", they unwittingly revealed the extent of the collapse when
they quoted a Reserve Bank statement saying the economy had
shrunk by 48 percent since 1999.

This revelation was given more flesh by Studio 7 (6/4), which was the
only the private media organisation to expose the lie of the government
media's propaganda. It reported that Zimbabwe's 24th independence
anniversary would be held under the worst economic conditions ever
experienced with inflation currently pegged at 600 percent and
unemployment at 80 percent.

Meanwhile, recent private media predictions that the Reserve Bank's
anti-corruption campaign against errant financial institutions would
soon be forced to compromise was seemingly vindicated by revelations
that the Bank had abandoned its hard-line policy against these
organizations.
The Zimbabwe Independent (8/4) revealed, albeit belatedly, that the
RBZ had "granted amnesty to banks caught dealing in foreign
currency on the parallel market on condition that they do not
commit a similar offence..
"Banks.fined for selling foreign currency on the parallel market
were subsequently refunded the principal penalty". It also noted
that the amnesty had been granted in January.

The Financial Gazette (8/4) only referred to the amnesty at the end of
one of its stories, while Studio 7 (7/4) broke the story, saying the
persecution of the banks was affecting confidence in the industry.
However, it remained unclear why government, (as revealed by ZTV,
Power FM, 6/4, 8pm, The Herald and Chronicle, 9/4), still took
Barclays, Kingdom and Interfin banks to court on the same charges
despite the amnesty.

In fact, The Zimbabwe Independent criticised the prosecution of banks
and other companies for dealing on the parallel market, saying
government should consider the circumstances that led them to
engage in such transactions. It said the practice was so common that
"every bank and business which has been involved in the
country's economic life over the past few years could be dragged
before the courts".

The directors of ZANU PF-owned Tregers group of companies echoed
this view, saying that if they had not dealt on the parallel market some
of their companies would have been closed (Sunday News, 11/4).

Thus the Zimbabwe Independent observed: ". So long as there is a
failure to acknowledge government's role in encouraging state
companies to survive as best they could on whatever market they
could find.and allowing the private sector to do the same, the
current purge will appear unfair and even vindictive".

3. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

On-going human rights violations continued to receive scant attention
from the government media.
As a result audiences of these media have largely remained in the dark
on the violence, intimidation, and in some cases, torture of opposition
supporters and their perceived sympathisers perpetrated by mainly
suspected ZANU PF activists.

For example, out of about 37 stories on politically motivated violence
and other human rights violations carried in the media in the week, only
nine stories appeared in the government-controlled media.

Even then, the government media's stories were either basic
announcements or follow-ups on previous rights abuses and generally
lacked detail.

For example, ZTV (8/4, 7am) merely reported that government had set
up a board of inquiry to investigate claims by "18 suspected terrorists
that they were tortured by prison officers" without elaborating. In
fact, instead of properly investigating the allegations, the national
broadcaster ironically appeared more interested in articulating the
concerns of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa about the
circumstances under which the suspected terrorists' lawyer, Jonathan
Samkange, "was able to interview his clients a few minutes after
the alleged torture."
The Herald (8/4) carried a similar report.

During the week, the government media also masked the political
affiliation of Ernest Mutsotso whom they reported as having appeared
in court after he was arrested on suspicion of murdering MDC activist
Francis Chinozvinya during the Zengeza by-election when "MDC and
ZANU PF youths clashed" (The Herald, 7/4, ZTV, 8/4, 8pm, Power
FM and Radio Zimbabwe, 9/4, 6am).
SW Radio Africa (7/4) and The Daily Mirror (8/4) also carried the story,
and like the government media, did not identify the political party
Mutsotso belonged. Neither did they give any background of the man.

This only appeared in The Tribune (9/4). The paper carried a front-
page picture of Mutsotso standing behind Mines Minister Amos Midzi
and noted in its caption that the suspect was a "former managing
director of an ex-combatants run firm, Sankorp".

By comparison, The Herald (6/4) was categorical on the violence
allegedly perpetrated by MDC supporters on their way to Chinozvinya's
funeral. The paper claimed the MDC mourners had gone "on the
rampage beating up anyone wearing the ruling Zanu PF party's
regalia" and tearing down the posters of ZANU PF's victorious
Zengeza candidate, Christopher Chigumba. But the paper made no
attempt to investigate the circumstances leading to the alleged
violence.

The private media carried a total of 28 stories depicting the
deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Eighteen of these
were reported by SW Radio Africa and Studio 7.
For example, SW Radio Africa (6/4) reported that CIO agents in
Mukumbwa, Mashonaland Central had abducted MDC district
chairman for Mt Darwin North, Force Chapfuruka, after they accused
him of "acting as an agent for the 70 suspected mercenaries who
were arrested in Harare last month".

Further harassment and beatings of MDC members were reported in
Victoria Falls, Sunningdale, Masvingo, Lupane, Chimanimani and
Mutasa.

Meanwhile, the report of an investigation by the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Youth, Gender and Employment Creation into the
National Youth Service training camps added a new dimension to the
recent BBC Panorama documentary on the activities of the
controversial youth camps that so enraged government.

The Zimbabwe Independent reported that the committee had
"slammed living conditions at national youth training centres"
saying they were "deplorable". A member of the committee, MDC MP
Evelyn Masaiti, was quoted as saying "the principle of national
youth service is noble in those countries where there is
democracy" but "here in Zimbabwe the way it is used is that of
oppressing the people".

In fact, The Financial Gazette quoted MDC MP Gabriel Chaibva
revealing that the abuse of the youths by ZANU PF to silence its
opponents was not a new idea in Zimbabwe. Chaibva reportedly told
Parliament that he also underwent a similar training programme in one
of the camps created soon after independence "at the behest of
Didymus Mutasa, now State Minister in charge of anti-corruption".

Said Chaibva: "When we went there, we spent two weeks. We
were.taught. on how to deal with ZAPU and to kill opponents
to ZANU PF's rule.in the 1980s. So the historical origin of this
programme is very acquainted to me".
Ends.