Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
September 29th – October 5th 2003
Weekly Media Update 2003-39

CONTENTS
General Comment
Pricing chaos
Zimbabwe’s isolation deepens

1. General comment

Following the gagging of The Daily News and its sister Sunday paper, The Standard and The Zimbabwe Independent have now clearly become the next targets of the Department of Information’s campaign to muzzle all alternative views under the pretext of “enforcing the law”.
According to The Standard (5/10) Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and Media and Information Commission chairperson, Tafataona Mahoso, threatened to take action against the two papers, which Moyo described as the “running dogs of imperialism”.
The threats highlight the real intention behind the enactment of AIPPA - to crush all dissenting media voices in the country.
AIPPA is a plainly unconstitutional law, which government has used to silence alternative sources of information while the legality of the MIC, the statutory body tasked with licensing media institutions and accrediting journalists, is also questionable. Section 40(2) of AIPPA says the MIC Board shall consist of no fewer than five members and not more than seven members “at least three of whom shall be nominated by an association of journalists and an association of media houses”. The appointment of these associations’ nominees remains a mystery and has certainly never been made public.
Secondly, as the Administrative Court’s ruling (The Zimbabwe Independent & The Herald 3/10) on the matter of the ANZ’s efforts to re-apply for registration shows, the MIC appears to be beyond the reach of the law. The commission’s decisions cannot be set aside by the country’s courts, bestowing on the statutory body what clearly appear to be a quasi-judicial authority outside the jurisdiction of the country’s judicial process. This issue formed the essence of Eddison Zvobgo’s assertion that some sections of AIPPA represent the “most calculated and determined assault” on the people’s civil liberties when he presented the views of the Parliamentary Legal Committee at the time the original AIPPA media Bill was first brought to Parliament for approval.
This extra-judicial authority is aggaravated by the fact that a decision made by a single commissioner is still binding. Section 10 of the Fourth Schedule in AIPPA says that no decision or act of the Board or act done under the authority of the Board shall be invalid on the ground that the Board consisted of fewer than the minimum number of persons prescribed in subsection (1) of section 40.
It is indeed sad to note that besides being premised on an unconstitutional law, MIC has found an ally in curtailing basic freedoms in the form of the judiciary. This was aptly demonstrated by the September 11 Supreme Court ruling declaring The Daily News illegal.
As Zimbabwean lawyer, Alex Tawanda Magaisa, has observed, the decision by the Supreme Court relegated the fundamental constitutional right to freedom of expression to parliamentary legislation that reflects and protects the interests of the ruling party with a parliamentary majority. This undermines the authority of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, and subjects citizens to the whims of those in power who can force through unconstitutional legislation. The Supreme Court’s argument that it could not hear ANZ’s constitutional challenge to AIPPA because they had come to court with “dirty hands” by not complying with its registration requirements, nullifies constitutional guarantees to protect human rights.
“Ideally the court must ensure that the rights of citizens are adequately protected by promoting their uninterrupted enjoyment… If there is a chance to stop the erosion of rights, the court must actively curtail such erosion”, argues Magaisa.
The same line of argument was incisively presented in the Zimbabwe Independent’s issue of the previous week (26/9) by another Zimbabwean lawyer, Tawanda Hondoro and destroys the myth that the ANZ should have first complied with a law it believed to be unconstitutional before challenging it. But of course, such clear-sightedness never saw the light of day in the government-controlled media. And without the mass circulation of The Daily News to explain this position, a terrible injustice has been perpetrated against the people of Zimbabwe. We can only be thankful that the Zimbabwe Independent has brought it into the public domain.

2. Pricing chaos

The government’s penchant for pursuing populist policies, which ignore economic fundamentals, is aptly demonstrated by the chaos that has characterised some sectors of the economy, particularly the retail industry. For instance, while government insists that its ill-fated price controls are in place, prices of basic commodities have continued to escalate unabated.
In some cases, government has even approved price hikes such as that of fuel, which saw the price of leaded petrol being increased from $1,170 to $1,980 per litre and that of diesel being pegged at $1,850 per litre from $1,060 for private users, The Herald (1/10), ZTV (1/10, 7am) & 3FM (01/10,1pm).
According to the reports, government would continue with its dual pricing system whereby public transport operators would obtain fuel from designated filling stations at the old controlled prices of $450 per litre of petrol and $200 per litre of diesel.
However, the situation on the ground shows that there are actually three pricing systems for the commodity, as filling stations are selling fuel at their own prices, which are higher than those stipulated by government, with the minimum price of a litre of petrol selling for about $2,200.
But the government-controlled media, which has dominated the media landscape following the banning of The Daily News, failed to take government to task on this chaotic pricing system.
Instead, The Herald (1/10) blamed players in the fuel industry for misleading the nation “when it’s accepted that it could fuel the country’s transport fleet at a cost of $1,170 and $1,060 per litre of petrol and diesel respectively” about five weeks ago adding that fuel companies would continue playing the “cat and mouse game” with government “until they achieve the intended price”.
The paper deliberately ignored the fact that it is government, which set the old prices and fuel dealers rejected them then saying they were not viable. Further, it is the same paper and its stable mates that hailed the prices as the panacea to the fuel shortage when they were announced at the end of August.
Although the paper (1/10) acknowledged that the new fuel prices were below the market rate and urged government and fuel dealers to come up with a “realistic fuel price”, it (2/10) then gave the impression that the fuel situation would nonetheless improve.
However, Studio 7(1/10) disputed this and quoted some retailers who indicated that the new prices were not competitive enough saying they were “actually looking at $3,500 per litre so that we can remain viable….”
Nevertheless, none of the media seemed to fully analyse the impact of the latest fuel price increases on the spiralling prices of basic commodities and its ultimate effect on the already eroded disposable income of workers.
Further, none of the media viewed the chaos surrounding the pricing of fuel in relation to prices of other commodities, whose prices are also controlled by government.
The price of bread is an example. While government pegged the price of a loaf of bread at $250, retailers increased the price to about $980 and just recently to about $1,300 a loaf of bread.
Besides initially arresting some of those found breaching the price controls, government has not stamped its authority on the issue.
In fact, the anarchy that has characterised the pricing system vindicates views by independent economists, who have been largely quoted in the private media dismissing price controls as the solution to the ever-rising cost of living.
But the government-controlled media as exemplified by The Manica Post (3/10) and The Herald (1/10) maintained that controlling prices was the solution. For instance, The Herald unquestioningly reported that government would soon “release a new set of controlled prices for most basic commodities in a move expected to restore sanity in the manner in which manufacturers and retailers are increasing prices”. The Business Tribune (2/10) echoed this view and accused business of increasing prices “at will”.
Without exposing the negative underlying implications of price controls, The Herald then narrowly blamed the “reckless hiking of prices” by manufacturers and retailers as the main cause of high inflation, which is officially 426,6 percent.
However, The Financial Gazette (2/10) disputed this notion in its article, Hyperinflation: causes, cures. The paper pointed out that hyperinflation is a result of “money supply growth exceeding the growth in the production of goods and services in the economy”. This according to the article “occurs because government spends more money than it collects”. It added: “Once inflation has become established, everyone wants to hedge against it by increasing prices”.
Meanwhile, both sections of the media highlighted the adverse effects of price increases on the living standards of the public. But none of them pinned government down on what other steps it was taking to cushion workers besides controlling prices. For instance, they could have questioned government on whether it would increase the current minimum wage of about $50,000 or increase the non-taxable income for workers.
The Business Tribune for example, merely quoted the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) calling for government’s intervention “to cushion consumers from gross profiteering by unscrupulous retailers” who were flouting “price controls willy nilly”.
The consumer watchdog made similar comments on ZBC (30/9, 8pm).
However, CCZ tried to cover up for its failure to fully fight for the rights of the consumers by alleging that, “consumers lack basic knowledge of alternative commodities when subjected to overpricing”. It did not elaborate on what those alternatives were.
It is against these economic hardships that the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Lovemore Matombo, was quoted in The Zimbabwe Independent (3/10) as calling on workers “to prepare for a mass protest against the government’s failure to address the country’s economic crisis”.
The Financial Gazette revealed that there was no hope for any reprieve as the 2004 budget “may turn out to be the same old story of missed targets and unfulfilled promises”. The paper pointed out that, the Finance Ministry has yet to get the required information such as “sound statistics on food requirements and projected crop output for next year” to assist it in planning, barely two months before the budget is presented.

3. Zimbabwe’s isolation deepens

Zimbabwe’s pariah status, stemming mainly from a governance crisis, became more pronounced with private media reports that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo had revealed that Zimbabwe would not be invited to the Commonwealth summit unless there were radical changes on the ground. The revelation was particularly poignant, as it came from a country that government and the media it controls have always touted as an ally in its fight to end international isolation.
However, even with such revelations, the government-controlled media was relentless in misleading its audiences into believing that there were still chances for Zimbabwe to attend the summit. They did this by manipulating statements by the acting Nigerian High Commissioner Emmanuel Engwuatu to give the impression that Nigeria would back Zimbabwe’s bid to get invited.
For example, The Herald (02/10), Nigeria’s position on Zim has not changed – envoy, quoted Engwuatu as having said his country’s position to have Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth lifted had not changed.
“We haven’t been communicated of any other view. We are hosting the Commonwealth and the position of Nigeria has not changed”, he said, adding that his country would consider Commonwealth rules and regulations in inviting any nation to the summit.
This was narrowly interpreted to mean that Zimbabwe still stood a chance of being invited to Abuja.
ZBC (1/10, 8pm) carried a similar report.
However, SW Radio Africa & Studio 7 (1/10), The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard (5/10), and The Sunday Mirror (5/10) revealed that Obasanjo had made it clear that President Mugabe would not be invited to the summit unless there was “ a sea change in Zimbabwe” adding that the closure of The Daily News represented “a negative sea change”.
To make matters worse for Zimbabwe, the reports also revealed that despite South Africa’s earlier protest over the exclusion of Mugabe, the country had made a policy u-turn and supported Nigeria’s decision.
As it became clear that Zimbabwe’s chances of getting invited were waning, The Sunday Mail (5/10) then sought to dismiss this embarrassing failure to hoodwink the international community into ending the country’s isolation by discrediting the Commonwealth. The paper’s article, Should Zimbabwe lose sleep over CHOGM? observed: “By clamouring to be members of this grouping or to be at CHOGM, aren’t we bolstering Britain’s sense of importance in the world… Africa and all other countries in the Commonwealth have better and useful regional and international organisations to join…than to celebrate British colonialism through the Commonwealth”.
The Sunday Mirror was equally unimpressed by Nigeria’s decision to snub Zimbabwe. The paper criticised Obasanjo saying he was “pandering to the hawks in the Northern hemisphere or, at best, a lame attempt to disguise his obsession with making the Abuja CHOGM a major showpiece for himself and his national agenda…”
But The Zimbabwe Independent disagreed saying Obasanjo had realised that “the regime in Harare can no longer be defended” adding that, “the large majority of Commonwealth states agreed that Harare had not met the conditions laid down for lifting the suspension”.
Despite the clear evidence that the international community and Zimbabwe’s perceived allies were not impressed by the behaviour of Zimbabwe’s leadership, the government-controlled media would not relent in their efforts to paint a picture of a world that supported the country’s policies. They (ZBC 29/9, 7am and The Herald (1/10)) used President Mugabe’s trip to New York for the 58th session of the UN General Assembly to peddle this propaganda.
They reported that Mugabe’s address to the Assembly was well received by diplomats from Africa, Asia, Latin America and some European countries, to give the impression that he was making progress in courting the international community.
Further, Radio Zimbabwe (29/09,6am) and The Herald (30/9) used the visit and signing of a memorandum of agreement between ZANU PF youths and their Cuban Communist Party counterparts “to cement solidarity between the two parties” as another public relations gimmick for the embattled government. The Herald quoted ZANU PF youth leader, Absolom Sikhosana, as having said the two parties would “fight the international isolation of Zimbabwe advocated by Britain”.
However, The Sunday Mirror revealed that rather than softening their stance, members of the international community were advocating a further tightening of the screws on Mugabe. The paper reported that US President George Bush had called on SADC countries to exert more pressure on Mugabe to “allow change”.
Said Bush: “The only time that this government and I, personally, will be satisfied is when there is an honest government, reformed government in Zimbabwe… That hasn’t happened…”
The Zimbabwe Independent also quoted South Africa’s Bishop Desmond Tutu as having said: “The time has come for African leaders to stand up and express their concern over the deteriorating human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.”
Predictably, the government-controlled media ignored both reports although the Sunday Mirror interpreted it to mean that Bush was “plotting” Mugabe’s removal.
Ends

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail:[email protected] [2]

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