Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
June 16 -June 22, 2003
Weekly Update 2003-24
CONTENTS

1. GENERAL COMMENT
2. A VINDICTIVE DETENTION
3. MIXED SIGNALS ON FOOD OUTPUT
4. CRISIS IN THE JUDICIARY

1. General comment
The Media Monitoring Project notes with concern the recent suspension of the publication of The Daily Mirror, which its publisher, Ibbo Mandaza, attributed to the “dire economic situation” (The Daily News, 11/6). Its contribution in the provision of information to the public and media diversity in the country cannot be understated. It is through a diverse media that the public gets a platform to express themselves and access information of their choice, as should be the case in a democratic society. Therefore, the closure of the publication is indeed a blow to the country’s democratic struggles.

Meanwhile, hopes that government would yield to both local and external pressure and amend the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA) were shattered by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s declaration that the government had no intention of doing so. He was quoted in The Zimbabwe Independent (20/6) saying, “there is no problem with Posa because it is the only tool that we have to fight lawlessness by those who want to remove a legitimately elected government. The country has now almost returned to normal (after the mass action) and we were not going to succeed without Posa”. This clearly vindicates claims that this law, which curtails the public’s constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of assembly and to impart information, was promulgated specifically to suffocate criticism and dissent, rather than to protect democratic ideals. Chinamasa’s comment also reveals the extent to which government is prepared to abuse office by promulgating laws that suppress the rights of particular sections of society, perceived as its enemies. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that only real or imagined members of the opposition and journalists working for the private media have been arrested and charged under POSA since it was enacted last year.
It is this selective application of the law, which buttresses calls by local civic organizations and international human rights watchdogs to have the legislation repealed or at least amended. Repressive laws enacted to satisfy selfish political motives should be struck off the statute books.

2. A vindictive detention

The continued detention of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai continued to contest for space in the media, with the private media revealing that regional and international bodies had deplored the arrest and called for his release. The government-controlled media simply ignored such news.
When the week opened, The Daily News (16/06) reported that the South African labour body, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) had condemned the Zimbabwean government’s “continued arrest and re-arrest of leaders of the opposition”, adding that the “attempt to humiliate Morgan Tsvangirai and other MDC leaders will solve nothing”. Equally, the American based private radio station, Studio 7 (18/06), quoted John Seagal, a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in the US, as saying the continued “detention of Morgan Tsvangirai is not (going to) be accepted and that the longer he is held in detention the more concerned the international community is going to become.”
The Daily News (18/6) reported that MDC youths and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) were considering demonstrations to press for Tsvangirai’s release. The same issue quoted US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as saying Tsvangirai’s detention “on spurious treason charges, as well as President Robert Mugabe’s public statements mocking Mr Tsvangirai and welcoming his imprisonment are indefensible.”

Despite these comments, Mugabe persisted with his derision of Tsvangirai. The Herald (20/06) quoted him as saying, “Now that he (Tsvangirai) is in his State House (remand prison), I don’t know what he is dreaming about”. He was addressing a rally in Shurugwi in the Midlands province. In fact, The Daily News (17/6) revealed that Mugabe’s hate speeches and the vindictive remarks he made during his recent rallies had actually incited some of his supporters to mete out violent retribution against MDC officials. The private daily reported that ZANU PF supporters had invaded Bigtull farm owned by MDC MP Roy Bennet, barely three days after Mugabe had threatened to seize his farms while addressing an earlier rally in Nyanga. Not surprisingly, the government-controlled media ignored this sad development, which gives credence to media reports that some incidents of violence are state sanctioned.
Indeed, their hypocrisy was further demonstrated by the manner in which they covered the release from remand prison of the MDC leader on a record $10 million bail coupled with stringent conditions. While Studio 7 (20/6) and The Daily News (21/6) led with the story, the government controlled media downplayed the news by denying it the prominence it deserved. For example, The Herald (21/6) carried the story on page six preferring to lead with a life profile of yet another presidential disclaimant, ZANU PF chairman John Nkomo. Similarly, ZBC (all stations, 20/06) buried the report in its evening bulletins. The public media’s treatment of Tsvangirai’s release contrasted sharply with the importance they attached to his arrest. The Sunday Mail went further to insinuate, in its Under the Surface column, that the fact that Tsvangirai had raised $10 million dollars in cash for his bail “in about 30 minutes” was evidence that the opposition has a hand in the current shortage of bank notes.
That same day, The Standard and The Daily News on Sunday (22/06) reported that Tsvangirai had told journalists, a day after his release, that he would continue to organize mass protests to force Mugabe to the negotiating table. And again the government-controlled media ignored the story.

In addition to Tsvangirai’s controversial 14-day detention, other political developments, such as the issue of Mugabe’s successor, continued to attract the media’s attention during the week. Early in the week The Daily News (17/6) reported that President Mugabe had held a telephone conversation with South African President Thabo Mbeki, in which he allegedly indicated that he intended to retire in the next 12 months and “ wanted Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over as the leader of ZANU PF.” The report elicited a classically vituperative and verbose denial from the Department of Information. ZBC (17/6, 8pm & 18/6, 6am), The Herald and Chronicle (18/06) quoted the department as having said the report was an “elaborate and hollow fib” whose “purported content of an alleged telephone conversation between Presidents Mugabe and Mbeki make a common liar look unimpeachably upright, indeed make the gutter Press look noble.”
In another story, in the same issue of The Herald (and 3FM & Radio Zimbabwe, 18/6, 6am), Information Minister Jonathan Moyo further dismissed The Daily News report saying Mugabe’s “legitimacy was not negotiable,” adding that legitimacy is a product of the will of the people. President Mugabe echoed this during his Shurugwi rally, ZBC (ZTV, 19/06, 8pm) and 3FM & Radio Zimbabwe (20/06, 1pm). However, The Zimbabwe Independent (20/06) insisted that, “…speculation remains rife that his (Mugabe) departure from office may be sooner” despite his “handlers’ fight to stifle debate on the succession issue”. The paper pointed out that the Bulawayo ZANU PF provincial branch had defied “orders to keep quiet” and had thrown its weight behind ZANU PF chairman, Nkomo. The branch secretary for information and publicity, Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, was quoted as saying in the event that Mugabe leaves office with his two deputies; the party’s constitution stipulates that Nkomo would be the logical successor.

The following morning The Herald (21/06) carried, as its lead, a profile of Nkomo and his views on succession. However, the reporter allowed Nkomo to evade questions on any presidential ambitions and, like its interview the previous week with Emmerson Mnangagwa, the story degenerated into a sanitized and colourful appraisal of his heroic contribution to the liberation struggle. Like The Herald, The Sunday Mirror (22/06) also featured a profile of Nkomo. The Sunday News also joined the succession debate. It quoted senior ZANU PF politician Didymus Mutasa saying, “I am not quite sure whether many people with presidential ambitions are going to come out openly following President Mugabe’s remarks. But in my view, the right thing would be to start by finding people to replace the two Vice-Presidents”. The reporter did not ask Mutasa why aspiring presidential candidates would not come out in the open.
The Standard (22/6) carried an exclusive interview with veteran politician and Mugabe’s relative, James Chikerema, who was quoted as having said: “All this succession talk is gibberish… Mugabe is not leaving office until he dies. Can’t you see he doesn’t even want to discuss the issue of who his successor will be?”

3. Mixed signals on food output

The gulf between the private and the government-controlled media once again manifested itself in the week through diametrically opposed reports on agricultural output this season. While the private Press carried several stories warning its readers of impending food shortages, the government-controlled media sought to downplay the threat of famine by feeding its audiences with positive piecemeal news of increased crop production.
For example, The Herald (18/06) reported that maize deliveries to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) had improved without presenting clear statistical evidence. The report merely suffocated its readers with meaningless general figures. For instance, it reported that the GMB has already distributed inputs, which included 4,852 tonnes of compound ‘D’ fertilizer, 209 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, 122 tonnes of urea, 1,530 tonnes of lime and 6,314 tonnes of wheat seed for the winter wheat crop. But the report did not state what these figures represented in terms of wheat production or whether it would be enough to feed the nation. The paper’s other reports, Farmers get 200 000l of diesel (19/06) and Government to import 5 000t of fertilizer (20/06), were tailored in the same fashion. In another report of such ‘sunshine journalism’, the Chronicle (21/06) quoted President Mugabe assuring the nation that government would “ensure no one starves” without outlining how the government would go about doing so.

This is not the first time Mugabe has made such vague and unsubstantiated political assurances, using it extensively during his 2002 presidential poll campaign. And nor was it the first time that the government-controlled media avoided asking government officials how they intended to back up Mugabe’s assurances. Such shallow coverage of a critical issue such as the nation’s food security was exposed for what it was by more sobering and credible stories in the private media, which depicted a worsening food security situation in the country. For example, The Financial Gazette cited a report by the Southern Development Community Famine Early Warning Systems Network stating that, “…the Grain Marketing Board supplies are inadequate and the market is short of the staple cereal.” The Daily News (16/06) quoted UNICEF official Gerry Dyer giving face to the gravity of the situation saying, “children are dying and if we don’t ratchet up our response… many of those who are malnourished will die”. Its sister weekly, The Daily News on Sunday (22/06) reported that Zimbabwe “…had the highest number of people in need of food aid in the region.” The Zimbabwe Independent (20/06), Half region’s food deficit in Zimbabwe, concurred.

Despite this, the Chronicle (17/06) tried to give the impression that government was ensuring adequate food supplies in its story GMB secures 50 000t wheat. The article pointed out that imports would see the country through the month of July. However, The Daily News (20/6) revealed that, on the contrary, the country would run out of bread within a week because international freighters would not release the wheat citing the GMB’s failure to pay for the shipment. The Zimbabwe Independent (20/06) reported that bread shortages were set to worsen because the hectarage under winter crop “has been drastically reduced”. The article quoted the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) forecasting that the crop production would drop to about 25 percent. This alarming revelation indeed belied an earlier ZTV (17/06, 8pm) report claiming: “Winter wheat production is expected to go up by over 50% this season with farmers expected to plant 80 000 hectares. Government agencies feel adequate measures have been put in place to ensure a successful winter cropping season. These include the provision of 1,2 million litres of diesel to farmers…”

4. Crisis in the judiciary

As the country’s political and economic crises continued to worsen, it emerged, albeit through piecemeal media reports, that the judiciary was facing serious problems. For example, The Daily News (17/06) reported that five out of the seven Harare regional magistrates had resigned over poor salaries. The Chronicle (18/6) also revealed that lawyers had also left their profession for better paying jobs outside Zimbabwe, leaving the country with “only 600 practising instead of the more than 1,000 required at any given time”. The report quoted one lawyer saying the exodus of lawyers had led to a backlog of cases at the magistrates’ courts. Indeed, The Zimbabwe Independent (20/06) quoted Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) deploring the courts’ delays in handing down judgments on cases, arguing that this was a violation of the country’s constitution and international conventions. ZLHR cited delays in the ruling on Tsvangirai’s bail application as an example.

In fact, there have also been delays in hearing the 2000 parliamentary election petitions and the MDC’s challenge to the 2002 election results, which the MDC’s legal secretary, David Coltart, attributed to the court records that were missing from the High Court (The Daily News on Sunday, 22/06). Coltart pointed out that because of the delays, some ZANU PF MPs whose victories were nullified by the courts continue to sit “illegally” in Parliament. However, this was hotly disputed by The Herald (17/6) and ZBC (ZTV & 3FM, 18/06, 6am). They noted that ZANU PF legislators “can continue sitting in Parliament despite the nullification of their victories by the High Court until the Supreme Court has heard their appeals”. The Herald noted that dates for hearing the appeals had not been set because the “Supreme Court is currently inundated with a backlog of matters dating back to at least four years”. However, the paper failed to fully explain the actual causes of such a backlog. The Zimbabwe Independent comment ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’ bemoaned the crisis within the judiciary, which the paper observed had failed to protect the rights of citizens.
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]; [email protected]

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