Zimbabwe: But the media is free, says Zuma

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday February 9th- Sunday February 15th 2004
Weekly Media Update 2004-6

Contents
* General Comment
* Reshuffle and anti-graft mirage
* State media conceal "land reform" chaos

1. GENERAL COMMENT

Fears by local democratic watchdogs over South Africa's sincerity in
resolving the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe were clearly vindicated
when that country's Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
defended the recent Supreme Court ruling legitimising sections of the
repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA).
The Herald (11/2) reported Zuma as saying her government had no
plans to discuss AIPPA with their Zimbabwean counterparts as the
legislation was constitutional.
Said Zuma rather blithely: "We accept it. Should we not accept it?
What is really the issue? Has any journalist been refused
registration? Have reasons been given for that?"
Incidentally, Zuma's disingenuous statements came the same day the
government-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC)
announced through The Herald that The Daily News journalists will not
be accredited under their current employer because the Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe "is not registered", The Herald (10/2).
Instead of exposing Zuma's complicity in the erosion of freedom of
expression in the country, the Chronicle (12/2) milked the South
African Foreign Affairs Minister's unsubstantiated allegations that the
South African media was biased in favour of the British policies to fire a
broadside at those media. The paper accused the South African media
of demonising "the country, its laws and leadership" saying "die-
hard Rhodesians who committed acts of genocide during the
liberation struggle" were behind such "propaganda".

But the government-controlled media's shameless endorsement of the
curtailment of the citizens' right to freedom of expression was
eloquently demonstrated by The Herald (11/2) in its comment, We've
nothing to fear from AIPPA. The paper defended the legislation saying
it was a "necessary check to guard against malicious media
excesses that go beyond honest mistakes".

Interestingly, as The Zimbabwe Independent (13/2) noted, the paper's
comment was calculated to exonerate itself from being answerable to
AIPPA following its publication of a falsehood on February 7 alleging
that ZANU PF official Philip Chiyangwa was "facing fresh charges" of
mishandling $36 million meant for public works programmes in
Mashonaland West.

The paper strangely blamed the carrying of such a false story on "an
overzealous sub-editor (who) got carried away, as they are
inclined to do in order to attract readers", as if the sub-editor is
independent of The Herald. It has yet to apologise for the blatant
distortion.
Meanwhile, critical analyses on the defects of the Supreme Court ruling
on AIPPA appeared in the private media.
The analyses coincided with government's promulgation of another
controversial piece of legislation disguised as an anti-graft law. Under
the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of the
Criminal Procedure & Evidence Act) Regulations, Statutory Instrument
37 of 2004 gazetted on Friday February 13th, the State has now been
empowered to detain any person accused of corruption and various
other crimes for 28 days without trial, instead of the standard 48 hours.
This, according to the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), is a violation
and unwarranted deprivation of the accused's constitutional rights.
However, what is even more disturbing, said the LRF, is that the new
legislation does not only deal with economic crimes but could also be
used for offences arising from violation of the POSA although the
"Explanatory Note" in the regulations misleadingly avoids mentioning
this. None of the media captured this aspect.

2. RESHUFFLE AND ANTI-GRAFT MIRAGE

President Robert Mugabe's announcement of a 'new' bloated anti-graft
cabinet, mandated to fight corruption and mend the country's tattered
economy, highlighted the week. The reshuffled government-
embraced by the government media as the solution to Zimbabwe's
economic crisis but dismissed as a non-event by the private media-
added four new faces to Mugabe's cabinet and increased Zimbabwe's
ministries from 19 to 22. It also created positions for governors in the
capital Harare and the country's second largest city of Bulawayo.

But if anything, the development only underscored the government-
controlled media's status as toothless watchdogs of official policies as
demonstrated by their failure to critically examine the reshuffle. Their
reports hardly went beyond Mugabe's official pronunciations that his
restructured government would fight corruption. Neither did they probe
how by retaining the majority of the 'war cabinet', largely considered as
non-performers, would Mugabe successfully weed out graft.

The government media's narrow agenda, projected correspondingly
with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's (RBZ) efforts to mop up the
chaos in the financial sector, was hardly surprising as it was in tandem
with their efforts to showcase government's sincerity in fighting
corruption and other economic ills.
The arrest and detention of ZANU PF central committee member,
James Makamba, on charges of externalising foreign currency was
timely, as it was used as proof of Government efforts to eradicate
corruption. Makamba was denied bail using the newly gazetted anti-
graft regulations, which the government media used to buttress the
notion that government was committed to fighting graft.

Such passive endorsement of government's claims of eliminating
corruption was aptly illustrated by The Herald and the Chronicle (10/2)
in their coverage of the cabinet reshuffle. The papers merely reported
the new appointments but would not categorically state that besides
creating new portfolios, Mugabe had only recycled his old ministers.
Moreover, they did not query the logic behind the creation of additional
ministries.

The Chronicle simply welcomed the new portfolios saying it
"underlines the fight against corruption and monopolies and
seeks to consolidate the land reform programme and black
empowerment". The paper's comment (11/2) claimed that the
creation of the anti-corruption and the anti-monopolies ministry "is a
clear indicator that the ruling party is concerned about the lives of
the people". It added that since Special Affairs Minister John Nkomo
was now responsible for lands, land reform and resettlement "the
future looks bright for Zimbabwe".
The Herald comment (13/2) raised similar views.
But the papers' views were simply echoes of Mugabe's statements on
ZTV (10/2, 8pm), justifying the expansion of the cabinet saying,
"people want a large Government" adding that "if they (people)
want us to shrink it in future we will shrink and shrink and shrink
and then we retire".

No critical analysis of the negative implications of a bloated
government on the economy was offered except in the private media.
In fact, the private media tried to penetrate the veneer of rationale
behind the supposedly 'new' cabinet in relation to the current political
and economic environment in the country.
For instance, SW Radio (10/2) quoted government critic John
Makumbe dismissing Mugabe's splitting of the original Lands Ministry
then led by Joseph Made into two as "a bit of a distortion and.
senility" because "resettlement is now in both John Nkomo's
portfolio and in Made's portfolio."
Similarly, The Financial Gazette (12/2) quoted other analysts
castigating Mugabe for failing to downsize his cabinet "to contain
government profligacy".
The Standard challenged Mugabe's claim that Zimbabweans want an
enlarged cabinet, saying the president "seems entirely oblivious to
the consequences of a large cabinet on the fiscus".

In fact, The Zimbabwe Independent (13/2) revealed that six ministries
were already "in trouble", after exhausting their 2004 budgets. The
paper pointed out that the creation of three new ministries would thus
worsen the situation as these portfolios "were unbudgeted for".

The paper noted that such unbudgeted expenditure was in conflict with
former finance Minister Herbert Murerwa's budget statement and RBZ
Governor Gideon Gono's monetary policy, which both called for fiscal
discipline.
While pro-government analysts Ibbo Mandaza and Tendai Gurira were
quoted on ZTV (10/2, 8pm) applauding the 'new' anti-graft cabinet as a
reaffirmation of "Mugabe's commitment to fighting corruption,
revive the economy and empower people in this country,"
Makumbe disagreed. He told SW Radio Africa (10/2) that Mugabe's
reshuffle was like shuffling rubbish in a bin thinking it would smell
differently. ".it doesn't make any difference. It still smells
terribly."

The Tribune (13/2) echoed his views, and likened the reshuffle to
shuffling cards "for a game of solitaire".

The government media would not relent.
For example, the Chronicle (12/2) citing several pro-ZANU PF
individuals claimed that Bulawayo residents had applauded the
expansion of the cabinet saying "this will ensure that the economic
revival that has been brought about by the reforms in the financial
services sector will be allowed to bear fruit".
The Herald (13/2) followed suit by reporting that the church had
"thrown its weight behind Government efforts to crackdown on
corruption".
However, The Daily Mirror (12/2), disputed government media's claims
that the public had welcomed the new cabinet. It reported that, on the
contrary, people had generally "expressed outrage and dismay at
the new cabinet ."
Earlier, the paper (11/2) quoted political analysts dismissing
government's anti-graft crusade as an election gimmick calculated to
win urban voters ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure was
quoted by the paper as saying: "Corruption captures the
imagination of the urban electorate in the same way land reform
swayed the rural electorate".
In an attempt to belie government claims that it was serious in its war
against corruption, The Sunday Mirror (15/2) quoted MDC official David
Coltart citing previous cases of high-level corruption, such as the
Willowvale and NOCZIM scandals noting that those involved had not
been arrested. He thus noted that the arrest of Makamba and another
ZANU-PF official Phillip Chiyangwa was "just a 'smokescreen' to
fool the electorate" into thinking ZANU PF was now serious about
combating corruption.
In fact, Musunungure pointed out in The Daily Mirror (11/2) that as a
result of government's efforts to woo voters, "We will continue to see
the targeting of high profile personalities to demonstrate that
government is serious about smashing corruption".

The government-controlled Press ignored such analysis and preferred
littering its space with news on the perceived successes of Gono's
monetary policy as illustrative of government's commitment to clean up
the mess in the financial sector and resuscitate the economy. This is
despite the fact that Gono himself was quoted telling the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe that his policy was yet to pay full
dividends, The Zimbabwe Independent (13/2) and The Sunday Mail
(15/2).
Such professional docility resulted in ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe (9/2,
8pm) failing to question the apparent shift in government's hard-line
attitude towards international money lending institutions such as the
IMF when it quoted Gono as saying the central bank had started
honouring its external debts with such institutions in a move that
"would help mend relations".
Gono was not asked how much the country owed the donor agencies
or how much it had been able to repay so far.
Neither did the media link the anti-graft hype to the impending IMF visit
to Zimbabwe, The Zimbabwe Independent.

3. STATE MEDIA CONCEAL "LAND REFORM" CHAOS

Despite government's claims that its controversial land reform was
nearing completion, the media continued to expose the chaos that has
characterised the whole process since its inception. However, the
reports, which mostly appeared in the private Press, were piecemeal
and as a result failed to give a more holistic picture of the situation on
the ground.
Notable, was the way the government media tried to cover up for
government's complicity in the breakdown of law in the sector as
epitomised by their reports on farm violence and other related
disturbances.

The Herald's (10/2), for example, underplayed the farm violence
perpetrated by state security agencies and ZANU PF supporters at
Charleswood Farm owned by MDC MP Roy Bennet in Chimanimani,
SW Radio (9/2), Studio 7 (12/2), The Daily Mirror (10/2) and The
Zimbabwe Independent (13/2).
The report merely reported that a man had died "at a farm in
Chimanimani following violent clashes between farm labourers
and newly resettled farmers" but masked the identity of the farm and
the name of the victim, Shemi Chimbarara, a farm worker at
Charleswood.
The paper merely restricted its report to a Zimbabwe Defence Forces
(ZDF) statement claiming that Chimbarara was killed when he and
other farm workers ambushed settlers and tried to disarm a soldier.
The soldier, alleged the story, was accompanying the settlers to their
plots, which they had earlier fled after being "overpowered" during an
earlier "clash" with the farm workers.
Claimed the Zimbabwe Defence Forces: "In the scuffle that
followed, the rifle discharged and one civilian was killed".

This report contradicted those carried by the private media. The Daily
Mirror, for example, quoted MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi
alleging that about 20 ZANU PF supporters, including a "former
police detail", triggered the clash by attacking the house of
Charleswood farm security officer, Amos Makaza, prompting other
farm workers to defend him. ZANU PF supporters had then dispersed
but regrouped, this time, in the company of an armed soldier who
eventually fatally shot Chimbarara and seriously injured another farm
worker.

Corroboration of the Mirror report appeared in SW Radio (9/2), Studio
7 (12/2) and The Zimbabwe Independent. The Zimbabwe Independent
quoted Charleswood farm operations manager James Mukwaya as
saying Chimbarara "was shot from an estimated 40-metre
distance" and not while trying to disarm a soldier as claimed in The
Herald.

Besides the shooting, ZANU PF invaders also allegedly sexually
molested three women and stole 300 cattle from the farm, SW Radio
(9/2) and Studio 7 (12/2).
Even The Manica Post's (13/2) account of the incident differed from
that carried in The Herald. It quoted police spokesman Inspector
Edmund Maingire saying the slain worker died after security forces
who had come to quell the violence on the farm "opened fire" after
farm workers ignored warning shots and continued attacking "the
forces with stones".

The paper accused Bennet of inciting his workers to resist
government's efforts to acquire his farm. It ignored the fact that Bennet
has won four High Court rulings against his eviction.

SW Radio (10/2 & 12/2), The Daily Mirror (11/2), The Herald (12/2),
The Zimbabwe Independent (13/2) reported of similar disorders at
Kondozi Farm in Odzi, Hippo Valley in Chiredzi, Matebeleland North,
Goromonzi and at another unnamed farm in Manicaland.

The government-controlled media largely continued to gloss over these
problems.
For example, they failed to make government account for the chaos
bedevilling wildlife conservancies, caused by the illegal invasions of
these areas by pro-government supporters during land seizures.
Instead, they accepted passively the authorities' plans to legitimise
such chaos by enacting a law to protect the illegal settlers through
'indigenisation', ZTV (12/2, 8pm and 13/2, 6am) and Power FM (12/2
6am) and The Herald (13/2).
This came amid revelations in The Financial Gazette that some
members of the ruling elite were corruptly granted hunting concessions
in Matabeleland North at the expense of locals and emerging safari
operators.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mirror (11/2) revealed that in effort to solve
labour shortages for the resettled farmers government would "soon
allow prisoners and ex-convicts who have a good track record to
be hired as labourers by newly resettled farmers".
This report preceded accusations by Mashonaland Central governor
Ephraim Masawi against unnamed NGOs for allegedly "fuelling
labour shortages" by denying relief food to former farm workers
working for resettled farmers, ZTV (10/2).
Ends.