(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 7 July 2000, war veterans in Mashonaland Central held a “Herald” reporter, George Soko, and photographer William Mafunga hostage for almost three hours at a farm in the town of Centenary. The two journalists had earlier visited two other farms and talked to war veterans without any problems. However, when they […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 7 July 2000, war veterans in Mashonaland Central held a “Herald” reporter, George Soko, and photographer William Mafunga hostage for almost three hours at a farm in the town of Centenary. The two journalists had earlier visited two other farms and talked to war veterans without any problems.
However, when they got to the third farm, the war veterans’ leaders demanded to see the team’s identification cards before agreeing to an interview. One war veteran then ordered the others not to talk to the journalists, as anyone from Harare and Bulawayo “was a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).” The MDC won all seats in Harare and Bulawayo in the just-ended parliamentary elections. The war veterans told the journalists that their press cards were not enough proof that they were journalists and accused them of being sent by the MDC under the guise of being journalists.
Some war veterans also demanded to see the journalists’ Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF ruling party) membership cards and threatened to beat them up and overturn their vehicle. The journalists were ordered to drive to Mt Darwin (another constituency in Mashonaland Central), where they were going to be vetted by the war veteransâ leaders. The “Herald” newsmen had to drive sixty kilometres to Mt Darwin before they were “released” and allowed to leave.
The war veterans are currently spearheading a campaign to occupy commercial farms in the country.
