(MISA/IFEX) – On 13 July 1998, President Robert Mugabe attacked the independent press for “not respecting the privacy of individuals.” He was speaking on the eve of the opening of the Fourth Session of the Fourth Parliament at State House. He said that the privately-owned press was “thriving on selling manufactured lies to the people […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 13 July 1998, President Robert Mugabe attacked the
independent press for “not respecting the privacy of individuals.” He was
speaking on the eve of the opening of the Fourth Session of the Fourth
Parliament at State House. He said that the privately-owned press was
“thriving on selling manufactured lies to the people in the name of freedom
of the press.” Mugabe, whose speech was thinly veiled with threats, asked
Parliamentarians present at the dinner whether such journalism should be
allowed to
continue. He said he believed it should not be allowed. He went on to say
that this kind of reporting would in future force the government to protect
the rights of individuals, and that this should not be misconstrued as going
against the right of expression by the media. Mugabe went on to say that the
independent press should count itself lucky because government could
actually file lawsuits, but it has not done this so far.
This was not the first time Mugabe had attacked the independent press. In
May 1995, he blasted the independent press after one of the private
newspapers had reported that he and the First Lady had held a secret wedding
at State House. A few months ago, at the funeral of Charles Chikerema,
editor of the government-owned “Herald” newspaper, Mugabe took the
opportunity to once again attack the independent press. He accused black
journalists of being used by whites to criticise the government. In
contrast, he praised Chikerema, an avowed Marxist-Leninist, for having
supported the policies of the government and the ruling ZANU-PF party.
In a snap survey done by the Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency (ZIANA),
media practitioners dismissed Mugabe’s outburst as a sign of intolerance.
The editor-in-chief of the weekly “Zimbabwe Independent”, Trevor Ncube,
scoffed at the attacks by Mugabe and described the President as a man “who
hates the press” and who does not “tolerate views that differ from his.” His
sentiments were echoed by the editor-in-chief of another weekly, Francis
Mdlongwa of the “Financial Gazette”, and the interim secretary-general of
the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, Basildon Peta. Editors of the government
controlled papers, the “Herald” and the “Manica Post” from the Zimpapers
stable, said that they were not in a position to comment as the President
had not attacked them.
Meanwhile, the editor of the “Herald”, Bornwell Chakaodza, has called for
the establishment of a Press Complaints Council. This was reported in the 22
July edition of the “Herald”, in reaction to Mugabe’s attack on the
independent press. Chakaodza noted that Mugabe was right in his appeal for
respect of an individual’s privacy and believed that freedom of expression
was not absolute and that it could never be. Chakaodza went on to say that
there was a need for legislation that was both effective in protecting
privacy and which would pass constitutional tests. In the absence of this
kind of legislation, an alternative for regulation was for the newspapers to
practice self-regulation and that if the press continued to misbehave, then
it would have itself to blame “if calls for legislation becomes stronger and
more strident.” The best regulation however, would be the establishment of a
Press Complaints Council that would allow every citizen of this country to
complain about their treatment by the press. Chakaodza conceded that such a
Council would have to be independent and “have widely representative
membership”.
