(MISA/IFEX) – On 24 May 2006, Malawi police briefly detained freelance journalist Isaac Masingati and Zimbabwean Associated Press journalist Tsvangirayi Makwazhi for taking pictures of a demolished plaque posted on a road named after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Makwazhi was in Malawi to gather information on HIV & AIDS but took advantage of the trip […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 24 May 2006, Malawi police briefly detained freelance journalist Isaac Masingati and Zimbabwean Associated Press journalist Tsvangirayi Makwazhi for taking pictures of a demolished plaque posted on a road named after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Makwazhi was in Malawi to gather information on HIV & AIDS but took advantage of the trip to take pictures of the plaque, which has raised debate in both countries. He has since returned to his home country.
Mugabe unveiled the plaque on 4 May on a 49 kilometre Midima road christened “Robert Mugabe Highway”; the highway links Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre to the tea-growing district of Mulanje.
The naming of the road after Mugabe raised controversy both in Malawi and Zimbabwe when civil and political leaders protested the honour, saying Mugabe did not deserve it due to his poor human rights record. The controversy moved the government to deploy police to guard the plaque ever since its unveiling.
However, on 16 May unidentified people overpowered two police sentries and vandalised the plaque.
Deputy Information Minister John Bande told the press that there was no directive to police to prevent people accessing the plaque.
However, Home Affairs Minister Anna Kachikho said the journalists did not follow procedures before taking pictures. Kachikho did not clarify what procedures were to be followed: “I thought everybody was there when the plaque was being unveiled, so what is it that people want? There are better things to do.”
MISA-Malawi has condemned the detention of the journalists, saying the plaque is in a public place that has not been declared restricted.
