Zimbabwe

(MISA/IFEX) – Mduduzi Mathuthu and Grey Chitiga, two reporters from “The Daily News” reporters who were arrested on Sunday 18 November 2001, have been released. The two journalists were released on the evening of Monday 19 November, without being charged. They spent the night of Sunday 18 November in different prisons: Mathuthu was detained at […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s leading cellular phone service provider, Econet Wireless, has ceased offering Zimbabwean political news to its clients through its cellular phones. Econet had been providing political news to its clients through its text news service, called “Executive Briefing”. In a statement released on Thursday 15 November 2001, Econet advised its customers that the […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Mduduzi Mathuthu, a reporter for “The Daily News” based in Bulawayo, was arrested along with photographer Grey Chitiga on Sunday 18 November 2001, on allegations of kidnapping and torture. The state media Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and “The Herald” reported that Mathuthu and Chitiga were arrested under the Law and Order Maintenance Act […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Magistrate’s Court in Harare has ruled that all charges against the editor-in-chief of “The Daily News”, Geoff Nyarota, and the former chief executive officer of the newspaper, Wilf Mbanga, be dropped. The magistrate said that there were no reasonable grounds for charging them with having committed any offence. The magistrate also criticised […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Department of Information and Publicity in the President’s Office has gazetted the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Commercialisation Bill, 2001. The bill seeks to split the public broadcaster into two companies and also commercialise operations. According to Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo, the bill would make the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) a profitable entity that […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The National Development Assembly’s (NDA) High Court legal challenge of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZBC) ban on the Talk to the Nation live phone-in programme will be heard on Wednesday 14 November 2001. NDA is challenging the ban of its programme and is demanding its reinstatement. Minister of Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo […]

(MISA/IFEX) – MISA has confirmed that Geoffrey Nyarota, editor-in-chief of “The Daily News”, and the former chief executive of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (Private) Limited (ANZ), that publishes “The Daily News”, Wilf Mbanga, have been released from police custody on bail of Z$10,000 each (approximately US$182 at the official rate). MISA’s chapter in Zimbabwe (MISA-Zimbabwe) […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 8 November 2001 letter to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, CPJ condemned the 8 November arrests and detentions of Geoff Nyarota, editor-in-chief of the “Daily News”, Zimbabwe’s only independent daily newspaper, and Wilf Mbanga, the former chief executive officer of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the company that publishes the “Daily […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s leading independent daily newspaper “The Daily News” faces immediate closure as the state run Zimbabwe Investment Center (Z.I.C.) moots allegations of fraudulent activities at the Associated Newspapers Company (ANZ), and the holding company that owns the daily newspaper. In a 2 November 2001 letter, Director of Z.I.C. Richard Mbaiwa wrote to ANZ […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On Saturday 3 November 2001, Zimbabwean Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo ordered the ejection of Mduduzi Mathuthu, a reporter with “The Daily News”, from a meeting in Bulawayo after a heated argument erupted over allegations made by the minister. Moyo, who was addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club, […]

(FXI/IFEX) – Nhlahla Masuku, chairman of the Broadcast Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), has accused the Zimbabwean High Court of failing to understand the administration of airwaves in the country, “The Daily News” reported over the weekend of 3-4 November 2001. The BAZ chairman attacked the judiciary for its ruling in a case involving Capital Radio, […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Darlington Hari, a Zimbabwean state Central Intelligence officer (C.I.O), chased and threatened to beat up Philemon Bulawayo, a freelance photo-journalist, after he took pictures of him, “The Daily News” reported on 5 November 2001. According to the report, Hari chased Bulawayo from the magistrates’ court entrance in Harare to a nearby bush 400 […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo has threatened to sue “The Financial Gazette” for publishing erroneous assertions, “The Herald” reported on 1 November 2001. Moyo’s lawyer, Terrence Hussein of Ranchhold and Company, says his client was offended by an article that appeared in the newspaper’s 25 October edition, titled “Knives […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Government of Zimbabwe has delayed the tabling of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill to accommodate the findings of the Media Ethics Committee, which is still collecting information from “stakeholders”, the “Zimbabwe Independent” reported on Friday 26 October 2001. According to the report, last week government sources said the […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Phillip Chiyangwa, a ruling party member of parliament (MP) has threatened to sue “The Daily News”, unless the newspaper apologises unconditionally over a story that a company Chiyangwa owns owes the National Social Security Agency (NSSA) Z$12 Million (approx. US$2 million). According to a 25 October 2001 report in “The Herald”, Chiyangwa contends […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Zimbabwe government has approved the commercialisation of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) into a public company wholly owned by the government, “The Herald” reported on 25 October 2001. The newspaper reported that the ZBC commercialisation bill will soon go to parliament. The bill intends to split the public broadcaster into two separate […]