Articles by Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Angry fans attack television crew, damage TV cameras
On 6 July 1996, about six thousand angry music fans attacked and injured three members of a television crew when South African pop music band Boom Shaka failed to turn up at a scheduled concert in the capital, Windhoek. Angry fans stole one and irreparably damaged two television cameras belonging to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation […]
National broadcaster comes under bomb threat
**For background to “Times of Zambia” case, see IFEX alert dated 6 June 1996* HASH(0x9552250)
Prime Minister visits broadcasters; reportedly censors news
Source: MISA-Swaziland MISA-Swaziland reported that on 23 June 1996, Acting Prime Minister Dr. Sishayi Nxumalo, accompanied by Minister of Information Prince Khuzulwandle together with heavily armed police, went into state-run radio and television newsrooms to check through evening news items queued for broadcasting. Nxumalo and Khuzulwandle removed from the news line up items describing a […]
President Bakili Muluzi threatens to use sedition laws against opposition politicians who insult him
Malawi President Bakili Muluzi has warned opposition political parties that he would resort to sedition laws against politicians who insulted him. On 17 June 1996, the local media reported Muluzi accusing his opponents of using “bad language under the guise of democracy and free speech” to slander him and the ruling United Democratic Front party. […]
Journalists pressured to reveal sources
Four Zambian journalists have refused to name their sources in regard to a story which alleged that Legal Affairs Minister Remmy Mushota had attempted on 4 April 1996 to cash a Kwacha 210 million (US$ 166 000) government cheque. “The Post” managing editor Bright Mwape and senior journalist Chilombo Mwondela, as well as “Chronicle” newspaper […]
Journalists tell of death threats and plot to kill critical media workers
Two Zimbabwean journalists say their lives have been threatened, and that there is plot — said to be hatched by people close to the government and ruling party — to kill media workers critical of President Robert Mugabe. The Reuters bureau chief in Zimbabwe, Chris Chinaka, says he was warned that he would be killed […]
Government assumes control of Zimbabwe’s largest media group
The Director of the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Posts and Telecommunications in Zimbabwe has confirmed that the government has assumed direct control of the country’s largest media group, the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT). Bornwell Chakaodza said that a 29 April 1996 amendment to the ZMMT’s deed gives the state the authority to oversee the […]
Bomb explodes at “Times of Zambia” office; death threats issued against three of the newspaper’s editors
On 31 May 1996, a bomb exploded at the offices of the state-owned “Times of Zambia” newspaper in the town of Ndola. No one was hurt in the blast which reportedly caused extensive damage to the newspaper’s computer room. Previously, on 23 May, death threats against several “Times of Zambia” editors and reporters were posted […]