From 2000 to today, the people of Bikita district in Masvingo province, situated about 300 miles southeast of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, have been living under a hostile political environment after politicians - mainly from the former ruling Zanu PF party - were victimizing them for choosing to support opposition political formations in the area.
Almost every individual in this part of Zimbabwe has a tale to tell in as far as how Zanu PF politicians in the area have maimed them for holding a different political thinking. It is not a secret that at some point in the early 2000, the district was declared the bloodiest part of Zimbabwe. It is at this time when retired army Colonel Claudius Makova, who is a top member of the country’s revolutionary forces and the former ruling Zanu PF party, started to be accused by many people in the area for being the major power behind the violence in the area.
Even to this day, a visit to Bikita would show the political tension that exists between the former ruling party and any other political alternative in the area, especially the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) which is under the leadership of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Mirror newspaper, which is the only independent regional newspaper in the area, has always risked being banned from renewing its operating licence for criticizing the politicians in the former ruling party for abusing their power. In January this year, the newspaper nearly closed its doors for good after soldiers in some parts of the province, especially the Gutu and Bikita areas had banned the paper from being sold in those areas. It was after the intervention of the civil society and international community that helped to see the paper going in the streets again.
However, eleven months after the bid to ban the paper from being sold in these areas, retired Colonel Makova has this week upped his bid to silence the newspaper by taking it to High Court of Zimbabwe over a story written in 2009. Makova, who claims to have been defamed by a story which appeared in the paper’s 3 July 2009 edition, is demanding damages equivalent to US$100,000.
Makova sits in Zanu PF’s central committee, which is the party’s second-most feared organ after the politburo. He claims the story published by the newspaper defamed him as it carried some words which portrayed him as a terrorist, stupid and greedy. He told High Court Judge Justice Susan Mavhangira this week that his reputation was harmed by the article titled "Big war in Bikita." In a claim that shocked people who attended the court session this week, the plaintiff further claimed that a lot of people including his cousins in the United States of America and other countries abroad read the story online.
However, Makova ended up telling the court that he had forgotten several facts about the story when the defence lawyer Andrew Demo of Chihambakwe, Mutizwa, and Partners told him that the paper was not yet online by the time when the article was published. It took two full days for the court to complete the trial. However, the Judge ordered both lawyers to furnish the court with all their submissions by 19 December 2011. The judgment will be expected any time after 19 December 2011.
With elections expected in Zimbabwe anytime next year, politicians are already campaigning in several parts of the country. It is thus at this moment in Zimbabwe where it becomes more and more risky to become a journalist. The Mirror case is just any example, but journalists and newspapers across the whole country are already under the hammer for trying to be objective. On November 15, 2011, The Standard Newspaper, Zimbabwe’s largest independent Sunday paper’s editor, Nevanji Madanhire, and his reporter Nqaba Matshazi were arrested in Harare and taken to court, where they were charged for criminal defamation. They are still awaiting judgment. Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe national chairman Njabulo Ncube and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary general Foster Dongozi are always on record castigating overzealous politicians who are trying to criminalise objective reporting, but the situation on ground reflects that the media lobby groups have a lot of work ahead of them if they want the press to operate freely. With only one state-run television station, four radio stations, and less than ten national newspapers, Zimbabwe is the only country in the Southern Africa which is operating under strict media regulations. If the situation remains unabated, the watchdog role of the press will remain greatly undermined in the country.
The author has requested anonymity due to ongoing press restrictions and threats in Zimbabwe.
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Politicians Fight Press In Zimbabwe
December 9, 2011
From 2000 to today, the people of Bikita district in Masvingo province, situated about 300 miles southeast of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, have been living under a hostile political environment after politicians - mainly from the former ruling Zanu PF party - were victimizing them for choosing to support opposition political formations in the area.
Almost every individual in this part of Zimbabwe has a tale to tell in as far as how Zanu PF politicians in the area have maimed them for holding a different political thinking. It is not a secret that at some point in the early 2000, the district was declared the bloodiest part of Zimbabwe. It is at this time when retired army Colonel Claudius Makova, who is a top member of the country’s revolutionary forces and the former ruling Zanu PF party, started to be accused by many people in the area for being the major power behind the violence in the area.
Even to this day, a visit to Bikita would show the political tension that exists between the former ruling party and any other political alternative in the area, especially the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) which is under the leadership of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Mirror newspaper, which is the only independent regional newspaper in the area, has always risked being banned from renewing its operating licence for criticizing the politicians in the former ruling party for abusing their power. In January this year, the newspaper nearly closed its doors for good after soldiers in some parts of the province, especially the Gutu and Bikita areas had banned the paper from being sold in those areas. It was after the intervention of the civil society and international community that helped to see the paper going in the streets again.
However, eleven months after the bid to ban the paper from being sold in these areas, retired Colonel Makova has this week upped his bid to silence the newspaper by taking it to High Court of Zimbabwe over a story written in 2009. Makova, who claims to have been defamed by a story which appeared in the paper’s 3 July 2009 edition, is demanding damages equivalent to US$100,000.
Makova sits in Zanu PF’s central committee, which is the party’s second-most feared organ after the politburo. He claims the story published by the newspaper defamed him as it carried some words which portrayed him as a terrorist, stupid and greedy. He told High Court Judge Justice Susan Mavhangira this week that his reputation was harmed by the article titled "Big war in Bikita." In a claim that shocked people who attended the court session this week, the plaintiff further claimed that a lot of people including his cousins in the United States of America and other countries abroad read the story online.
However, Makova ended up telling the court that he had forgotten several facts about the story when the defence lawyer Andrew Demo of Chihambakwe, Mutizwa, and Partners told him that the paper was not yet online by the time when the article was published. It took two full days for the court to complete the trial. However, the Judge ordered both lawyers to furnish the court with all their submissions by 19 December 2011. The judgment will be expected any time after 19 December 2011.
With elections expected in Zimbabwe anytime next year, politicians are already campaigning in several parts of the country. It is thus at this moment in Zimbabwe where it becomes more and more risky to become a journalist. The Mirror case is just any example, but journalists and newspapers across the whole country are already under the hammer for trying to be objective. On November 15, 2011, The Standard Newspaper, Zimbabwe’s largest independent Sunday paper’s editor, Nevanji Madanhire, and his reporter Nqaba Matshazi were arrested in Harare and taken to court, where they were charged for criminal defamation. They are still awaiting judgment. Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe national chairman Njabulo Ncube and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary general Foster Dongozi are always on record castigating overzealous politicians who are trying to criminalise objective reporting, but the situation on ground reflects that the media lobby groups have a lot of work ahead of them if they want the press to operate freely. With only one state-run television station, four radio stations, and less than ten national newspapers, Zimbabwe is the only country in the Southern Africa which is operating under strict media regulations. If the situation remains unabated, the watchdog role of the press will remain greatly undermined in the country.
The author has requested anonymity due to ongoing press restrictions and threats in Zimbabwe.
