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ZCTU dismayed at dismissal of journalists from The Herald
Lovemore Matombo, President, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
February 19, 2004

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) is dismayed by reports of the dismissal of three senior journalist from the State-controlled, The Herald newspaper on accusations of sabotage and unpatriotism.

It is very disturbing to note that the use and abuse of journalists by Zimbabwe Newsapers (1980) Pvt, Ltd has become a working condition at the company. It is absurd to accuse journalists of sabotage and unpatriotism simply because they were merely freelancing for other organizations, especially in sport reporting for that matter.

Journalists are professionals and they need to publicise their work extensively so as to build their skills and capacity to international standard levels. Putting blinkers on them will not be beneficial to the profession.

It seems ZIMPAPERS is abdicating its role of being a public media publisher and embarking on a deliberate programme to fulfil the whims of a government which ignores the information needs of the majority of Zimbabweans.

The ZCTU expects that if these journalists were no longer needed at The Herald, proper procedures of dismissal or retrenchment were supposed to be followed. Giving them a "golden hand shake" to keep them quiet will only set a bad precedence of hiring and firing journalists.

The ZCTU urges the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists to fight to the bitter end to protect the rights of the affected Journalists.

Visit the ZCTU fact sheet

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