Back to Index

Mercenaries – State propaganda intensifies
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2004-10
Monday March 8^th – Sunday March 13^th 2004

The arrest of 67 suspected mercenaries, allegedly en route to Equatorial Guinea to oust President Theodore Obiang Nguema, presented government with a golden chance to boast about its diligence and selflessness in safeguarding African sovereignty in the face of perceived external threats.

In addition, the authorities used the incident to buttress its claims that the US and Britain were the authors of the persistent political and economic turmoil on the continent.

The government media willingly allowed themselves to be used as purveyors of this propaganda. While state investigations relied only on the mercenaries’ allegations linking them to alleged American and British covert operations, these media seized this opportunity to reinforce the impression.

They did this by continuously emphasising the fact that the plane carrying the intruders was registered in the US, and that those arrested had implicated the CIA, Britain’s MI6 and the Spanish secret service.

Initially, ZBC did not seek American comment on the allegations (unlike Studio 7’s bulletin that evening, 8/3). But the next day Power FM and Radio Zimbabwe (1pm) did quote Washington authorities denying any association with the suspected mercenaries. More such denials were later carried in The Standard, The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News (14/3). Despite this, ZBC still tried to implicate America by referring to three Americans who were arrested in 1999 after they were found in possession of firearms at Harare International Airport. Said Power FM reporter (9/3, 2pm): "It’s not the first time that Americans have been linked to issues involving military equipment on Zimbabwe soil. A few years ago, some Americans were arrested after attempting to smuggle firearms and explosives into the country."

Remarkable too, was how the government media, particularly ZBC, turned the alleged coup plot in West Africa into a danger for Zimbabwe, thereby reinforcing the ‘under-siege’ mentality against "Western imperialism" that has formed the main plank of government’s response to criticism of the political, economic and social crises afflicting Zimbabwe. Power FM (8/03, 8pm) triggered this when it reported analysts deliberately misinterpreting the issue as another attempt by the US "to throw spanners in the political developments of this country."

ZTV (10/03, 8pm) was next. It quoted retired brigadier Felix Muchemwa: " We are very much aware that we are targets of certain nations. This is a serious case…bit of a warning to say check your back." Muchemwa was not asked to explain how the alleged coup plot against Nguema translated into an attack on the Zimbabwean government. Instead, ZTV (11/3, 6pm) quoted Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi speculating that it was possible for the US and Britain to hire these mercenaries to unseat President Mugabe.

Another twist to the conspiracy theory was yarned by political analyst Augustine Timbe. He was cited on ZTV (12/3, 8pm), Power FM (13/3, 6am) and Radio Zimbabwe (13/03, 8pm): "The United States and Britain schemed the issue of terrorists intercepted in Zimbabwe …with the ultimate aim to prove to the international community that Zimbabwe is a rogue state that supports acts of terror." He added: "this ostracisation effort is to effect a regime change in Zimbabwe which is what George Bush has declared as his agenda."

This line of thought was endorsed by The Daily Mirror’s editorial (12/03), which claimed that the capture of the suspected mercenaries exposed "the insidious… double standards of the West", adding that "our fledging democracy in the developing world faces a real threat from the marauding neo-imperialist forces as they seek to harness our history and destiny… in their image".

Conspicuous however, was the way the government media generally failed to adequately inform their audiences of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the mercenaries, relying solely on official government information.

It was hardly surprising therefore that ZBC (8/3) reported the story almost 24 hours later and only after Mohadi had addressed a press conference. The government newspapers’ subsequent reports were no better.

Only the private media, as illustrated by Studio 7, SW Radio Africa and The Zimbabwe Independent, gave a more coherent background to the arrests of the alleged mercenaries. In fact, the government media’s over-reliance on Mohadi for information resulted in The Herald and the Chronicle (10/3) adding greater mystery to the mercenary puzzle.

For example, they quoted Mohadi saying: "Preliminary investigations indicated that Harare was not the destination of the group as Bujumbura in Burundi and Mbuji Mayi in the DRC had been mentioned as the other destinations." The minister also revealed, vaguely, that 64 of the suspects had been met at the airport by an advance party of three, one of whom had visited Zimbabwe with a colleague in February where they "made inquiries about the purchase of arms and ammunition and indicated they worked with a country in the Great Lakes region to train Katangese rebels".

However, SW Radio (10/3) and Studio 7 (11/3) and The Zimbabwe Independent, suggested that the intruders had fallen into a trap set by the authorities.

SW Radio, for example, quoted Africa Confidential as alleging that ring leaders of the suspected mercenaries had flown into Harare to meet Zimbabwe Defence Industries chief Col. Tshinga Dube and paid him US$180 000 for a consignment of AK47s, mortars and 30 000 rounds of ammunition "but when the main team of mercenaries flew into Harare they were all arrested and the plane seized". This was followed up by Studio 7, which quoted a defence and security expert saying: "The crew may have been victims of a deal gone bad with Zimbabwe Defence Industries leading to the trap and subsequent arrest".

The Zimbabwe Independent (12/3) quoted an unnamed government official saying, "We trapped them because we knew their plans well beforehand". South Africa’s role in monitoring the progress of the mercenaries and notifying their neighbours of their imminent arrival was never made clear in the government media.

If the government media suffocated the real circumstances surrounding the capture of the mercenaries, it used their arrest as a demonstration of how "alert", "prepared" and "wide awake" Zimbabwe’s security organs were "in protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" (ZTV, 11/03, 8pm, and The Sunday Mail, 14/3).

The incident was also used to restore the government’s international image. Radio Zimbabwe and ZTV (11/3, 8pm) depicted the arrests as a demonstration of how "Zimbabwe is an active global player in fighting terrorism". The Herald (13/3) also provided Mugabe with the platform to pontificate humbly about his government’s modest role in fighting terrorism in the world after a team from Equatorial Guinea was reported to have met him "to convey their country’s gratitude over the arrest of the suspected mercenaries".

The Sunday Mail exposed the real sentiments motivating its story on the vigilance of Zimbabwe’s security forces when it described the arrests as being "…in line with the country’s respect for democratically elected governments…" It did not explain that Ngeuma had overthrown his uncle in a coup in 1979.

It was not surprising that The Standard observed in its comment that the issue had presented government with "a God-sent opportunity to garner some positive limelight which has been very much in short supply in recent years".

Meanwhile, statements by Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge that the mercenaries could face the death penalty if convicted, exposed the government and its media’s shocking ignorance of the country’s laws on the matter (ZTV 10/3, 8pm, Radio Zimbabwe, 11/3, 6am, The Herald and Chronicle, 11/3). These media were guilty of failing to check whether there are any statutes that dealt with mercenary issues.

These media simply echoed the official stance that the "alleged mercenaries might face the death penalty if it is proven that they are intending to overthrow the leadership of Equatorial Guinea…"

The apparent absence of a law dealing with mercenaries began to emerge by revelations that the authorities could only charge the alleged mercenaries for violating Immigration, Civil Aviation and Firearms legislation (ZTV, 12/3, 8pm, Radio Zimbabwe, 11/3, 1pm, Studio 7, 11/3, and The Herald, 12&13/3).

The Standard was the first to quote an authoritative source stating that the country had no specific statutes to deal with the suspects’ alleged motives. It reported Acting Attorney-General Bharat Patel under a misleading headline, Mercenaries: State exposed, as having said it was "impossible to charge the coup plotters for mercenary related activities" because "we don’t have legislation on mercenaries".

However, this revelation sparked a vitriolic response from one of government’s regular lawyers, Johannes Tomana, who was quoted in The Herald (15/3) attacking The Standard for sympathizing with the suspects saying its stance "demonstrates clearly that the paper was part of the imperialist agenda". He claimed the country had "an array of laws" to charge the intruders.

Visit the MMPZ fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP