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Response
to Zimbabwe Chronicle article following regional council meeting
in Windhoek, Namibia
Southern
Africa Editors Forum (SAEF)
June 17, 200
On
Thursday June 10, 2004, The Chronicle - a state controlled regional
daily newspaper in Zimbabwe - published an article by Mr.
Steven Ndlovu which purported to report presentations at
an open forum hosted by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa
(IDASA) in collaboration with the Southern Africa Editors Forum
(SAEF) in Windhoek, Namibia on June 5, 2004.
Mr. Ndlovu,
the editor of The Chronicle, was a delegate from Zimbabwe at the
SAEF Regional Council meeting which was held immediately before
the discussion on Freedom of Information and the Right to Know:
The Changing International Paradigm and Regional Implications.
The forum was addressed by three panelists; Richard Calland,
Executive Chair of the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) and head
of the Political Information & Monitoring Service at IDASA,
Mr. Edward Moyo, a media consultant and former Director General
of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, and Gugulethu Moyo,
the Media Law and Policy Programme Manager at the Media Institute
of Southern Africa’s regional office in Windhoek. She spoke about
censorship in Zimbabwe based on her experience as legal adviser
to the Associated Newspaper Group of Zimbabwe.
The article
in The Chronicle contains factual errors about Ms Moyo's presentation
and seriously misrepresented her responses to questions from the
floor as well as the spirit in which this discussion took place.
SAEF wishes
to state that contrary to the assertion by Mr. Ndlovu in his article,
none of the panelists promoted war as a solution for the challenges
facing the people in Zimbabwe.
SAEF has noted
with dismay, that the article written by Mr. Ndlovu and carried
in the Bulawayo Chronicle and editorialized by the Herald Newspaper
and elsewhere in the state media in Zimbabwe, is in fact riddled
with blatant fabrications, distortions and mischief.
While it is
true that both Gugulethu Moyo, and Mr. Edward Moyo spoke about their
experience with the media in Zimbabwe, they did so as part of an
honest discussion and sharing of knowledge about the region.
The discussion
which included reference to the state of press freedom in Zimbabwe,
followed the First Regional Council meeting, in which 23 delegates,
from eight Southern African Countries, after a proper discussion
and debate, noted with serious concern the worsening conditions
for free and independent journalism in Zimbabwe, and later issued
a statement calling on the Zimbabwe government to reinstate the
rule of law and allow for freedom of expression and freedom of the
media.
The Council
then made four resolutions on Zimbabwe, calling upon: -
- The Zimbabwean
government to immediately repeal the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act as it is an instrument of repression
of the media and is being used as such.
- SADC countries
to bring pressure to bear on the Zimbabwean government to reopen
the office of the newspapers that have forced to close, to remove
the threats against other media, to allow journalists to practice
their craft without fear and to allow state owned media to serve
the Zimbabwean people as a whole and not favoured parties.
- Observed
that the Zimbabwe Editors’ Association did not conform with the
values and principles of SAEF in that it did not include editors
from the independent media, and that council would not recognize
the Zimbabwe Editors’ Association because it did not truly represent
the pluralistic nature of the media in Zimbabwe, in that it is
predominantly made up of representatives from the State media.
- Resolved
to continue working with all editors in Zimbabwe to assist them
to create a representative organization that can join SAEF.
The articles
that followed in the Government newspaper, the Chronicle published
in Bulawayo under the headline: "Lawyer in anti-Government
Crusade," with a sub head: "Divisions rock Editors forum"
are a serious distortion of the discussions in Windhoek.
The open presentation
and discussion was not a debate, and at no stage was there any division
among Editors as asserted in the article, which also went out to
malign and deliberately assassinate the individual characters of
our presenters and their institutions.
SAEF does not
intend to address each of the false and malicious fabrications by
the Bulawayo Chronicle, except to state for the record, that the
articles that appeared in both the Chronicle and the Herald, are
a total distortion of the truth, contain substantial and obvious
fabrications and therefore an unprofessional act unworthy of any
journalist and Editor.
SAEF totally
and categorically dissociate itself and its members, and point out
that the first duty of a journalist is to write the truth.
Falsification
of information by distortion and fabrication are unacceptable professional
misconduct, and further confirmation of the abuse of the press in
Zimbabwe.
Clearly the
full venom of the state machinery is being directed at Gugulethu
Moyo who has been vilified and falsely branded a traitor who has
‘called for the Zimbabwe government to be removed by force.‘
This is an alarming
fabrication when Ms Moyo was in fact, in her presentation emphatic
in dismissing any form of violence as a solution to the Zimbabwe
crisis. Her presentation simply presented her views on censorship
in Zimbabwe based on her personal experience.
At no stage
did Ms Moyo suggest there be any military intervention in Zimbabwe,
nor did she at any stage utter the word Saddam or refer to the Iraq
situation.
In fact, in
responding to a question from the floor equating the Zimbabwean
situation with the experience of Zambia under Kaunda, Ms Moyo’s
response was: "There is very little that Zimbabweans can do
in addition to what they are already doing. Because of the high
levels of repression in Zimbabwe and the absence of the enjoyment
of fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression and freedom
of association, the only way in which Zimbabweans could bring about
change would be to turn to violent forms of expression, but that
is not an option. It should not happen .The world should not
allow the situation in Zimbabwean to deteriorate to a state where
there will be bloodshed"
Asked by one
of the participants, what Zimbabwe needs, she responded as follows:
"Zimbabwe
really needs to start afresh. We need free and fair elections in
order to determine who should lead Zimbabwe. We also need to repeal
all repressive legislation from our statute books and redraft a
number of laws starting with The Constitution. Those who wish to
assist Zimbabwe out of its crisis should be calling for the government
to put in place the necessary conditions for holding a free and
fair election, including opening up the media environment, and ensure
that such free and fair elections are held''
Chronicle further
alleges that Ms Moyo and a couple of Zimbabweans at the SAEF meeting
were part of a team of handpicked Zimbabweans to spearhead a campaign
to demonise Zimbabwe from all fronts, and that among them was Mr.
Moyo, now a media consultant in Swaziland. The article suggests
that investigations by the Chronicle show that Mr. Moyo, Ms Moyo
and Mr. Luckson Chipare, director of MISA are "part of a team
co-ordinated by MISA, working flat out to provide information and
cooked-up videos of human rights violations and alleged attacks
of press freedom in Zimbabwe" to influential politicians in
South Africa, London and Washington for condemnation of Zimbabwe
in the run-up to the 2005 elections.
Mr. Ndlovu quotes
Mr. Moyo, as saying his experience at ZBC was disgusting. This is
also another distortion.
The Chronicle
also mischievously reports that Mr. Luckson Chipare suggested that
there was need for countries like South Africa to follow the
Botswana route by allowing pirate radio stations to beam anti-Zimbabwe
propaganda to oust President Robert Mugabe. It says Mr. Chipare
said that MISA has lots of money to fund such radio stations and
their problem is getting countries that are willing to allow such
broadcasts. The Chronicle further reports that Mr. Chipare disclosed
publicly that Botswana was the only SADC country that allowed a
pirate radio station to beam anti-Zimbabwe propaganda "although
officially it (Botswana) denies its existence".
In fact, Mr.
Chipare said the Zimbabwe minister of information had alleged that
the Botswana Government was supporting the pirate broadcasting from
their country by a US radio station hostile to the Zimbabwe government.
He clearly said the Botswana government had denied the allegation
and that there are media statements from both side around this issue.
SAEF wishes
to state for the record that in its opinion, the articles appearing
in the Chronicle and repeated in an editorial comment in the Herald,
are part of a blatant disinformation campaign which runs counter
to any hint at truth or professionalism.
SAEF also states
that the articles by Mr. Steve Ndlovu are an embarrassment to the
profession of journalism, to the vocation of editors as they are
dangerous lies from a poison pen that seeks to distort the truth
and undermine, not only the integrity of the people he mentions,
but also the whole concept of SAEF.
Despite the
challenges, SAEF commits itself to continue its work, in collaboration
with like-minded regional and international institutions and all
editors in Zimbabwe who will assist create a representative organization
that can uphold press freedom, the truth and qualify to join the
family of editors under the Africa Editors Forum to which SAEF is
a member.
For further
inquiries contact:
Jabu Matsebula,
jabu.matsebula@undp.org
SAEF Secretary General
Phone: +268-602-3500
Henry Jeffreys
hjeffreys@beeld.com
Chairman, SAEF
Johannesburg
Phone: +27-82-556-8883
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