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Government abuse of the public media
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2005-14
Monday April 18th - Sunday April 24th 2005

DURING the week Information Minister Jonathan Moyo finally exposed government's abuse of the public media for its own goals. In an interview with the Mail and Guardian (M&G) Online (25/4), Moyo clarified, what had been until now, a mystery surrounding the fate of Zimbabweans' stake in ZIMPAPERS, donated to them in January 1981 by the Nigerian government. The ZIMPAPERS shares were then entrusted to the nominally independent Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) on their behalf. But in an effort to circumvent the newspaper stable's public mandate and justify its pro-government propaganda output, the authorities have repeatedly claimed that ZIMPAPERS was not a public entity but just a private company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, whose majority shareholder is the government.

Moyo however, dismissed such claims in the M&G. He noted that 51% of the shares in ZIMPAPERS belonged to a Trust "that was not the government or Zanu PF, and should not be controlled by either", adding that, "the beneficiary of that trust should be all the people of Zimbabwe, the general public of Zimbabwe. The government has no business directing Zimpapers". Moyo also denounced government control of the media in the Zimbabwe Independent (22/4) which he said was "anathema to democracy". Although Moyo exposed this blatant hijacking of the public media by government, he did not however clarify which Trust he was referring to since he himself had apparently superintended over the dissolution of ZMMT in December 2001 to pave way for the Multimedia Investment Trust (MIT). Moyo was reported in The Herald (2/2/2002) saying the newly established MIT would "act as an investment vehicle for Government, drawing investment dividends from the media and communication industry". Since then the legal status of MIT and what happened to the assets of ZMMT have not been explained. It would therefore be instructive for Moyo or more pertinently, the relevant authorities, to clarify this matter.

Meanwhile, The Standard editor Davison Maruziva and one of the paper's reporters, Savious Kwinika, this week joined the growing list of private media journalists who have been charged for breaching the country's draconian security and media gag laws for publishing a story that the authorities claimed was "false" and contained statements that were "prejudicial to the State". This followed a report published by The Standard two weeks ago alleging that seven ballot boxes and papers had been found at the home of Zaka District Administrator Nyashadzashe Zindove. The report added that Zindove had been arrested over the matter. The paper (17/4) later apologised to its readers and Zindove for incorrectly naming him as the accused instead of Zaka acting District Administrator John Dzinoruma Mubako.

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