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State of the Media Report 2005
MISA-Zimbabwe
Janaury 13, 2006

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Introduction - 2005 socio-political environment
As the year 2005 drew to a close, the government of Zimbabwe, despite its pariah status arising from its dented human rights record, demonstrated its increasing paranoia, intolerance, unmitigated disdain and hatred for opposing views by seizing the passport of Zimbabwean publisher Trevor Ncube, arresting Voice of the People Communications Trust (VOP) staff and seizing equipment from the same organisation.

Immigration officials in Bulawayo seized Ncube’s passport on 8 December 2005 upon his arrival from South Africa where he is also the publisher of the weekly Mail and Guardian.

No reasons were advanced for the unlawful action other than that Ncube who is the chairman of Zimind, publishers of the Zimbabwe Independent and Zimbabwe Standard weeklies, was on a list of Zimbabwean citizens whose passports were to be withdrawn.

Under the draconian Constitutional Amendment (No 17) Act, the government is empowered to seize the passports of citizens who undermine "national interests" during their travels abroad.

Ncube’s passport was later released after the Attorney General’s Office conceded that the seizure was unlawful following an urgent application filed with the High Court in which the publisher argued that the action infringed on his basic freedoms and rights.

Far from being embarrassed by the Ncube-fiasco, which drew international criticism and condemnation, barely a week later, the government descended on the offices of the VOP Radio station.

The police raided the VOP offices in Harare on 15 December during which they arrested three VOP workers Nyasha Bosha, Maria Nyanyiwa and Kundai Mugwanda and confiscated equipment, computers and administration files.

The three journalists were detained for four nights at Harare Central Police station before being released without being charged. During the raid which subsequently led to the arrest of VOP director, John Masuku, the police cordoned off the office premises, swept and combed the building with metal detectors, purportedly searching for broadcasting transmitters.

The VOP offices were bombed on 29 August 2002 during which property worth millions was destroyed. These measures are the very antithesis of a government that is aiming at consolidating democracy and build a capable state, which will foster increased access to information and socio-economic and political opportunities.

Of significance is the fact that these brazen actions against basic human freedoms and rights came to the fore in a year during which Zimbabwe held its parliamentary elections.

An election year generates a lot of excitement and expectations on the socio-economic and political front for any country as it provides opportunities for reinvigoration and renewal of leadership and macro-economic policies that will chart and define a given nation’s future.

Zimbabwe, which is experiencing severe economic and political problems since 1998, characterised by hyper-inflation and dwindling disposable incomes, held its sixth parliamentary elections in March 2005.

The March 2005 elections, however, failed to bring about the desired renewal and expectations as the post-election period witnessed the ruling Zanu PF failing to generate meaningful policies and ideas to arrest the country’s economic decline.

As of December 2005, an average Zimbabwean family now needs $13 (US $ 163) million dollars per month for basics, up from about $1,5 million the previous year with civil servants (teachers and nurses) taking home as little as $3 million (US $38) a month.

The foreign currency shortages persist with motorists and industry going for months on end without receiving a single drop of fuel, necessary for industry and commerce. Unemployment remained firmly entrenched at more than 80 percent.

The leadership appeared lost for ideas on resuscitating the country’s ailing agro-based economy amid reports of fresh farm invasions reminiscent of the violent occupations of commercial properties, which began in 2000. Inflation, which had dropped from 600 percent to below 200 in 2004, was now at 502 percent in December 2005 and was set to increase in 2006.

The launching of the controversial Operation Murambatsvina or Operation Restore Order in May 2005, dented any hopes of a government that is determined to correct its human rights record. Tens of thousands were made homeless after the government destroyed their makeshift shelters and businesses effectively killing the country’s burgeoning informal sector. The operation resulted in the production of a damning report by the United Nations.

The UN Special Envoy Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, in her scathing report, said the operation was carried out in an "indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering, and in repeated cases, with disregard to several provisions of national and international legal frameworks".

Undaunted by the UN report slamming the country’s human rights deficit and far from entrenching democratic practices, the Zanu-PF dominated parliament went ahead and passed the controversial Constitutional Amendment No 17 Bill.

Passed on 30 August 2005, the Bill reintroduced the Senate and seeks to restrict the travel of individuals deemed to be acting against the economic interests of the country or campaigning for sanctions abroad.

Among other contentious clauses, the Constitutional Amendment Act, strips the right to the courts by aggrieved parties in cases where their land has been acquired by the State. The only appeal allowed is for compensation for the improvements on land. This violates Zimbabwe’s international obligations, particularly Article 7 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which states: "Every individual shall have the right to have his case heard".

This right includes "the right to appeal to competent authority organs against acts violating his fundamental rights as recommended and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs in force".

While the government blames its economic misfortunes on recurrent droughts and international sanctions, it is these wanton violations of basic freedoms and rights, which have earned the country its pariah status. The World Economic Forum in its published assessment of the state of Zimbabwe’s competitiveness, ranked the country as the least competitive of the 117 economies studied.

As has become common, the police descended on demonstrators agitating for a new constitution and arrested the leaders of the National Constitutional Assembly.

Protests against the high cost of living were extinguished in similar fashion resulting in the arrest of leaders of the umbrella Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

The Senate project is largely viewed as a ploy to appease disgruntled members of the ruling Zanu PF party. Political analysts say the Senate project smacks of increasing paranoia and obsession with retention of power meant to curb divisions and dissent within the ruling Zanu PF’s rank and file and avert a dogfight for the highest office ahead of President Mugabe’s planned exit in 2008.

Little wonder, Zimbabweans expressed their misgivings with this state of affairs by largely ignoring calls for them to turn out in their droves for the senatorial elections held on 26 November 2005.

State media and independent observers reported widespread low voter turnout countrywide. Opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had called for a boycott of the elections saying it would serve only to increase Mugabe’s power to doll out jobs and perks in the ailing economy. The new house has no veto powers over legislation passed by the ruling party-dominated Lower House.

The lowest voter turnout, since independence in 1980 was recorded during the senatorial elections with a percentage poll of less than 30 percent, clearly implying a snub by Zimbabweans against the status quo. This protest was largely attributed to the questionable relevance of the Senate, dwindling interest in the integrity of the ballot and the current economic hardships, among others.

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