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Town House circus
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2006-26
Monday June 26th 2006 - Sunday July 2nd 2006

THIS week the government media continued to dither from fingering the real cause of the chaos characterising the administration of Harare, particularly the power struggle between Harare Commission chairperson Sekesai Makwavarara and Town Clerk Nomutsa Chideya.

These media carried a total of 22 stories on the issue: government papers (16) and ZBH (six).

None of their stories informed their audiences adequately of the goings-on at Town House or interpreted them in the context of government’s continued interference in council affairs. For example, the reports did not sufficiently examine the basis or mandate under which Makwavarara suspended Chideya. Neither did they question the seemingly irreconcilable conflicting opinion on the matter between Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and the ruling party’s Harare province.

For example, while ZTV (29/6, 8pm) passively quoted Chombo endorsing Chideya’s ouster when he announced the setting up of a commission of inquiry into his suspension, it and Radio Zimbabwe (30/6, 7am and 6am) cited ZANU PF’s Harare province publicity secretary William Nhara declaring that the party’s provincial central committee had no confidence in Makwavarara because "she lacked leadership qualities and professionalism".

The Herald (30/1 & 1/7) was equally sloppy. It did not reconcile Chombo’s claims that service delivery had improved under Makwavarara’s tenure with Nhara’s contention that "the general ratepayer in Harare and …Zanu PF" only saw the "deterioration in service delivery".

There was also no detail on the provisions of Section 139 (4) of the Urban Councils Act, which Chombo used to justify Chideya’s suspension and the setting up of a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations levelled against him. Neither did the official media ask him why government continued dodging the issue of elections so that Harare residents could elect city administrators of their choice.

Instead, The Herald (1/7) evidently endorsed government’s determination to evade the will of the capital’s residents by urging him to appoint another commission of "highly efficient…business professionals" to replace "holdovers from a failed council, including… Makwavarara" because allowing them to stay on "simply ensured that the commission would have the faults of the old council without even the virtue of being accountable to residents".

The government media’s uncritical handling of the topic was mirrored by their failure to source alternative comments as captured in Fig 1 and 2.

Fig. 1 Voice distribution in the government Press

Fig. 2 Voice Distribution on ZBH

In contrast, most of the private papers’ 13 stories on the subject openly queried Makwavarara’s management style, including her controversial suspension of Chideya.

The Zimbabwe Independent (30/6), for example, noted that the endorsement of Chideya’s suspension by Chombo "raises fears that Makwavarara’s obdurate behaviour at Town House could have been sanctioned by the government". It wondered "why government would offer Chideya a job at Udcorp when he is facing suspension for mismanagement".

Its Editor’s Memo argued that while government supported Chideya’s suspension, it preferred to keep the "super inefficient Makwavarara" because she was a "convenient mess" that ensured "the opposition MDC is kept out of Town House".

Although the Mirror papers fairly reported the bickering, which they said had spilt into ZANU PF Harare structures, they supported government’s continued meddling in the council’s affairs by defending Chombo’s re-appointment of the Makwavarara-led commission (27/6), which it claimed had "improved" service delivery in the city.

But while the paper was hailing the commission, Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa (28/6) and The Standard (2/7) reported the Combined Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA) calling on Harare residents to boycott payment of rates "until new elections for the city are held".

The sourcing pattern of the private papers is shown in Fig 3.

Fig. 3 Voice distribution in the private Press

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