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Minister
Ndlovu's threats against Financial Gazette a reflection of government's
fears
Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights
February 22, 2008
The Zimbabwe
Journalists for Human Rights is outraged by the threats issued by
the Information and Publicity Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu against
the Financial Gazette over a story that appeared in the financial
weekly on Thursday 21 February 2008.
The Minister's
threats arose after the Financial Gazette reported that several
high-profile Zanu PF officials had been coerced
to sign President Mugabe's nomination papers for the Presidency
in the March 29 harmonised elections. We are curious to know why
Ndlovu is so angry with the Financial Gazette on that story. Is
there something else the story insinuates that the public does not
know?
According to the main
8pm-news bulletin of the only state broadcaster the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH), Minister Ndlovu revealed that the government will
resort to other means to ensure the Financial Gazette retracts its
lead story on Mugabe. It is this level of intolerance by the regime
that this nation is so polarized since 2000. That explains why the
government has said it will not allow any journalists and observers
from 'unfriendly nations', who ask and document 'unfriendly'
truths about the situation in our country.
The ZJHR has previously
viewed Minister Ndlovu as a reasonable and responsible man who understood
the media but now realizes that the man is just as hateful of the
truth as his master Robert Mugabe. It is the same hate language
of intimidation and threats that ex-Minister Jonathan Moyo used
against the banned Daily News and its staff that must be a stuck
reminder to all who care to listen that this is a harbinger of worse
things to come ahead of this crucial 29 March vote.
As the nation braces
for the March 29 harmonized elections, the media, particularly the
private media should be mindful of the threats posed to their lives
by the desperate regime that thrives on intimidation and harassment
of the messengers of truth. The ZJHR continues to document all violations
against the people in terms of their rights to information.
The ZJHR is neither deterred
nor intimidated by Minister Ndlovu's threats. We reject any
further erosion of our freedoms as Zimbabwean journalists by curtailing
our rights to tell the story as it is. Minister Ndlovu should demonstrate
the same zeal when dealing with journalists in the employ of the
government-controlled newspapers who daily pour scorn on the opposition
leadership and other private citizens who oppose the regime's
economic policies and political repression.
It is more important
at this stage ahead of the election for the private media to become
united and confront the tyranny with one voice which knows neither
fear nor favor.
The ZJHR urges the State
to shun language that fuel hatred against the private media in the
run-up to the harmonized elections. We also ask Minister Ndlovu
and his colleagues in government to desist from issuing reckless
statements that further undermine the media's role in a democracy.
For details
and comments please contact the ZJHR on +263 912 869 294, our legal
department on +263 912 218 754 or email us on thezjhr@yahoo.co.uk
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