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2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Zimbabwe
state broadcaster suspends 7 senior journalists
ZimOnline
June 05, 2008
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=3265
The state-owned
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) has suspended seven senior
journalists and news executives allegedly as punishment for failing
to run a favourable campaign for President Robert Mugabe's government,
which lost elections to the opposition in March.
The seven, who
were suspended on Tuesday pending dismissal, are television services
general manager Robson Mhandu, news editor Patrice Makova and producers
Monica Gavhera, Sibonginkosi Mlilo and Lawrence Maposa.
Two reporters,
Brian Paradza and Robert Tapfumaneyi, were also shown the door.
No reasons were
given for the suspension except that the seven failed to act in
a manner that is in accordance with their contracts.
The suspensions
- that come as Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party is understood to have
demanded total monopoly of state radio and television ahead of a
second round presidential election later this month - follows the
dismissal only weeks
ago of former ZBC chief executive Henry Muradzikwa.
Muradzikwa,
who sources said was fired for allegedly letting down Zanu-PF in
the run up to the March 29 elections, was replaced by Happyson Muchechetere,
a war veteran and staunch supporter of Mugabe.
None of the
suspended journalists was available to speak publicly on the matter
while Muchechetere could not be reached for comment.
But Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists president Mathew Takaona criticised the suspensions,
which he called irrational and seemed motivated by political considerations.
Takaona said:
"The dismissal is an unfair labour practice and we suspect
that it is politically motivated.
"It is
unfortunate that this is being implemented on professionals.
The new management
has over reacted.
It is irrational,
illogical and the move will further cripple an already grounded
station.
We demand an
immediate reinstatement without loss of benefits."
The ZBC runs
Zimbabwe's only television and radio stations.
The ZBC was
initially conceived as a public broadcaster but is tightly controlled
by Mugabe's government, which has the final say on senior editorial
and managerial appointments.
The government
often uses the ZBC as a propaganda mouthpiece while the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the state broadcaster
has imposed a blackout on its leader Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of
the run-off presidential election - a charge the broadcaster denies.
Zimbabwe holds
a second presidential election on June 27 after electoral authorities
said Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in March but failed to garner more
than 50 percent of the vote required to take over the presidency.
There are three
other radio stations run by exiled Zimbabwean journalists and broadcasting
into Zimbabwe from outside the country.
But these do
not have the same wide reach as the ZBC while Mugabe's government
has frequently jammed the foreign-based stations.
In addition
to controlling the airwaves, Mugabe's government also runs the country's
largest newspaper empire after closing down four independent papers,
including the Daily News that was Zimbabwe's largest circulating
paper when it was shut down in 2003.
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