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Weekly Media Review 2011-21
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday May 23rd - Sunday May 29th 2011
June 03, 2011

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Security chief, ZANU PF express contempt for democracy

A statement by top military official Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba that "our father" President Mugabe should remain in office for life and that he would not recognize Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai if he won the next election made headlines in the private media at the weekend. His remarks echoed previous utterances by senior Zimbabwe security force officials in the run-up to the 2008 elections and again exposed the partisan nature of the armed forces in favour of the ZANU PF arm of government and their reluctance to respect the will of the Zimbabwean people.

Nyikayaramba's inflammatory comments heightened tensions among the coalition partners in government and compounded the controversy surrounding Mugabe's own comments the previous week dismissing the need for security sector reforms envisaged in the Global Political Agreement. They also coincided with comments by other senior government officials ruling out reforms in other sectors, such as the media.

While the official media widely reported Mugabe's remarks, they censored Nyikayaramba's reckless comments, which appeared in the private weekly, the Zimbabwe Independent (27/5), and subsequently, most other private media.

Nyikayaramba, who expressed his support for ZANU PF, declared that President Mugabe "cannot be removed" from office because he was "irreplaceable like a father in a family" and that general elections, which he claimed ZANU PF would win, "must be held this year to ensure political stability" in Zimbabwe.

"Why do you want to force him (President Mugabe) to go? Where were you when he crossed into Mozambique (to fight in the liberation struggle) and why didn't you go?" asked Nyikayaramba.

State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi appeared to reinforce Mugabe and Nyikayaramba's views when he was quoted describing calls for security sector reforms as "naïve" and being fronted by agents of Western imperialism (The Sunday Mail (29/5), while Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa was reported saying "those with no traceable liberation war credentials will not be allowed to rule the country as this would be tantamount to reversing the gains of independence" (Chronicle, 30/5).

The private media viewed Nyikayaramba's remarks as evidence that Zimbabwe's security forces were heavily involved in the country's politics and vindicated concerns that they were the power behind Mugabe, strengthening the need for security sector reforms to be discussed at the forthcoming SADC summit (Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, Daily News, Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa, 27, 28 & 29/5).

They also quoted Prime Minister Tsvangirai expressing concern over Nyikayaramba's comments at an event announcing the appointment of a 'Panel of Elders' in Harare (Daily News, 28/5).

Apart from this, the private media quoted other ZANU PF officials, such as presidential spokesman George Charamba and Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Herbert Murerwa, making controversial comments, which they argued, undermined efforts to restore democracy in Zimbabwe (NewsDay and The Standard, 26 & 29/5).

Here is what they said:

• "The (Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe) BAZ board is not appointed by ZANU PF, it is legally constituted and appointed by the Ministry of Information and Publicity. While I don't know about the discussion between the President and the PM, I do know that the country is not bound by political discussions but by the law" - Charamba resisting the need to reconstitute BAZ (The Standard, 29/5).
• "The Internet and things like Twitter, Facebook are being used to destroy . . . We from the older generation do not know anything about Facebook or Twitter. It's (social media) being used for regime change and to make our youths revolt against their leaders" - Murerwa
  (NewsDay, 26/5).

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