|
Back to Index
Weekly Media Review 2011-24
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday June 13th - Sunday June 19th 2011
June 24, 2011
Download
this document
- Acrobat
PDF version (252KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader
on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking
here
State
media blame Biti for civil servants' plight
The continued
failure by Zimbabwe's cash-strapped coalition to fulfil President
Mugabe's directive to raise the salaries of the country's
underpaid public service workers by June this year took centre stage
in the official media as the month drew to a close.
These media
and the ZANU PF arm of government merely turned this national fiasco
into a personal propaganda crusade against MDC-T Finance Minister
Tendai Biti, whom they have long accused of sabotaging the interests
of the inclusive
government.
The campaign
gathered momentum this week when the government media widely reported
some civil servants' unions "blasting" Biti for
"disregarding directives from Mugabe" to increase civil
servants' salaries and threatening to embark on a strike (The
Herald and Chronicle 20/6).
The state media
also carried opinion pieces, including editorial intrusions in their
news stories, accusing Biti of defying advice from Mugabe, Cabinet
and the Public Service Commission (PSC) to do so. They portrayed
this as a strategy by the finance minister to incite civil servants
to rebel against government and achieve "illegal" regime
change.
This was reflected
in the 36 stories the government media carried over a 10-day period
beginning June 9th to June 19th.
The stories,
in violation of professional journalistic practice, never even attempted
to give a balanced perspective of the problem. Neither did they
provide any insight into the economic performance of the country
and whether it could afford the pay rises despite Mugabe's
instruction.
Further, Biti
was not adequately given the chance to explain the state of the
country's finances. The only report that quoted him referring
to the matter was exclusively in the context of statements he made
at an MDC-T rally in Gweru where The Herald (20/6) reported him
as having said civil servants' salaries would only be reviewed
after completion of an audit of government workers.
Even then, it
was within the framework of discrediting his explanations, accusing
him of dithering and prevaricating.
The Herald (20/6),
for example, quoted Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chairman
Godwills Masimirembwa disputing Biti's revelations that he
could not increase civil servants salaries because his ministry
"had not received anything from diamond proceeds since January
this year". Masimirembwa alleged the diamond sector was "contributing
a fair share to Treasury", while "Treasury officials"
reportedly advised the PSC that it was "feasible to increase
civil servants' salaries".
In other stories,
the government media quoted Mugabe and his party castigating Biti
for refusing to campaign for the lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe
and reviewing traditional leaders' allowances; procuring vehicles
for MPs without following procedure; behaving like a "super
minister"; "frustrating people-centred programmes"
and "trying to usurp" presidential powers and the role
of Parliament (The Herald, 3, 4, 7, 16 & 20/6 and ZBC 13, 14,
15 & 16/6, 6 & 8pm).
The private
media generally viewed growing criticism of Biti by ZANU PF and
the state media as politically motivated in 12 of their 28 stories.
However, The Financial Gazette (16/6) quoted political commentators
accusing both ZANU PF and MDC-T of "playing political games
at the expense of the suffering public workers" and speculating
that this "political posturing" could be an attempt
to "downgrade each other" ahead of general elections.
Download
full document
Visit the MMPZ
fact
sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
