Back to Index

Mahoso a desperate man
Rashweat Mukundu
November 09, 2006

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=1887

THE chairperson of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), Dr Tafataona Mahoso is a desperate man.

One would sympathise with the Law Society of Zimbabwe statement, a few weeks ago, that responding to the many allegations that Mahoso makes about everyone except himself is such an agonising decision because it is an exercise in futility.

In making responses to Mahoso, the hope is that citizens would benefit from a clear understanding of issues and disabuse them of the hysterical writings of the MIC chairman.

Writing in The Sunday Mail this week, Mahoso attacked ZUJ, MISA, LSZ, MAZ, MMPZ, IJAZ, the list is endless, accusing these organisations of not only being confused about AIPPA, but also of having other motives beyond their stated mandates.

For the record, at no point did MISA or any progressive organisation or persons, to my knowledge, commend AIPPA and at no point has Mahoso been asked to do anything for the media, because he is simply incapable of doing anything positive.

The question would be which media would Mahoso assist when the same commission he presides over has shut four newspapers, and caused the harassment, arrests and personal suffering of hundreds of media workers.

MISA and many other organisations and people in Zimbabwe have indeed consistently reminded Mahoso that he has done nothing good for the media and that AIPPA is incapable of doing anything positive till the end of time.

This failure is aptly demonstrated by his use of the so-called Media Fund to shut newspapers that are ironically supposed to contribute to the fund.

By his own admission, he has used all the resources in the Media Fund, set up under AIPPA, to fight legal battles with the very constituency he is supposed to help develop.

Whose interests is Mahoso and the MIC representing? As the LSZ asked, who appointed Mahoso and who is he accountable to?

Certainly not the media.

The MIC has proven over the years that it is one apparatus of state repression and Mahoso gets his instructions, as was shown in the accreditation court case of Kelvin Jakachira, from the intelligence entity which houses his postal address.

Mahoso justifies AIPPA by arguing that the fact that the LSZ used it to demand a right to respond to his attacks in The Sunday Mail means that the law is okay. Mahoso deliberately tries to mislead readers that media houses need a law compelling them to afford one a right to reply. Any knowledgeable media person would know that the right to reply is part of the modus operandi of any serious and well-meaning media organisation.

This of course does not include The Sunday Mail and other state owned newspapers, which have operated for years now without observance of ethics and general media practice.

There is no need for a law like AIPPA to compel media houses to afford citizens the right to reply, this should be standard practice. Indeed there is no need for a law like AIPPA to register media houses and journalists as Mahoso is currently doing.

Mahoso gloats in his article that the MIC has done well in defending AIPPA, he does not say at what cost to the development of the media in Zimbabwe and at what cost to the rights of citizens to receive and impart information. And for whose benefit.

Mahoso was deployed to defend AIPPA and he now believes his own lies about the role of the media and its relationship with the state. For a man of his age, wisdom seems to have evaded him.

Thus he argues that the relationship between the media and the state should be one of reverence as he does to his own masters. He deliberately forgets that no one forced the current leadership to run for office. And when in office, whether by hook or crook, they should be open to scrutiny and not seek to hide under repressive laws and sycophantic academics.

The argument that the media in any democracy should not be put under state control will remain as valid for as long as the world exist. The reason why the legal, medical and engineering practices are partially controlled by the state is because they deal with serious socio-economic issues that, in fact, pose a danger to society, should, as an example someone masquerade as a legal practitioner, a doctor or an engineer.

On the other hand the media and journalism are a profession primarily about one’s right to freely express themselves. The right to receive and impart information, be it by journalists, columnists, opinions writers, fiction authors, writers of letters to the editor, cannot be made a privilege of only a few as is now the case under AIPPA.

Everyone in society has a right to speak through any medium of his or her choice. By registering media houses and journalists, Mahoso and company are making that right a privilege for a few, who happen to carry licences and certificates of registration.

This right to impart and receive information was taken way from four newspapers in the past three years. The choice of what to publish and who to employ in any media organisation should be left to the individual who so desires. Indeed private media organisations are set for profit among other reasons, but they should get the same rights to receive and impart information even for profit because there is nothing immoral or illegal/wrong with that.

Private media organisations, before AIPPA and Mahoso, were legitimate organisations that operated legally, paid taxes, employed thousands and were making a contribution towards the good of society. Simply because the same publications challenge state excesses, expose human rights violations and many vices of this government, they are then seen as enemies of the ruling elite. Mahoso confuses his and his masters’ interests on one hand, with those of the generality of citizens. On the contrary newspapers such as The Daily News were popular and indeed made it because they were loved by the people.

The people of Zimbabwe and not Britain the EU or US made The Daily News what it had become, because it resonated with their miserable conditions of existence. Mahoso’s cries to be invited to the Quill Club are like cries of an executioner to be invited to the funeral of his/her victim.

It is for this reason that AIPPA and its chief protector Mahoso are unnecessary in Zimbabwe and detrimental to the development of the media and enjoyment of citizens’ right to freedom of expression.

Their existence is a political project that has become a horrifying nightmare we are all hoping to wake up from sooner rather than later. As sure as the sun rises every day, we are in no doubt that such a day will come.

*Rashweat Mukundu is the National Director for MISA Zimbabwe

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