via Bulawayo24 NEWS | Prof Jonathan Moyo outraged as Econet raids news agency 27 March 2015
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo says he is outraged by Econet Wireless’s raid on Reuters affiliated news agency, The Source, saying the constitutionality of the provisional order was liable to challenge.
Econet Wireless yesterday raided The Source, in a bid to retrieve documents used to write stories on the operations of its subsidiary, Steward Bank. The move came nearly a month before Zimbabwe joins other nations in celebrating World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3.
“I am outraged by what we hear happened, especially allegations that Econet officials were roaming, abusing the cover of the Deputy Sherriff to run riot at The Source, ransacking computer hardware and software and anything and everything they could get their hands on,” he said.
“That cannot be right. It is one thing to get a court order in your favour against a media house and quite another thing to become a law unto yourself in the enforcement of that order.”
He added: “Now we know that some third parties which have been making a lot of noise about media freedom are themselves enemies of that freedom.”
Justice Musakwa ordered The Source, an affiliate of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, to “delete and expunge” two articles the online publication recently published about Econet and its banking unit, Steward Bank.
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary- general Foster Dongozi said the development was clear “trampling” on the rights of journalists.
He said: “This is a very sad day for democracy, freedom of expression, for access to information particularly given the fact that we are only a month and some days before we commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
“What is particularly shocking is that the courts have reserved judgment on the matter, and we are all totally surprised by the developments in which the organisation has harnessed the powers of the law to trample on the rights of journalists and Press freedom.”
Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe chairperson Kumbirai Mafunda said: “We believe journalists are protected from revealing their sources. We do not support such actions of raiding media houses in order to stifle freedom of expression and freedom of the media.”
COMMENTS
How would the criminal Jonathan Moyo know anything about the rule of law. He has run away from it in Kenya and in South Africa and is a party to abusing it in Zimbabwe. What part of a Court Order does he not understand. They were entitled by the law to retrieve all the info they sought.
criminal defamation only exists in Zimbabwe, China and North Korea. In most countries it is a civil offence which is settled in civil courts. Only the powerfull and connected can enforce criminal defamation. If the rule of law has to apply it needs to apply unconditional. At the moment the high court in Bulawayo has made a judgement on a person who works in the President’s office who removed tens of black families from their homes and affected the livelyhood of more than a thousand people but the police are not enforcing it.
in 2014 the constitutional court ruled that criminal defamation must be struck off the statute books
Goebbels is a man of expendiency with a megaphone mouth. He reminds me of one Mutsvangwa – vacuous articulation dressed in impeccable English to frighten the timid Zimbo with his predilection for things Albion.
For once I agree with the mad professor, Has Econet now become part of CIO and got special powers now they lent the govt thirty million?
Why do they feel the need to go strongarming their way through the journalists offices?
I think I will be chucking my Econet number away, and go to Netone, at least with them you know what you are dealing with