| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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The Media Monitoring Project
Monday August 1st – August 7th 2005
CONTENTS
1.
GENERAL COMMENT
2.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
3.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND MURAMBATSVINA
THE
media’s professional ineptitude in tackling important issues that have a serious
bearing on the constitutional rights of Zimbabweans manifested itself this week
in their failure to thoroughly explore and bring to light the full implications
of government’s proposed amendments to the constitution.
Except
for the Zimbabwe Independent (5/8), none of the media fully informed
their audiences of the details contained in the Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment (No.17) Bill or carried an adequate analysis of the proposed changes.
Studio 7
(4/8), The Herald (5/8) and The Standard (7/8) merely restricted
their coverage to a public hearing conducted by the parliamentary portfolio
committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to discuss the Bill.
These
media simply quoted members of civic society raising reservations on Clause 16B,
which erodes property rights and the citizenry’s right to seek recourse from the
courts, and the proposed appointment system for members of the Senate.
A
starkly more comprehensive assessment of the grave pitfalls of Clause 16B was
only made by Alex Magaisa in the Independent. For example, Magaisa summed
up the disastrous effects the proposed amendments would have on the country
thus: “The confidence of investors will decline further while the credit
rating of the country and businesses will be drastically reduced.”
Consequently, he warned Parliament to “think long and hard before passing
this dangerous amendment into law for it is a mortal danger to the
economy”.
In spite
of this however, none of the media ventured into discussing other proposed
undemocratic amendments that seek to further curtail Zimbabweans’ rights to
freedom of movement, their rights to directly participate in the governance of
the country, or to choose representatives of their choice by proposals that will
introduce stringent qualifications for aspiring legislators.
The
media’s failure to expose these latest attempts to systematically annihilate yet
another swathe of fundamental constitutional rights disguised as a Bill to
introduce a Senate is a travesty of journalism that exposes how effectively
repressive media laws have emasculated the journalistic profession in
Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile,
the week witnessed the continued harassment of dissenting voices by the police
and alleged ZANU PF supporters. Studio 7 (4/8) reported that National
Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku was arrested outside
Parliament together with two other individuals, who included a member of the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, on allegations that they planned to stage a
demonstration against the proposed constitutional
amendments.
The
station (2/8) also reported that about 100 families in Manicaland were allegedly
being denied food by the Grain Marketing Board because they supported the
opposition.
In
another incident, the station reported (3/8) that ZANU PF supporters in Bubi
district had allegedly attacked MDC MP Edward Mukhosi and other party officials,
including the opposition’s local candidate for the upcoming council
by-elections. However, the station compromised its reports by failing to balance
the victims’ accounts with official comments, or those accused of perpetrating
such abuses. Neither did it provide evidence that it had sought their side of
the story.
The
government media ignored these issues.
2.
Economic issues
THE
debate over Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis dominated media coverage in the
week. The print media carried 77 reports on the matter, 39 of which appeared in
the government newspapers and 38 in the private Press. ZBH carried 37 reports,
while Studio 7 had 14 stories.
However,
the government media’s coverage of the economic meltdown evaded examining its
root causes, or the measures the authorities were taking to arrest the decline.
Consequently, these media neither explained the exact reasons behind
government’s efforts to seek economic rescue packages from China and South
Africa, nor discussed the circumstances surrounding the aid agreements.
Rather,
all the five stories that the government Press carried on the China/Zimbabwe
agreements emphasised the purported benefits of the alleged deals. For instance,
The Herald (4/8) reported that Zimbabwe and China had “struck a
telepathic understanding” in various spheres of development that include
political and economic co-operation, which would place Zimbabwe at an advantage
when it comes to negotiating economic deals. Without providing informative
detail on the deals, the paper’s opinion piece (6/8), Attacks
on Chinese products unjustified, tried to endorse Zimbabwe’s trade with
China by simplistically portraying the Chinese as better trading partners than
Zimbabwe’s former Western associates.
It
crassly claimed that the quality of Chinese industrial products were actually
better than Western products as exemplified by the “guns of Chinese
origin” that “triumphed over the Western-made FN rifles of the RF
(Rhodesian Front)” during the liberation struggle. It added that
“Westerners” were
“peddling falsehoods” about Chinese products “in the hope of
cultivating consumer resistance to Chinese goods” and “deal
a fatal blow to the Look East policy.”
ZBH
adopted a similar slant. For
instance, Power FM (1/8, 6am) & ZTV (2/8, 6&8pm) simplistically claimed
that President Mugabe’s recent visit to China would improve Zimbabwe’s economic
fortunes by providing the business sector with vast investment opportunities.
These
superficial reports captured the tone of the14 stories ZBH carried on the
Zimbabwe/China relations.
The
government media’s oversimplification of Zimbabwe’s economic problems was also
evident in the way they suffocated government’s attempts to obtain a US$1
billion loan from SA to pay for essential imports and offset its debt with the
IMF.
None of
the eight reports the government media (the government Press [6] and ZBH [2])
carried on the loan adequately outlined the reasons why government wanted the
credit, or provided details regarding the terms of its disbursement. So
reluctant were these media to discuss the matter that their coverage of the
issue only emerged in the context of defending the borrowing.
For
example, South African President Thabo Mbeki provided the government media
(The Herald, Chronicle, 2/8, and Power FM, 2/8, 1pm) with a
perfect opportunity to defend the loan following Mbeki’s claims that Zimbabwe’s
crippling foreign debt was “a natural consequence of (Zimbabwe’s)
liberation and independence, which imposed on the new government a
duty to deal with the urgent needs of the formerly
oppressed” and not a
result of “corruption”.
Mbeki’s
claims were allowed to pass without any scrutiny.
The
government media’s unwillingness to go beyond official pronouncements to unravel
the details of the SA/Zimbabwe negotiations to bail-out Harare was illustrated
by The Sunday Mail’s failure to take
the Governor of the Reserve Bank to task on the matter. Instead, the paper
passively quoted Gideon Gono refusing to shed light on the issue on the basis
that “borrowings between nations” were “never done through
megaphone negotiations”.
The
government media’s unprofessional handling of the matter and other related
reports on indicators of economic collapse was reflected in their sourcing
pattern as shown in Figs 1 and 2.
|
Govt |
Business |
Professional |
Alternative |
Ordinary
people |
Zanu
PF |
MDC |
Police |
Foreign |
|
22 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Fig 2
Voice distribution in the government Press
|
Govt |
Business |
Alternative |
Professional |
Foreign |
Ordinary
people |
Unnamed |
|
22 |
6 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
The
government Press also carried nine editorials either echoing or magnifying
government policies.
The
private media were more analytical in their coverage of Zimbabwe’s economic
woes. For example, the nine stories they carried on Zimbabwe’s trade relations
with China critically examined the alleged successes of Zimbabwe’s economic
embrace with China.
The
Financial Gazette (4/8)
and Zimbabwe Independent (5/8) argued that apart from Chinese political
support, Zimbabwe had failed to secure the desperately needed rescue
package.
The
Independent noted that although Mugabe had returned from China clutching
more bilateral and preferential trade agreements, including “a paltry US$6
million for grain imports” enough to feed the starving multitudes for
three months, “it leaves Mugabe with nothing for fuel and power
imports.”
The
Financial Gazette concurred,
adding that the much-publicised visit was “a significant failure”
since the figure was “a far cry from the US$420 million the country needs
to bridge a massive grain deficit”.
The
Independent also contended that while President Mugabe claimed China was
Zimbabwe’s “great friend”, the Asian country had “stronger
economic and cultural ties with the West” which it was consolidating.
And while Mugabe boasted about the success of his ‘Look East policy’, said the
paper, latest figures showed that Zimbabwe’s total trade with the Chinese was
only US$264 million annually, an amount which can “barely buy five months’
supply of fuel.”
The
private media also updated their audiences on the negotiations surrounding the
SA/Zimbabwe loan in the 17 stories they carried on the issue. They revealed that
SA had attached strict conditions to the loan Zimbabwe was seeking. Studio 7
(3/8) and the Independent, for example, quoted SA government spokesman
Joel Netshitenzhe saying the loan should benefit Zimbabweans “within the
context of an economic recovery programme and political
normalisation”.
The same
sentiments were echoed in another story published in the SA-based Business
Day and reproduced by the Independent and The Daily Mirror
(5/8). The story claimed that part of the deal was aimed at averting Zimbabwe’s
expulsion from the IMF, a move confirmed by Netshitenzhe. He was quoted as
saying the IMF had already given Zimbabwe four weeks’ grace period, following
talks between SA and the international lender.
As the
week closed, Studio 7 (7/8) quoted the South African Sunday Times
claiming that Pretoria had given Mugabe a “week to agree to democratic
reforms in return for a financial aid package of up to US$500
million”.
The
openness in which the private media debated Zimbabwe’s economic ills was
reflected in the private Press’ sourcing pattern as shown in Fig
3.
|
Govt |
Business |
Alternative |
Professional |
Ordinary
People |
Zanu
PF |
MDC |
Foreign
|
Unnamed |
|
16 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
21 |
3 |
The
private papers carried six critical editorials of government’s economic
management. In addition, they carried 22 other stories that highlighted the
increasingly poor performance of the economy.
Although
Studio 7 was also revealing in its coverage of the country’s economic meltdown,
which included four reports on indicators of economic decline, it failed to
balance alternative voices with official comment. See Fig
4.
|
Govt |
Professional |
Alternative |
Ordinary
people |
Zanu
PF |
MDC |
Foreign |
|
0 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
THE
extent of Zimbabwe’s political crisis, which seemingly regained momentum by
Murambatsvina, also remained largely untold in the government media.
As a
result, those who rely on these news sources remained ignorant of renewed
efforts by South Africa, the African Union and the UN to revive talks between
ZANU PF and the MDC as a first step to resolving Zimbabwe’s political and
economic crises. This only appeared in the private media.
The
government papers only carried two stories on the talks while ZBH carried three.
Even then, the reports were not aimed at apprising their audiences of growing
international concern over Zimbabwe’s crises, but were based on pre-empting such
plans.
For
example, The Herald, the Chronicle (1/8), and ZBH (1/8, 6am)
merely focussed on President Mugabe’s rejection of talks without balancing it
with the international community’s calls for dialogue between the rival parties,
a recommendation that was also made by UN special envoy Anna Tibaijuka in her
Murambatsvina report.
The
government media quoted Mugabe saying he had only invited UN Secretary General
Koffi Annan “ to assess the aftermath of the clean-up and not to
superintend our political relations with the MDC”, adding, “Anyone
who seeks to foster relations with the MDC will be going against our own
democratic principles and we shall resist that stance from whomsoever.”
The
private media revealed that despite Mugabe’s angry rejection of talks, the
international community was unrelenting in its resolve to find a solution to the
Zimbabwean crisis. Studio 7 (3/8) for example, reported that the AU had
appointed former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano as its special envoy to
Zimbabwe, in an effort to address the country’s problems.
The
station, The Daily Mirror (2 & 5/8) and the Independent also
reported that SA was using Zimbabwe’s request for US$1 billion loan from that
country as leverage to force Mugabe to the negotiating
table.
Studio 7
(4&6/8), The Daily Mirror and The Financial Gazette (4/8) also
quoted MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai expressing his readiness to meet Mugabe,
emphasising the importance of dialogue in solving the political
stalemate.
The
government media shied away from these issues. Instead, they diverted attention
from Tibaijuka’s recommendations with glowing stories on the purported
achievements of Operation Garikai. The government Press carried 10 such
stories while 21 appeared on ZBH.
None of
them provided a comprehensive picture of the operation’s achievements. Instead,
they simply regurgitated official comment. For example, The Herald (5/8)
quoted a spokesman of a government team appointed to assess the progress of
Garikai in Mashonaland West, Vincent Hungwe, praising the
“progress” made in Chinhoyi, Chegutu, Karoi and Kariba and
bemoaning the “challenges” facing reconstruction in Kadoma and
Murombedzi. He did not elaborate on the ‘challenges’ nor was he asked
to.
This
unquestioning nature was also apparent in ZBH’s reports. Almost all its 21
stories on Garikai were passive commentaries on ministerial tours of
construction sites in various parts of the country. The officials were quoted
expressing satisfaction with the reconstruction programme.
However,
the private media presented a different picture in 11 stories they carried on
Garikai. The stories, as
illustrated by The Standard’s story, Operation Garikai a ‘pie in the
sky’, reported that nothing much had materialised under the
programme.
The
paper revealed that government’s target of building 5 000 houses by August
31st was unlikely since little progress was being made on the ground.
As an example, the paper noted that at Whitecliff Farm, where a total of 20 477
people were allocated stands, “only 50 small houses have been constructed
to roof level”.
In
addition, it quoted MDC MP for Harare North, Trudy Stevenson claiming that there
was “virtually no construction progress” at Hatcliffe Extension
where more than 300 families were allocated stands. She told the
paper: “Massive construction of houses under Operation Garikai is only
taking place on television.”
The
Independent exposed the anarchy surrounding Garikai’s
implementation when it reported that ZANU PF supporters “violently evicted
registered traders allocated stalls” at Mbare Msika market saying the
stalls would be “reallocated to ruling party
supporters.”
Studio
7’s eight reports exposed the continued human suffering caused by
Murambatsvina, the clergy’s efforts to assist the victims, and the
ongoing demolitions in Chiredzi and Epworth in contravention of UN calls for
them to be stopped immediately.
Ends//
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In his first radio interview since resigning from Zanu
PF, former
Zvishavane MP and Zanu PF central committee member,
Pearson Mbalekwa speaks to Lance Guma on Behind the Headlines. He tells us why
Joyce Mujuru was appointed to the Vice Presidency through the back door and how
it was so obvious Emmerson Mnangagwa was the favourite for the post, before the
politburo ‘illegally altered’ the constitution. He gives a dramatic explanation
for the motivation behind Operation Murambatsvina and also spells out his
political future. Is he being victimized for
resigning?