The Zimbabwe Situation

An air of calm surrounds Sandra Nyaira. Sitting in Edinburgh’s Apex Hotel and proudly sporting an Africawoman T-shirt, she betrays no trace of anxiety about the fact that the visa which allows her to remain in Britain runs out today. Should she return to her native Zimbabwe, the chances are, she’ll be arrested. Nyaira’s crime is to exert a right that we in Scotland take for granted - freedom of speech. As a journalist on the country’s one independent newspaper, the Daily News, her work exposing corruption within the government put her directly in President Robert Mugabe regime’s line of fire. Having spent the last year on study leave in London, Nyaira had hoped to return to her role as political editor at the Daily News. But two days ago several of her colleagues were arrested as the government once more attempted to silence any dissenting voices. Add to this conflicting reports of the state of Mugabe’s health, a general strike by health workers and you have a country that is showing no signs of stability. Despite having been in the eye of the storm, Nyaira is determined to return.

The fortunes of Zimbabwe have been played out on the world stage since it won independence in 1980. Home to dramatic landscapes, not least Victoria Falls, the country was long seen as the bread basket of southern Africa, as a major food producer and the world’s third biggest source of tobacco. But the former Rhodesia has also witnessed much conflict dating back to the white settlers who dispossessed the resident population through to the recent seizure of white-owned agricultural land. This controversial land reform programme has resulted in food shortages that, combined with drought, has left millions at risk of famine. The 23 years of rule under Mugabe has seen the economy decimated and witnessed a stream of human rights violations as well as one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. As Nyaira says, "You don’t get a good story from Zimbabwe, you really don’t, it’s all negative."

Having hit rock bottom, Nyaira and others like her, are determined to do whatever it takes to return their country to a state they can be proud of.

Last year, Nyaira received a Courage in Journalism award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). In a statement, the Foundation said: "She works amid almost daily harassment in a country with one of the worst press freedom records in the world." It’s fair to say that the 29-year-old has experienced the sharp end of journalism. Which is perhaps surprising considering she fell into the profession almost by accident.

"The thing about being an African girl is you are not expected to speak out about any ills you see around you in society," she says. "You are supposed to be submissive, you are supposed to listen to what your elders say." Having spent so many years hiding her feelings, it seems there was a lot of expression waiting to come out. On one occasion, Nyaira was made to stay at home for an extra mathematics lesson while her fellow students went to a careers open day. They came back with vivid tales about the journalism stand, notably their experiences of trying out radio and television broadcasting for the first time. In a nutshell, Nyaira says: "I fell in love with the studio, before I even saw it." On leaving high school, Nyaira was accepted for a two-year course in print journalism and by 1995 she was working on a community newspaper.

Officially, almost all of Zimbabwe’s media comes under state control. This includes Zimbabwe Inter-News Agency (Ziana), the national news agency, but when Nyaira joined the organisation in 1996, she was surprised at the level of freedom afforded to reporters. She says her editor, Henry Muradzikwa, never interfered in their work and as a result they quickly became a prime source of news for outside agencies, revealing the inside story of Zimbabwe’s economic and political situation. When the government realised what was going on, Muradzikwa lost his job and Ziana was dismantled, to be replaced by a much more tightly controlled agency, in effect a gatekeeper to safeguard information. This played a part in Nyaira’s decision to leave the employ of the state media.

"They thought it was being too critical but we were just writing what was happening in the country. I guess that’s where I really got this thing about working in the independent media."

When Nyaira talks about the early days of the Daily News, she lights up. "It was beautiful. I still feel this big sense of loss about what has happened, because I was there before the paper went onto the streets." For the pioneering journalists, it wasn’t easy - they sometimes had to go without salaries, but they were driven by the belief that Zimbabweans need an independent voice. "We were so united, saying we should carry this paper to greater heights and boy did we do it," she says. "So many people were buying the paper, getting international and local information, it was a good feeling."

Establishing the paper in 1999 was a considerable achievement, but it seems none of those involved expected the level of hostility they were soon to experience.

From it’s launch, the Daily News was consistently critical of Mugabe and his ruling party, Zanu-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front). Nyaira says the first form of resistance from the government came by putting pressure on advertisers. It wasn’t long before a concerted campaign of more direct action began. The newspaper’s offices were petrol-bombed, vendors received beatings and then in April 2001, Nyaira and two of her colleagues were arrested and charged with "criminal defamation". The cause was what Nyaira describes as a "big story" she had broken. She had uncovered and verified information about a company contracted by the Zimbabwe government to build a new terminal at Harare International Airport. It seems that the tender had been eased along by a number of substantial donations to officials within the government and a letter suggested that Mugabe was aware of the corruption. The state media instantly hit back by attacking Nyaira, branding her a liar who was being used by British Imperialists and who was trying to destroy the president.

"You can imagine your mother is at home and listening to those stories and she wants you to get out of it as soon as possible," she says, "but you don’t want to get out of it because that’s what you know how to do best, and it is what you love."

Although frightened for what might happen next, Nyaira remained defiant. She describes the government’s aggression as a process of trying to make journalists censor themselves, because they are scared of the consequences. Despite this, she remained dedicated to writing the truth for the long-term good of the country. "The human rights situation is appalling and it was the Daily News which was exposing the government for what they really were - their lack of spending, their archaic laws, the policies that have made sure that Zimbabwe falls deeper into oblivion. It will be difficult for us to get out of that." As the pressure grew for Nyaira, a colleague suggested she apply for the British Council’s Chevening scholarship scheme, which facilitates study overseas. She was accepted and a year ago enrolled at City University, London, to study for a Masters in International Journalism. Watching events unfold from afar has proved a painful process. She describes the experience of opening the newspapers each day to find yet more bad press about Zimbabwe as an embarrassment.

"You wake up in the morning, someone has been killed. You wake up in the morning, someone has been tortured. You wake up in the morning, someone’s house has been burnt because of politics, because of intolerance, because we don’t want to tolerate others." She regrets the polarisation that has emerged within the Zimbabwean media itself, whereby some of her fellow journalists celebrated the demise of the Daily News. "You have a society that is working against itself," says Nyaira.

The current crisis at the Daily News arose after a court ruled that the government was wrong to refuse the newspaper a licence. The paper went back on sale but several directors were promptly arrested and the offices closed. As the legal wrangling continues, Nyaira has spoken to colleagues who have told her that they have to don disguises to move around freely. Those arrested have also told her that her name is included on the government’s "wanted" list, meaning that if she was to return, she would most likely face arrest. However, Nyaira points out that although she is on study leave, she is also still on the payroll of the Daily News. She would be back at work now if current events hadn’t made it seem wiser to delay.

"I am hoping and praying that something will happen. But without the paper I have no protection, I have no-one to fight for me," she says. While she waits to hear if her visa can be extended, Nyaira says the one thing she won’t do is apply for political asylum. She believes that Zimbabwe needs its young journalists to use their skills to the benefit of their own nation. "Seeking political asylum is saying to Robert Mugabe ‘look you’ve won’. He must not win at the end of the day, the people of Zimbabwe must be the ultimate winners."

To secure that victory, Nyaira is prepared to do whatever it takes. "There comes a time in life when going to jail must become an honourable thing. Because we are fighting for democracy and when that independence eventually comes, we must be proud of it and say we really fought for it and we did it together. So that’s what I feel right now. I know I’m going to go back, even if they arrest me." Until that time comes, Nyaira has been putting her energy into writing for Africawoman, a publication comprising African women journalists from nine different countries. She describes it as a source of salvation as it gives her a platform to write about what is happening to people at grassroots level in Zimbabwe. Her visit to Edinburgh has involved protesting at the Education Ministers Commonwealth Conference to try and ensure that African development funds are not diverted to fund the reconstruction of Iraq, while also highlighting the need for Zimbabwe’s own budget to prioritise social services above war. Nyaira is also soon to launch and run Africawoman’s new human rights project, which will target issues such as lack of access to education, especially for girls, access to resources and basic amenities.

Nyaira makes it clear that she considers it essential that the international community does not forget about her homeland. "At the moment there’s a fatigue on issues that are affecting Zimbabwe. We are saying that if you grow weary, if you get tired then the people of Zimbabwe will be slaughtered, because no-one is speaking for them." She describes Zimbabwe as being in an abyss, but despite the damage that has been done, she is optimistic that recovery is possible. "We need to start thinking about the post-Mugabe era, what’s going to happen, what do we need to do. I know people are prepared to work for their country so that it is brought back into the limelight to being a country where people want to visit." If her countrymen share even some of Nyaira’s determination, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Zimbabwe.