Despite promises of reform, journalists still face intimidation and obstruction, writes BILL CORCORANin Harare
FRIDAYS CAN be a stressful day for journalists working at the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard, the only two independent newspapers in the southern African country, both of which are owned by Alpha Media Holdings.
Aside from being the weekly Independent’s publication day, it is also the time police or intelligence officers attached to President Robert Mugabe’s office are most likely to arrive at their premises to tackle reporters and editors about articles that have adversely affected people connected to his Zanu-PF party.
According to Vincent Kahiya, editor in chief of the newspapers, little progress has been made when it comes to re-establishing a free press in Zimbabwe, despite hopes that the transitional government would map a new way forward, as it is committed to doing under last year’s powersharing deal.
“The situation had improved slightly since 2008, but we are beginning to see the same old systems and methods employed by the previous [Zanu-PF] government coming back. Last week the police came to our offices looking to question two of our reporters about sources for a story they had done,” said
Kahiya, who has twice been arrested and jailed under such circumstances.
“It can be a very intimidating environment, and makes the job difficult. Not only do you have to be brave to work as a journalist, but you also have to be committed to telling the truth about Zimbabwe.”
The story that prompted Kahiya’s arrest relates to an investigation carried out by a committee of Harare city councillors who alleged in a report that Mugabe’s nephew, businessman Philip Chiyangwa, had recently acquired large tracts of land in the capital without following proper procedure.
The authorities wanted to know who leaked the report, said Kahiya, before adding he expected detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) back in his offices on the day of our interview to question journalists again.
“The problem is, the mindset of our government has always been that journalists who do their jobs are viewed as criminals, and they must be punished for what they do. The message they are sending now is don’t write about corruption,” he said.
Senior reporter Valentine Maponga, a journalist at the news group since 2002, says the main obstacle hindering his job is an inability to get accreditation, which means he has no access to state information.
“The state media have full access, but we [the independent press] do not. It is still difficult for us, as the threat of arrest hangs over our heads; and you know the CIO [Central Intelligence Officers] are watching what you do. They know where to find you if they want you,” he said.
This kind of harassment should have been consigned to history with the establishment of the new Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), a body created under the powersharing deal to reform media laws and licence new outlets.
Under the current legislation, the Mugabe regime expelled foreign journalists and dramatically reduced local press freedoms.
Since 2000 the former ruling party has forcibly closed several independent newspapers and the country’s first independent radio station for covering disputed elections and Zanu-PF’s ongoing land reform programme, among other things, in a manner they disliked.
Included among those was Alpha Media Holding’s Daily News newspaper in Zimbabwe, which was banned by the government in 2004 for being critical of its policies.
Local journalists have disappeared, been murdered and many others routinely harassed, arrested and forced into exile, according to human rights groups, for doing their jobs.
Given that re-establishing a free press is one of the preconditions that western donor countries have set before they will commit the billions of euro needed to aid the reconstruction of Zimbabwe’s crippled economy, the ZMC’s work is vital.
However, Kahiya, who is waiting for his organisation to be granted a licence to start up a new daily newspaper, the Daily News, says the ZMC board, which comprises members of Zanu-PF, the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and former media practitioners, appears hamstrung already.
“The new commission says it does not know how to proceed when it comes to licensing media outlets: ‘Do we re-licence those papers that were closed down, or start afresh with new licences?’ it asks.
“It also appears to be receiving instructions from somewhere, which is worrying.
“The commission must demonstrate it can work independent of government, and that it is not an appendage of the ministry of information. It also needs to formulate new legislation to replace the current Acts that are being used against us.”
Another major concern for the industry, says Kahiya, is that the freedom of the press does not appear to be high up on the MDC’s agenda.
“We have raised this with them, and we are working towards this. It is in every body’s interest that a free press is established,” Kahiya said.