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ZIMBABWE
State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
“The Daily News”, among them Strive
Masiyiwa and Nigel Chanakira. He
further added that those who owned
and backed “The Daily News” were
working for a “common” purpose to
discredit the country. He accused
Andrew Meldrum and Basildon Peta,
both correspondents for British papers
in Zimbabwe, for flashing the story
worldwide.
Moyo promised to look at the Access
to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act to see if it is adequate to
deal with “this rot”. He promised to
amend the act should it prove inadequate,
vowing that no media owner
or advertiser would, in his view, be
allowed to fund and subsidise the destruction
of Zimbabwe.
“The Herald” reports that the police
have intensified investigations inside
and outside the country to track down
the perpetrators who were behind the
construction and dissemination of the
story. The newspaper reports that the
police are also investigating the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party’s role in connection
with the case.
In 2001, the governments of Namibia
and Botswana effected similar
economic sanctions on privately
owned newspapers.
In May, Namibia’s President
Nujoma ordered a total ban on the purchase
of “The Namibian” newspaper
by the government of the Republic of
Namibia. The president’s directive was
issued hot on the heels of an earlier
cabinet decision to ban government
line ministries from advertising in the
newspaper on grounds that it maintained
an “anti-government stance.”
Also in May, the Botswana government
slapped a ban on advertising in
the “Botswana Guardian” and
“MidWeek Sun” newspapers, because
they were too critical of the country’s
leaders. The government used this tactic
to demonstrate its displeasure over
“irresponsible reporting and the exceeding
of editorial freedom.”
However, in September, in what is
regarded as a victory for media freedom
and freedom of expression, the
Botswana High Court declared the ban
on advertising in two newspapers unconstitutional.
Justice IBK Lesetedi
said the advertising ban by the Botswana
government on the newspapers
violated the newspapers’ constitutional
right to “freedom of expression”.
“What the government was doing,”
said the judge, “was telling the newspapers
that if they wanted to continue
to enjoy the benefit of receiving advertising
from government [they]
should conform to a reportage that falls
within what it considers to be the parameters
of editorial freedom”.
ALERT
DATE: 2002-04-30
PERSON(S): Moses Oguti
VIOLATION(S): Victory
Moses Oguti, the editor-in-chief of the
Botswana-based monthly magazine
“Trans Kalahari”, was released on
Tuesday April 23, 2002. His release
comes 45 days after he was arrested
in Mutare for allegedly entering Zimbabwe
illegally through the Forbes
Border Post (the border between Zimbabwe
and Mozambique).
Oguti, who is a Ugandan citizen,
told “The Daily News” on April 29 that
he suffered during his incarceration
and is threatening to take legal action
against immigration officials and the
So This Is Democracy? 215