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State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
2002
police for unlawful detention and loss
of business.
“The Daily News” reports that Oguti
was unable to print the March and
April issues of his magazine and
doubts if he will be able to publish the
May issue.
The Immigration Department is said
to have given Oguti three days to leave
the country, which according to him is
not enough as he is trying to locate his
car, luggage and computer.
The journalist claims that he was not
in Zimbabwe to cover the March presidential
elections but entered the country
to investigate the possibility of
printing his magazine in the country.
Oguti is also the editor of “The Botswana
Economic” and “The Southern
African Economic”.
Oguti was arrested on February 17
for allegedly entering Zimbabwe illegally.
Oguti’s co-accused, a driver
from Mozambique, is still at large. The
driver is said to have driven Oguti’s
vehicle into Zimbabwe while Oguti
himself is said to have entered Zimbabwe
through an illegal entry point in
the mountains.
On February 26, police spokesperson
Francis Mubvuta indicated that
Oguti would be charged with “entry
by evasion” and would also be declared
a prohibited immigrant.
ALERT
DATE: 2002-05-06
PERSON(S): Sports writers in
Zimbabwe
VIOLATION(S): Threatened
216 So This Is Democracy?
Ignatius Pamire, the Interim Secretary
of Zimbabwe’s leading football team,
Dynamos, threatened to kill sports
writers for allegedly writing negatively
about his administration, according
to reports carried in “The
Herald” and “The Daily News” on
May 2, 2002.
Pamire warned sports writers who
were attending a sports function in the
capital, Harare, that they must report
positively on him and his team or risk
being killed. Pamire said that he gave
the reporters such a strong warning
because they “deserved it”. Pamire
specifically targeted “The Herald”
sports editor Robson Sharuko and senior
reporter Petros Kausiyo, and “The
Daily News” sports reporter Simba
Rushwaya.
Phillip Mugadza, the team’s chairperson,
later apologized to the reporters.
“I spoke to Pamire and he said you
are inciting Dynamos fans to beat him
up,” said Mugadza. Dynamos has experienced
a spate of losses which have
turned the team’s fans against the leadership.
“On behalf of the Dynamos
football club, I want to make it clear
that the club does not condone violence
or the harassment of journalists. Dynamos
is a club which will be there
forever but clubs come and go,” read
the apology from Mugadza.
ALERT
DATE: 2002-05-06
PERSON(S): Andrew Meldrum,
Collin Chiwanza, Lloyd Mudiwa
VIOLATION(S): Detained, legislation
Three journalists were released on
May 2, 2002. Lloyd Mudiwa, Collin
Chiwanza and Andrew Meldrum
were released after each being granted
bail of US$36.
The arrests of the journalists followed
the publishing of an article on