HARARE — Zimbabwean authorities have again locked horns with the country’s independent media after a state watchdog accused the journalists’ union of disseminating propaganda against President Robert Mugabe’s regime.
The latest complaint was filed against the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) days after a case against an independent radio station was thrown out by a court in Harare last week.
Information ministry permanent secretary George Charamba said they had been given documents by the Media and Information Commission (MIC) chairman, Tafataona Mahoso, accompanied by a letter expressing what he read to be political overtones to what the journalists’ union was doing.
“ZUJ has been trying to reach us to forge a working relationship. It would be a sad day if what the MIC chairman is saying turns out to be true,” Charamba said.
The union dismissed the complaint, saying it appeared to be another step in “a concerted campaign to silence reporters”.
Although charges against the Voice of the People independent radio station for operating without a licence were dismissed last week, few independent media outlets are still managing to operate.
“As a union we have never been party to an antigovernment lobby as Mahoso wants the world to believe,” said the union’s secretary-general, Foster Dongozi.
“After killing off Daily News, The Daily News on Sunday, The Tribune and The Weekly Times, Mahoso is now targetting the ZUJ and any other organisations working for a free press.” The four newspapers were all shut by the commission for alleged breaches of media laws.
In his letter, Mahoso claimed that the union was actively working to discredit the government.
“There is need for further investigation of the leaders of this organisation,” he said. “ZUJ is part and parcel of the anti-Zimbabwe lobby. We have confidential information that it uses threats of donor sanctions to silence journalists and editors questioning its stance,” according to the letter which was published in the state-controlled Sunday Mail.
Police were also investigating Nunurai Jena, ZUJ’s provincial secretary in Mashonaland West province, on allegations of freelancing for the US government-funded Voice of America, the paper said.
