New Year'S Message From Daniel Molokele

Happy new year to you all.

I wish you a very successful 2007!

Please keep up the good work.

Festive Season Message From Mike Davies

And a happy festive season to you as well

More power to your pens (well, to your keyboards!)

regards

Mike Davies

PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI’S CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE.

As we draw a close to what has been for many a very miserable year it gives me great pleasure to predict a glimmer of hope in an otherwise even more
murky prediction for 2007. I am aware that the year 2006, like the previous seven years, was particularly difficult. But you remained resolute in the struggle to express yourselves out of the national crisis. We endured long queues for basic commodities; suffered the indignity of shortages of transport, electricity and fuel; sacrificed our entire savings to enable children to attend schools and witnessed the loss of a loved one through HIV/Aids.


We all know that since independence in 1980, and in particular the last seven years, we have been subjected to the most trying circumstances. Many are without food. We can’t afford to send our children to schools. Hospitals have been turned into avenues of death. An HIV/Aids pandemic is causing havoc, making Zimbabwe a nation with the highest number of orphans in the world.


The challenge facing us today is to devise an effective mechanism to save Zimbabwe from further haemorrhage. Wherever we are, let us commit ourselves in earnest to saving our nation. What can we do individually and collectively to advance the struggle for change, for a new beginning, and for a new Zimbabwe?

As we approach 2007, let us look back and use our experiences to help the people to help themselves and to determine their own destiny, against the numerous odds imposed by Robert Mugabe and the Zanu PF dictatorship. Safeguarding our freedom depends on what we are prepared to do, at home and in the Diaspora.

It is quite obvious that we are in for a rough ride into 2007, especially when faced with the consequences of a Zanu PF defend-power project, imposed onto the people after the February 2000 referendum and the June 2000 parliamentary election.

The brutal assault onto the people; declaration of war against the people; the flagrant display of dishonesty, the skewed policies and the propaganda we have been subjected to over the last seven years have hit us hard. Only the dishonest and those politically connected to Zanu PF are surviving the onslaught.
Southern Africa faces a major challenge in 2010. We are hosting the World Cup. International attention shall thus be focused on all of us as a region as we receive visitors, international business and attend to the needs of millions of soccer followers. We cannot afford to be enmeshed in the political emotions associated with elections at a time when the entire focus of humanity shall be on the SADC region through sport.

Fellow Zimbabweans, it is clear that Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zanu PF elite have elevated themselves to the position of super-patriots and decided to extend their rule against the national sentiment. Mugabe and Zanu PF rig elections; usurp state institutions for political expediency; beat up Zimbabweans who disagree with the style of governance and destroy a country full of promise.

The decision to extend Mugabe’s term of office, already contested after the 2002 Presidential election, is major slap in the face for all Zimbabweans. We are in a serious dilemma as we have experienced and continue to live with an unprecedented economic meltdown and political uncertainty, all authored by Mugabe and his cronies.

We desire a normal society where decisions that affect the entire nation cannot be a preserve of a political party. All Zimbabweans must discuss and agree on the efficacy of any proposal whose political implications affect the nation at large. Zanu PF has no right to impose its will on all of us.

You are aware that I challenged Mugabe’s legitimacy in 2002 following your mandate. Despite his refusal to open up institutions of state to resolve pertinent concerns arising from the challenge, I wish to thank Zimbabweans for remaining steadfast and committed to the resolution of the national crisis. What Mugabe and Zanu PF have now done is the final straw that breaks the camel’s back. We cannot continue to watch Mugabe and his cronies play dangerous games with our lives.

The decision to extend Mugabe’s already controversial tenure shall be resisted. Together with our civil society partners and all democratic forces, we pledge to provide the necessary leadership to deal with this tyranny. We are not going to let this affront on the people’s destiny go unchallenged. We shall consult you and follow your guidance in this crucial matter.

As we enter in one of our bleakest festive seasons and into the New Year, may I assure you of my unwavering commitment to continue the fight for a lasting resolution of the national crisis? What came out of the Zanu PF conference is a major blow to Zimbabwe’s quest for a new beginning and to an end to uncertainty around Zimbabwe’s future.

Morgan Tsvangirai

PRESIDENT.

Message From Our Collegueas At Zimbabwe Journalists.Com


Hi guys

Thanks for writing. You are doing a great job, keep on
keeping on. Don't get distracted by cheap talk. - the most important thing is to push the Zimbabwean
story so that it remains on the minds of the people who matter.

Many thanks.

Best

Edited

End Of Year Message From ZimJournalists Arise

ZIMJOURNALISTS ARISE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK OUR READERS. We started running the blog on August 28 and we have made a number of friends who we hope we will keep in the New Year. Although we might have stepped on a few toes in our short life, such is journalism especially objective journalism. A lecturer at the Harare Polytechnic would often say a response from reader/listener whether good or bad is good because it means there are listening or reading.

Sadly the year ended on a bad note. Besides the usual deteriorating standard of living, Zimbabweans woke up one day to hear that President Mugabe is considering extending his term until 2010. This sent Zimbabweans at home and abroad into despair as people contemplate another four years under his misgovernance. For journalists it means more years of media repression and less professional opportunities. For those squatting around the globe its is four more years of despair and telephone relationships.

However Zimbabwean’s world renowned resilience has kept us going and it will be business as usual next year. The blog hopes to launch a better and new product when it comes back on cyberspace mid January next year. So watch press for details.

It is also unfortunate that the year comes to close with the death of veteran journalists Farai Makotsi and President of the Zimbabwe Freelance Journalist Association Joe Kwaramba. This come at a time when most journalists have been reduced freelancers or forced into other profession just to keep body and soul together. These losses although great should not deter journalists and we hope that the next year, will see more fearless and polished journalism.

So from all of us at ZimJournalists Arise Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Zimbabwe Vigil Intensifies Campaign Against Mugabe Visit To France

The EU is meeting in Feburary next year, to decide on the renewal of sanctions against President Mugabe and his cabinet. Rumour around town is that some European countries want to slacken the sanctions. God Forbid.

Help stop the crumbling of European Union (EU) targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies EU targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime are due to be renewed in February 2007. There are
worrying signs that these are crumbling. We have been advised that the French government (particularly President Chirac) is considering inviting Mugabe to a France / Africa summit in
Cannes in February and that Portugal which takes over the EU Presidency in July wants to invite Mugabe to an AU / EU summit to be held during its Presidency. The Vigil has already sent a letter to the French Embassy asking the new French Ambassador to Zimbabwe to do all he can to stop the French invitation (Vigil epresentatives briefed the Ambassador in September before he took up his appointment). The Vigil has also contacted trade unions in this country asking them to involve French trade unionists in the campaign to prevent Mugabe from being invited. The TUC recently held a protest outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in solidarity with
Zimbabwean trade unionists after they were so brutally treated for trying to hold a peaceful protest. ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa, the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement) is asking
people to lobby their MPs / MEPs to insist that EU
targeted sanction are renewed. Please help by: Lobbying President Chirac of France: attached is a suggested letter to him in French and English - please print the version you prefer to send, insert your address, the date and your signature and post it to President Chirac. We have signed it 'Concerned Zimbabwean' please adapt this
as appropriate to yourself.

This Week's Zimbabwe Media Headlines

Chombo Sues FinGaz For $300 million, But Is Exposed In Yet Another Scandal
This week was an eventful week in the Zimbabwean Media. A dispute seems to be growing between Local Authorities Minister Ignatius Chombo, who is suing the Financial Gazette for $300 million for publishing stories about him in an alleged ZUPCO corruption scandal. The Fingaz then came up with another story entitled “Not Again Minister” implicating him in a CBZ scandal. Observers say this dispute could mirror bad blood between Chombo and Reserve Bank Governor Gideion Gono. Observer add that Gono is said to be considerably be involved with the Financial Gazette, and owing to the fact that the details are emanating from the Reserve Bank and CBZ, maybe something is going on??? Meanwhile daggers have been drawn, with Jonathan Moyo against Dumiso Dabengwa and John Nkomo, while Emmerson Mnangwagwa is suing the Speaker of Parliament For defamation. Now it will be interesting for journo’s to attend these court hearings as these guys tend to sing like larks during testimonies.

Here’s an Excerpt From This Week’s Fingaz
Police are investigating the use to which Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo put $14 billion worth of farm loans obtained from the central bank.
The focus of interest for the Criminal Investigations Department (Serious Fraud) is Chombo’s application, on October 1, 2005, for a $14 billion (old currency) loan from the RBZ. The loan is said to have been availed under the “Other Crops and Livestock Facility” and was disbursed through CBZ Bank.

Charamba Scuttles Muradzikwa ‘s Plans Of New Appoinments

Lydia Mavengere and Ishmael Kadungure who were to be appointed general managers for TV and Radio services, apparently got the thumbs down from presidential WordSmith George Charamba, reports NewZimbabwe.com
It seems Muradzikwa is having to go back to the drawing board again. Some of those affected are Robson Mhandu and Tazzen Mandizvidza.


Channel 4 News Crew Deported From Zimbabwe

Now talk about real DRAMA, word around town is that business mogul Nicholas van Hoogstraten's, blew the whistle on Channel Four journalists, who he himself had facilitated to bring in into Zimbabwe. Now a lot of theories and versions are flying around town. The official line says the CIO came across a script, in the four-man news crew’s car. Why the CIO were paying them such close attention is not clear. Another version doing the rounds in Harare’s watering holes is that it was Van Hoogstaten himself who locked the television crew in their rooms and alerted the police. The state-run Herald newspaper alleges that the four man crew’s unceremonious exit was facilitated by the British, who facilitated their escape, through an unnamed neighbouring country. The Herald allege the British journa's were compiling stories that would tarnish(further)the country’s image in preparation for a renwal of EU Sanctions.

Swazi Media Slammed For Neglecting Real Issues

Despite Swaziland's humanitarian crisis, local newspapers are largely ignoring issues such as poverty, food shortages and HIV/AIDS in favour of reports about crime and bickering amongst political personalities, according to The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

MISA's Media Monitoring Project report, 'What makes news, and is the news professionally reported?', funded by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and released on Wednesday, also found that news stories were largely restricted to covering one area of the country, and poorly reflected gender diversity.

"It is very hard for us to get a story about what is really happening to the Swazi people on the ground in the local media - they just want to report political gossip; the MISA report reflects that," said Thandi Ndwandwe, a public relations officer for a food aid NGO based in the central commercial town of Manzini.

POLITICS NOT POVERTY

The report surveyed news content during a two-week period in October 2006 and found that national politics dominated content in the country's two daily newspapers, the independent Times of Swaziland and the Swazi Observer, owned by the royal conglomerate, Tibiyo TakaNgwane.

Most of the stories - 26 percent - covered local politics. The second largest category was crime, the subject of 18 percent of stories. Despite Swaziland having the highest HIV prevalence rate worldwide - about 33.4 percent of sexually active adults are infected - just one percent of stories were devoted to HIV/AIDS.

Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) will constitute 10 percent of the population by 2010, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and their welfare is an escalating crisis in the impoverished country. Nonetheless, OVC and children merited only one percent of stories in the Swazi press.

Judging by local newspaper coverage, Swazis seem to have little interest in the world around them. During the two-week period reviewed, "There were just five stories relating to events outside Swaziland - four from other African countries and one from outside Africa," the report commented. International news was relegated to page seven in both papers, a "world news ghetto", in the words of one Swazi reporter.

STAYING CLOSE TO HOME

The offices of both newspapers are located in the capital, Mbabane, in the northern Hhohho Region, and more than half of all news stories in the two publications originated there.

Humanitarian NGOs have tried different strategies to lure reporters to Swaziland's three other regions, particularly the drought-stricken eastern Lubombo Region and the AIDS-ravished southern Shiselweni Region, to give humanitarian issues a higher profile in the national consciousness: only 5 percent of news stories originated in the Shiselweni Region, and 4 percent from Lubombo Region.

"We try to organise tours to bring journalists to the story. This year we mounted an award for best reporter on a humanitarian story," said Abdoulaye Balde, Country Representative for the UN World Food Programme.

The award would have given the winner an all-expenses paid course in higher journalism, in Johannesburg, South Africa, but so few reporters submitted 'humanitarian' stories - only four local journalists entered the competition - that the awards were scaled back.

SENSATIONALIST GOSSIP

Swazi journalism will have to rise above its emphasis on gossip about local personalities - even political stories usually concern attacks by one politician against another, or a politician's scandalous behaviour, rather than substantive reportage on political or governance issues.

The study found that most stories (51 percent) only had one source, breaking a basic rule of journalism that requires at least two sources to ensure balance and accuracy, and safeguard against bias.

MISA deemed 13 articles "unfit reporting", in which "almost half of the violations occurred in stories about child abuse or gender-based violence, where the report failed to protect the victim, and/or trivialised the event".

A notorious example was a news story about an infant found next to the body of his murdered mother, having apparently lain next to the corpse for hours. However, what the reporter and his editors found most fascinating was that during a medical check-up, the baby was found to be a hermaphrodite, possessing both male and female sex organs. This became the focus of the story, to the ire of child welfare groups, who felt the coverage was a sensationalistic violation of the child's privacy.

Women's rights groups complained of poor reporting on gender-based violence, and this was substantiated by the report, which found "the stories that violated principle clearly trivialised child abuse or gender-based violence. In the case of gender-based violence, the stories were often depicted as lovers' tiffs, with no acknowledgement of the criminal nature of the abuse. It was common for the stories to be told through the eyes of the perpetrator, in such a way as to portray him as a victim, without mentioning the illegality of the alleged actions."

The report also found a corresponding absence of women's voices in news reports - female sources were absent in most news stories under review - and in news reporting and editing.

THE CHALLENGE AHEAD

Rudolph Maziya, National Director of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa, an NGO coordinating the response of urban leaders to the pandemic in their towns, felt reporting on HIV/AIDS suffered from subject fatigue. "Both the media and health NGOs have to find creative new ways to tell the story. AIDS has been in Swaziland for almost 20 years, and the story is the same, and will be for some time."

To energise press reporting on humanitarian issues, Maziya felt that media personnel should recognise that they were personally affected. "The media can come to realise that they are not just neutral reporters, but participants. The media houses will come up with their own AIDS programmes, so that when we call reporters to press conferences, they will already be involved as AIDS activists."

Notice To Readers


Zim Journalists Arise, would like to inform our readers that our posts will not be circulated on a regular basis, until further notice. We will be however posting any major developments, as they happen, while we work to revamp our blog, to ensure readers have a better product in the New Year.

Thank You
ZimJournalists Arise

Mass StayAway Tomorrow???

ZimJournalists Arise understands there have been e-mails and sms messages together with fliers circulating in Harare and Bulawayo. Our sources tell us that an e-mail from savezimbabwe06@yahoo.com is doing the rounds urging people not to go to work today. Fliers are slo being distributed in Harare. No-one has claimed credit for this. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign has not been available to confirm or deny responsibility for this. Other sources within civic society say it is the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai that is behind this, but party official deny this. But whatever the real story, we need to keep our eyes open today to see what happens.

WOZA To Roll Out Countrywide Protests
WOZA DECLARE A VICTORY AFTER SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING
THE PEOPLES’S CHARTER AT PARLIAMENT IN HARARE

MORE than 800 members of Women Of Zimbabwe Arise and
Men Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA/MOZA) from all over
Zimbabwe marched yesterday to Parliament in Harare to
launch the Peoples’ Charter.
Two groups started at different locations in central
Harare, converging on Parliament at the same time.
Upon arriving at Parliament, the two groups were met
by riot police and arrested.

Police held the group of approximately 350 people, who
were sitting peacefully, for more than an hour in
front of the Parliament buildings before unexpectedly
releasing them. Several people, including
parliamentarians, came out
of the Parliament Buildings to observe the proceedings
and to read the WOZA placards and many took copies of
the Peoples’ Charter.

After the brutality with which police attacked WOZA
members in Bulawayo two weeks ago, members had braced
themselves for a similar
response. They were surprised however upon being told
that they could go back to their homes after being
warned that they were demonstrating illegally and that
they were not allowed to walk or even sit like they
were doing! What was even more surprising was that
Jenni Williams, WOZA’s National Coordinator, was
invited to address the group before they dispersed.

At one stage a senior police officer asked the group
who the leaders were and when he was told everyone is
a
leader, he then took five members from the main group,
including two men and an elderly woman on crutches,
loading them onto the back of a police vehicle and
taking down their names. A Human Rights lawyer who was
on site questioned this and some time later the five
were made to rejoin the rest of the group.

The response to the Peoples’ Charter from Zimbabweans
all over the world has been overwhelming and today was
no different. Pedestrians in downtown Harare rushed to
receive copies of the Charter from the marching groups
and in fact, the only WOZA items that remain in
custody tonight is the Peoples’ Charter and placards
including those calling for 2008 Parliamentary and
Presidential elections.

The reaction of the Zimbabwe Republic Police today was
a victory for WOZA’s non-violent strategy and for the
power of social justice. The WOZA leadership would
like to commend the Zimbabwe Republic Police for
showing that they are human beings also requiring
social justice in their lives. However WOZA would also
like to warn them that if they are turning over a new
leaf it should be apparent every day, not only today
but also in the future.

Having successfully launched the Charter in Harare and
Bulawayo, WOZA is now planning to roll out launch
demonstrations across the country.

Police Worst Perpetrators Of Rights Abuses

The youth militia or the green bombers, as they are infamously referred to, are not only paid ridicously high salaries, but have been provided an opportunity by the RBZ to make a bit of money on the side. South African based ZimOline recently reported that the army after convenietly chasing away diamond miners in Marange, are now mining the mineral themselves.

Yesterday Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum launched a report called

Who Will Guard The Guards

Zimbabwe's police are major perpetrators of human rights abuses, according to data collected by the Human Rights NGO Forum.

The police have been named as torturers and police premises as places of torture in hundreds of cases recorded by the forum.

Senior police officers often carry out torture, according to the report. Since 2000 officers of the rank of sergeant or above have been named as perpetrating torture in 59 cases. This refutes government excuses that occasional abuses are carried out a few 'over-zealous' low-level officers.

The politicised police force has often refused the protection of the law to those identified as members of the opposition or otherwise hostile to Zanu-PF. For these people the law enforcement agencies have become "instruments of violence against them rather than an institution that offers them protection," states the report.

The police and other perpetrators of abuses often operate with impunity, not facing any legal responsibility for their actions. This impunity allows abuses to continue.

A total of 20,624 violations of human rights have been recorded in Zimbabwe since July, 2001, when the Human Rights Forum began publishing statistics. These are the number of cases, and in many there are several people abused, so the number of individuals suffering abuse could be considerably higher. Since 2004, the number of total abuses has increased, from 2,656 in 2004, to 4,170 in 2005 and 5,063 in 2006. The 2006 figures do not include cases from October, November or December, so the year-end total may well reach 7,000, according to the report.

"Most disturbing is that in 2006 torture has again increased markedly,” states the report which also notes an "enormous increases in unlawful arrest and detention and interference with freedoms, which largely correspond to the promulgation and use of the Public Order and Security Act (Posa)”.

The forum has recorded more than 3,200 cases of torture since 2001. Reported cases of torture increased from 136 in 2005 to 335 in 2006. Again, the 2006 figure does not include incidents for October, November and December.

Abuses by police and other state agents (army and CIO) have increased in 2006. "The involvement of state agents in the alleged perpetration of gross human rights violations has greatly increased, with the torture of members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) being perhaps the most egregious recent example," states the report.

Despite numerous complaints and reports, by the Human Rights Forum and other organizations, the government has taken "little remedial or preventative action. The Zimbabwe Republic Police continue to be involved in human rights violations, and, if anything, the abuses have become worse in the past three years."

The forum report urges the government of Zimbabwe to fulfill its constitutional obligations to investigate allegations of abuses. It also calls on the United Nations, the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to investigate the allegations of torture by police and other human rights violations.
Edited

Letter From Mike Davies
Chairman of Combined Harare Residents Association

Please do not become a forwarding service! Anyone with a genuine interest in Zimbabwe will already subscribe to MMPZ and SWRadioAfrica and ZimbabweSituation so this just clutters up our mail boxes. You could usefully compile a list of such services however and distribute it to members.

thanks for the original pieces and blogs though

Response From ZimJournalists Arise

Unfortunately, we are unable to generate original material, as we do not have adequate resources at the moment to do so. However we are working on this and hope we will be able to do so in the new year.

However we will reiterate that we are not a news website, but primarily exist to serve the interests of Zimbabwean journalists. That is why you will come across a lot of press statements, training programs for journalists etc. We occasionally throw in the odd story, if we feel it is of national interest and has a bearing on the work of Zimbabwean journalists, such as Mugabe staying on until 2010. We also occassionally carry stories we think are important but donot make the headlines.

However we have taken note of your concerns and owing to the overwhelming support the blog is receiving we are working day and night on a better product that will facilitate the free flow of information, a product that will facilitate communication between journalists and newsmakers.

Our emphasize is also on human rights and democracy reporting. We also have a “soft spot” for gender and Aids issues.
Thank you for your readership and suggestions.

Appeal For Journo's To Cover Impact Of Passport Shortage

Dear Zimbabwean Journalists
I read with profound joy and sdaness the article "Mangwana Gives Corruption A Thumbs Up". My anger was the reaction to the fact that the Zimbabwean government is an oligarchy of criminals with no conscience at all. It is crucial to expose such issues because as the Anti-corruption minister the fight against corruption should begin with Mangwana.

However, my fellow countrymen, i implore you to urgently bring to light the whole truth about the passport saga in Zimbabwe. In an age where human beings are more mobile due to improved transportation systems and the power of globalisation, denying one of the right to a passport is an unforgivable state crime against its own citizens and a highest form of injustice. Whether its political or economic is besides the point, the fact is we dont need any explanation about not issuing passports. It is as bad as explaining murder. Many students want to travel abroad for further studies, have secured places and scholarships only to be denied by failure to acquire a passport. A passport is now more difficult to obtain than a degree in Zimbabwe.
Edited

Farai Maguwu
CODEGO National Co-ordinator

SW Radio Launches SMS Campaign
Yesterday Zimjournalists Arise circulated a peice on SW Radio launching Podcasting. We would like to point out that the campaign is more of an SMS camapign than podcasting.
Thank you.

SW Radio Africa Launches SMS Campaign
By ZimJournalists Arise

UK based short-wave radio station SW Radio Africa, last Friday launched its
SMS campaign, which entails sending news back into Zimbabwe via text thru mobile phones.

Said Station Chief Gerry Jackson "The podcasting has begun but is not fully functional as yet and is still being tested."

According to a note sent to ZimJournalists Arise, a friend of the station
tried an experiment and 70,000 people downloaded the files he put up.

Jackson adds that during the holiday period the campaign might be up and running and she will send us more information about it.

Meanwhile SW Radio is calling those who have friends in Zimbabwe who have mobiles
who would like to receive their news during the week to email their numbers to Gerry and they will be included in the mailing list

Said Jackson:"We're hoping this will catch on like wildfire and that everyone will forward the news. It has to obviously be very brief headlines, but if there is any breaking news we can sent it straight in."
"If you send any numbers it would help if you put it in the following format to save us time, added Jackson.

+26391234567, ie the plus sign and the country code.
So guys lets support our fellow journas and get those numbers rolling in.

P.S
Those interested can send their mobile numbers to Gerry@swradioafrica.com

Media Repression Set To Continue As Mugabe Stays Up Til 2010
By ZimOnline




resident Robert Mugabe will not step down at the expiry of his term in 2008 but will rule for an additional two years after three more provincial committees of his ruling ZANU PF party resolved at the weekend to extend his term to 2010.

ZANU PF, which has enough parliamentary majority to amend Zimbabwe’s Constitution to enable Mugabe to continue in office, is pushing for a constitutional amendment to postpone a presidential election due in 2008 to 2010 so it could be held together with general elections for Parliament.

The ruling party says holding simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections would cut on costs. But insiders say the move is more because of failure by bitterly opposed factions in the party to agree on a single candidate to succeed Mugabe, who will have done 30 years at the helm if he stays on until 2010.

“Holding separate elections is too expensive and we have resolved as a province that presidential, parliamentary and even senatorial elections be held at the same time,” ZANU PF spokesman for Bulawayo province Effort Nkomo said at the weekend after the provincial leadership agreed to ask a party national conference later this week to extend Mugabe’s term.

Party provincial leaders in Matabeleland South and North provinces also agreed at the weekend to support extending Mugabe’s term, bringing the number of provinces backing the call to keep the 82-year old leader in office until 2010 to six out of a total of 10 provinces.

The provinces of Masvingo, Midlands and Manicaland had earlier indicated they would push the national conference that begins next Wednesday to extend Mugabe’s term – which is now a mere formality after the majority of provinces expressed their support for the proposal.

Mugabe - accused by critics of ruining Zimbabwe’s once prosperous economy through repression and mismanagement – has not publicly commented on the moves by his party to extend his rule.

The veteran President, among the few remaining of Africa’s old style big-men rulers, had never categorically stated that he would step down in 2008. But he had indicated in a May 2004 interview with British television that he would not seek re-election at the expiry of his current term.

Under Mugabe’s charge – he first came to power at the country’s independence from Britain in 1980 – Zimbabwe has declined from being a model economy to a classical African basket case, weighed down by an economic crisis that has spawned hyperinflation, severe food shortages, record unemployment and poverty. - ZimOnline

World Newspaper Congress To Visit South Africa In 2007
bY I-JNET

For the first time, the world’s major newspaper industry group will hold its annual meeting in Africa. The Newspaper Association of South Africa recently won a bid to host the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) annual congress next year.

The groups say they expect more than 1,300 delegates for the event, planned for June 3 to 6, 2007, in Cape Town. Natasha Volans, general manager of the South African association, told the RAP 21 network that she hoped the conference would focus on issues specifically relevant to an African audience.

“The Newspaper Association of South Africa would like to see included on the agenda issues which are relevant to Africa,” she said. “I think some of the issues relevant to African editors are issues around reporting on race and gender, and possibly media diversity.”

This year’s WAN Newspaper Congress is scheduled for June 4 to 7 in Moscow, Russia. The main theme is the future of newspapers, including technological innovations, business models and digital media. Expected speakers include Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For more information contact WAN at contact_us@wan.asso.fr, or visit http://www.wan-press.org/article8702.html.

Mangwana Gives Corruption A Thumbs Up

By Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
During the week acting Information Minister Paul Mangwana repeated his predecessors’ claims that stories reflecting badly on government or the ruling party are fabrications by “some sections of the media”. The Herald (5/12) passively reported him denying that the ruling party was riddled with in-fighting in Masvingo saying such reports were a result of an “entrenched tendency to manufacture news” by journalists who were misinterpreting “differences of opinion as factionalism”.
He then provided a distorted perspective of the role the media should play in society, reiterating government’s own narrow view that journalists should be “patriotic and nationalistic” in the execution of their duty.

ZANU PF MP Walter Mzembi expanded on this wilful misconception of the media’s obligations saying they were “duty-bound to articulate the Zimbabwean story”, which “will never be complete without the portrayal of President Mugabe as a hero with the interests of his country at heart”. This dogmatic view found further expression in Mangwana’s criticism of the private media’s attempts to expose details of the alleged involvement of government officials in the Ziscosteel (Zisco) corruption scandal, which the authorities have tried to conceal. He dismissed the private media’s revelations, telling The Herald (25/11) that the media were “scoring cheap political points” by focussing on “red herring cases” such as “hotel bookings…whose dinner was paid for, who was given a ticket, which companies buy for officials who will be visiting them”. All these issues, he claimed, “do not help the country at all” but are meant to shift public attention from “the correct focus”, that is “instances of corruption by management.”
Such deceit went unchallenged.

For instance, the paper did not ask him why he believed the alleged pillaging of Zisco funds by government ministers on missions that were not related to the company was irrelevant and not newsworthy. Only the Zimbabwe Independent (1/12) subjected his dishonesty to scrutiny. It wondered if there will ever be “a probe into the issue” when Mangwana, who is also the anti-corruption minister, “describes pillaging of public funds and key leads into possibly deep-rooted corruption as non-issues”.

2. Unprofessional conduct
IN recent days the official media reinforced its reputation for being a source of unreliable information by a number of false reports, including “news” that a Chinese company was about to buy a majority shareholding in the financially-troubled steel-making giant, Zisco; that South Africa had relaxed its stringent visa requirements for Zimbabweans; and that private schools had “lost” their bid to increase school fees. Besides misrepresenting facts on these matters, they also censored stories that reflected badly on government or the ruling party, such as fresh reports of human rights violations during the week and breaking news about former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo’s defamation lawsuit.
Only those who accessed the private media had the privilege of getting accurate information about these issues.

a. Distortions and misrepresentations
As the week opened, The Herald and Chronicle (27/11) announced that the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) had “put a US$3 billion bid for a 60 percent stake in Ziscosteel” following a “meeting held between the Government of Zimbabwe and MCC officials in October”. The paper quoted Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China Christopher Mutsvangwa confirming the “investment deal” saying the Chinese company was “very serious about the bid” and was “ready to move in as soon as the deal is agreed to” by government. Spot FM (27/11, 8am) carried a similar report claiming the alleged takeover would restore Zisco status “as the biggest steel manufacturer in Africa south of the Sahara.”

However, the next day Reuters, in a story that appeared on ZWNews, reported MCC officials denying the claims saying the company had not bid for a majority stake in Zisco.
One of the unnamed officials told the agency: “There’s no such thing. We haven’t bid for it at all”. Although The Financial Gazette (30/11) also reported the MCC denying making moves for Zisco, it unprofessionally presented the report as their own and failed to acknowledge Reuters as the original source of the story. Despite the denial, the government media made no visible effort to correct its original story.

Such unprofessional journalistic conduct was also apparent in the manner in which they handled debate on South African visa requirements. For instance, although The Herald (29/11) reported the SA embassy refuting claims that its government had relaxed “stringent visa requirements for Zimbabweans”, it did not categorically explain that this was in response to misleading reports carried in the official media quoting Zimbabwe government officials stating that SA had agreed to waive the visa conditions for the time being. Instead, it merely attributed the distortion to SA Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota, whom it said, had told “reporters in Victoria Falls last week” that his country had “temporarily scrapped” the requirements. ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe simply ignored the SA government’s statement clarifying the matter.

Earlier, The Herald (28/11) continued to misrepresent the implications of last week’s ruling in a case in which the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) sought the court’s intervention to increase fees after government barred it from doing so.
Instead of openly informing its readers that the judgement on the matter was only temporary as Justice Antonia Guvava had ordered private schools to first “exhaust all…channels” available to them under the Education Act before seeking the court’s intervention, the paper maintained that the ATS had “lost” its case. It was such distortions that prompted Muchraker, the Zimbabwe Independent columnist to note that a “‘believe it at own risk’ caveat would help Herald readers”, adding that “luckily” for the paper “when such things happen (Media and Information Commission chairman) Tafataona Mahoso conveniently goes deaf and mute”.

b. Omissions and censorship
The official media also censored news stories or simply omitted important detail in the contemporary stories they did carry. Their coverage of the defamation case in which Moyo is suing senior ZANU PF officials John Nkomo and Dumiso Dabengwa for libel is a case in point. For example, while the Chronicle did report on the court proceedings, The Herald and ZBC simply suppressed the developments. Even then, the Chronicle censored detail that cast the ruling party in a bad light. For example, it (28-30/11) suffocated Nkomo’s evidence that attempts in 2004 by Moyo and other ZANU PF members to oust Vice-President Joseph Msika from the party’s leadership would have split the ruling party. This only appeared in the private media.
The Financial Gazette (30/11), for example, reported Nkomo as having told the court that the removal of Msika would have ended the “fragile unity achieved when the unity accord was signed in 1987” because “there could not be any unity without (him)”.

The government media also censored additional human rights violations during the week. Again these only featured in the private media, which carried 11 reports on the matter. Of these, five were new abuses while the rest were follow-up reports on previous rights violations. The incidents included the arrest and assault of civic activists and artists, the break-up of students’ meetings by the police, farm invasions and the use of the youth militia to enforce price controls. The Gazette revealed that it was due to such violations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak “could visit Zimbabwe in the new year” to assess the situation on the ground.

c. Poor news management
Apart from censoring and misrepresenting important stories, ZBC also displayed poor news management during the week. Its evening bulletins of November 28th epitomised the broadcaster’s dismal journalistic standards. For example, ZTV (28/11, 6pm) claimed that 150 Air Force of Zimbabwe officers were benefiting from a poultry project Vice-President Joice Mujuru had started in Manyame. However, an officer the station quoted complained that the project had stalled due to lack of chicks and stockfeed. In its 8pm bulletin, the station’s reporter Reuben Barwe used standard diplomatic etiquette to gloss over the country’s isolation. He deceitfully interpreted the normal presentation of credentials to President Mugabe by incoming French and Kenyan ambassadors to mean that Zimbabwe “still has many friends out there who recognise her strategic position on the African continent.”

That same evening, ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe passively reported Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere announcing that as from January 2007 all schools would be required to teach both Shona and Ndebele. The stations did not ask how the schools were expected to implement the policy when – by the minister’s own admission – there was a lack of Ndebele teachers in Shona-speaking areas. Instead, the next morning ZTV falsely claimed that ATS chairman Jameson Timba had welcomed the minister’s decree “as a noble idea that promotes unity” when he actually opposed the policy saying it was virtually impossible to implement.

3. Economic fantasy
THE official media’s blind endorsement of government policies manifested itself in 104 stories they carried on the 2007 national Budget. Of these, 24 appeared in the government Press while ZBC aired 80. Almost all the stories passively presented Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa’s pronouncements as reflective of the authorities’ commitment to revive the country’s ailing economy and thereby ease Zimbabweans’ economic hardships. None of the reports reconciled his positive forecasts for economic growth with previous unrealistically optimistic projections. Neither did they link his predictions with the continued economic decline characterised by crippling foreign currency shortages, shrinking industrial productivity, rising unemployment and the galloping cost of living. Nor did they query how government would finance the huge budget deficit or discuss how the widening of tax bands would affect government’s revenue base.

For example, all ZBC stations (30/11, 8pm) hailed the budget as “people-oriented” and “aimed at, among other things, stabilising prices, enhancing economic growth and job creation” without explaining how. Instead, ZTV reporter Douglas Rinomhota simply claimed: “Year 2007 is being seen as a turning point in the country’s fortunes.” To promote the budget as generally popular, ZTV (30/11, 6pm) quoted four ZANU PF MPs unquestioningly endorsing it. Comments by MDC MP Innocent Gonese were then abruptly cut before he could sensibly express his views on Murerwa’s financial statement.

The government controlled papers adopted a similar slant. For example, The Herald and Chronicle (1/12) simplistically celebrated the increase in tax–free threshold from $20 000 to $100 000 saying “hard-pressed workers will now have reason to smile again” as “more money” had been injected “into their pockets”. Without fully discussing the new threshold in view of the hyperinflationary environment, The Herald (2/12) passively reported “analysts” as having hailed the budget claiming it would “pull the economy from the current murky waters, leading to a recovery path”.

The official media’s reluctance to question government policies resulted in them turning a blind eye to the negative effects of jailing business executives accused of increasing commodity prices without government approval (ZBC, 30/11, 8pm and The Herald and Chronicle 1/12). Neither did they link their 51 stories on symptoms of economic distress (ZBH [28] and official Press [23]) to government policies.
Although their sourcing patterns appeared diverse as shown in Figs 1 and 2, comments by those outside government were either drowned in these media’s celebratory tone or were used to blindly endorse Murerwa’s statement.

In contrast, the private media were unimpressed by the budget. Almost all their 40 stories on the subject (private papers [26] and private electronic media [14]) dismissed the minister’s positive projections as unrealistic, noting that he had not provided any solutions to the country’s myriad economic problems.
The Zimbabwe Independent (1/12), for example, viewed the budget as “a classic soap opera”, whose “episodic work of fiction” left “stakeholders in shock and awe, and…frightened of a gloomy future”. It noted that while Murerwa predicted some economic growth in 2007, the government had failed to meet almost all the targets he had set in last year’s Budget. The Sunday Mirror (3/12) agreed. It quoted economists describing the Budget as a “damp squib” saying the widening of tax bands would only provide temporary relief for workers because “the benefits will be eroded by inflation”. The Standard (3/12) and all the 12 stories the private electronic media carried on the matter echoed similar views. New Zimbabwe.com (1/12), for instance, dismissed the Budget, arguing that while Murerwa pinned his hopes of economic growth on increased agricultural productivity, he had allocated relatively less resources to the agricultural ministry, preferring to give a significant amount to state security.

It was in this context that MDC official Tendai Biti, in a statement carried by the agency (2/12), viewed the Budget as indicative of “the mediocrity, dishonesty and bankruptcy of ideas of the Zanu PF regime”, adding that the “economic crisis arresting Zimbabwe is structural and cannot be treated by cosmetic, populist (and) recycled measures”.

The private media’s critical approach was reflected by the private papers’ attempts to balance official comment with alternative views.
Edited.

Politically Motivated Violence Against Women Escalates in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is in its 16 Days Against Gender Violence, but as expected the political and economic situation in the country has superseded the issue of gender. Elsewhere on our blog we have the latest MMPZ report. Even, it, seems to have forgotten to analyse media coverage of this very important event. However the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has come out with a report marrying the two issues.
Violence against women in Zimbabwe, often politically motivated and perpetrated largely by supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party, police and other state agents, has escalated over the past six turbulent years, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO said in a report released 8/12/2006.

Titled “A Woman’s Place is in the Home?’’ – Gender Based Violence and Opposition Politics in Zimbabwe, the 21-page report marks the annual 16 days of international protests about violence against women.
The Forum urged that the government be targeted during this year’s protests because its actions ranging from the 2005 campaign of forced urban evictions and demolitions which inflicted huge suffering on women in particular, to condoning rape and other politically motivated brutal sexual assaults. Another form of abuse is enforced cubinage of women and girls at Zanu-PF youth training camps or militia bases set up on farms seized from white owners in 2000-2002.
“There is ample evidence that human rights abuses against women in particular are prevalent in Zimbabwe, contradicting the government’s statements that these abuses are exaggerations made by organizations supported by the West,’’ said the report.
The worst instances of violence against women were in 2000-2002 when Zanu-PF’s hold on power was first seriously threatened. The assaults were motivated partly by a perception those women have lesser status in society and that they are the property of men.
The Forum received 967 reports of gender-based violence during the six-year period, out of more than 15,000 human rights violations reported.
But incidents of sexual violence are seriously under-reported, said the Forum. Most married women do not report attacks fearing being ostracised by their husbands and others. Prejudice toward those considered to be HIV positive is another motivation for silence.
Among harrowing cases cited of “political rape’’ was that of a 16-year-old girl raped by militia outside her family home to punish her mother for supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Other attacks include beatings, death threats, kidnapping and torture.
In one-way women get equal treatment with men: during demonstrations by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) protesting the impact of the worsening economic conditions upon women.
“The women are treated by the police in exactly the same way as their male counterparts in respect of the appalling conditions under which they are held (often together with their infant children), the excessive and often brutal force used in affecting their arrest and lack of provision of sanitary towels,’’ said the report.
ENDS

Scholarships For Student Victims Whose Studies Are Disrupted By Govt Harassment

ZimJournalists Arise received this release a bit late but we thought we would circulate this, owing to the active role the Zimbabwe National Students Union has been playing in giving the Mugabe regime some headaches. ZINASU President Promise Mkwananzi, Beloved Chiweshe and many others have beaten up and brutalized dozens of times, this year alone. These young men and women have revived Zimbabwean student politics reminiscent of the heady days of Arthur Mutambara, Martin Dhinha and others. However after the journalists have done their stories, coverage of how these students survive disturbances to their careers and studies, the repercussions on their academic careers are mostly ignored. These students spend days on end languishing in jails or are just simply asked not to sit exams. A case in point being Promise Mkwananzi.

By Student Solidarity Trust
Seven students who were either expelled or suspended during their tertiary
education in Zimbabwe were honoured by the Students Solidarity Trust last
week after completing their university degrees elsewhere during the course
of this year’s “against all odds” consultative meeting and ceremony held
in Bulawayo on the 18th of November 2006.

The seven received their awards of honour at a ceremony, dubbed “The
against all odds” ceremony, attended by over 130 former & current student
leaders and activists. The function coincided with the International
Students Day, which is commemorated on the 17th of November and was
witnessed by SST board members, ZINASU national council members, and
various students organizations including the Zimbabwe Students Christian
Movement, the National Movement of Catholic Students, Female Students
Network, the Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe (YIDEZ) and
SAYWHAT, a students organization that deals with reproductive health
issues.

The majority of the students completed their studies through distance
education with the University of South Africa, and various local colleges
of their choice.

The seven are Tamuka Chirimambowa, John Bomba, Evernice Munando – the only
female fellow in the trust, Eddington Shayanewako, Phillani Zamchiya,
Hillary Kundishora and Showers Mawowa. These students were direct
beneficiaries of the SST’s Students Social Safety Net Programme. The
programme avails funds for study grants, largely, with UNISA and any other
local college to politically victimised human rights defender from the
students’ movement.

“It was a fitting recognition of the tremendous valour and courage
displayed by the fellows who managed to complete their degree programmes,
after having endured sustained persecution and victimization from the
incumbent Mugabe regime,” says McDonald Lewanika, the Coordinator of the
SST.

At the same event, honorary convocations were also awarded to students who
continued to fall victim to the University administration, going through
bouts of torture, harassment, arrests and systematic de-registrations and
suspensions. These are Phillip Pasirai, Benjamin Nyandoro, Washington
Katema, Masimba Kuchera Lawrence Mashungu, Gladys Hlatshwayo, Isaac
Chimutashu, and Otto Saki, who is nowan award winning human rights lawyer
and a board member of the Students Solidarity Trust.

“They managed to attain their degrees, defying all odds,often, seeking
sanctuary under the SST’s Social Safety Net Programme,”said Lewanika.

Activism by students in Zimbabwe has been marred by the Zanu PF regime’s
ruthlessness which has seen students shot to death, brutalized and
arrested for demonstrating against increasing costs of education,
privatization and corruption as well as hardships caused by the
deteriorating economic conditions caused by the Government’s inept
policies and bad governance.

Chombo To Appoint Another Harare Commission
Makwavarara To Stay???

The term of the Makwvarara Harare Commission expires this Saturday. Local Authority and National Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo, is quoted in the state-run Herald saying another Commission will be appointed. The Minister is silent on whether or not political turn-coat Sekesayi Makwvarara will survive the chop or not. Her term has been extended three times in two years, despite divisions within the ruling party itself over her reckless extravagance.

By Trudy Stevenson Shadow Minister Of Local Government
of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara


Residents of Harare Need Elected Leadership to Run the City, Not Commissions

The life span of the Commission that has been running the affairs of the city of Harare comes to an end on Saturday this week. Residents of Harare deserve nothing short of an elected and accountable leadership to take over from the corrupt and dysfunctional Sekesai Makwavarara led Commission that was forcibly imposed on the residents by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo two years ago when he dismissed an elected MDC led Council.

It appears Minister Chombo is determined to stifle democracy by extending the term of the Makwavarara Commission. This is in-spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, typified by poor service delivery; rampant looting of council property, corruption, mismanagement of council property and carefree attitude coupled with downright arrogant behaviour towards the plight of the rate payers that is being exhibited by both the minister and members of the Commission. This is totally unacceptable and it must be stopped.

Chombo spoke of appointing a new commission as if to suggest that there was no alternative to commissions. The alternative is there and it is to give the people of Harare their democratic right to elect those that they feel are competent enough to run the affairs of the city.

MDC joins the residents of Harare in resisting Chombo’s obnoxious, stinking and hypocritical machinations by demanding their right to elect leaders of their choice to run the affairs of the city.

Latest Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe Report
November 20th- November 26th 2006
Weekly Media Update 2006-47

1.General comment
THE private media continued to pay attention to rights violations in the country. This week they carried 14 stories on rights abuses and recorded seven new incidents. These included the arrest of university students, members of the public and farmers, harassment of civic bodies and retribution against MDC supporters suspected of voting for the opposition in the October rural district council elections.

All the stories presented state security agents and ZANU PF activists as the perpetrators. However, the private radio stations largely failed to balance the victims’ allegations with official comment.
For example, SW Radio Africa (23/11) reported the MDC claiming that its supporters in most parts of rural Masvingo had “fled their homes and sought refuge in Masvingo town following threats to their lives by ZANU PF supporters and traditional chiefs”.

Reportedly, the ruling party activists were “spearheading the campaign to get rid of all MDC elements” in some parts of the province and forcing opposition supporters to “pay $2000 fines” for attending MDC rallies. No comment was sought from the police nor was there any indication that the station had tried to do so.

Although the private electronic media are operating under extremely difficult conditions, their persistent failure to indicate that they have tried to corroborate such claims or to obtain official comment damages the credibility of their reports that rely on a single source, especially an interested party.
The government media simply ignored the abuses, which of course, constitutes a total dereliction of their professional duty to inform their audiences.

In fact, the media’s inadequate coverage of topical issues was reflected by their failure to fully inform their audiences on the developments at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and the ACP-EU meetings during the week.
Except for the three stories the niche market private electronic media featured, the rest of the mainstream media ignored these important events in which the country’s deteriorating human rights situation came under scrutiny.

Even then, the private electronic media’s treatment of these issues was misleading.
New Zimbabwe.com (22/11), for example, erroneously reported that Zimbabwe’s long-delayed periodic report to ACHPR’s 40th session had been “snubbed”. This was false because it was not on the agenda and therefore not subject to discussion. In fact, the commission acknowledged receipt of the report and filed it for future consideration.
The media’s failure to accurately cover such contemporary issues reflects the level of ineptitude that exists in Zimbabwe’s media services today, while the failure to report breaking stories indicates a lack of urgency in the newsrooms of these organisations that appears to have developed as a result of a lack of journalistic competition in the country’s devastated media landscape. In the case of the government-controlled media however, it is not just professional laziness that sees them omitting important news from their bulletins and newspapers, but a wilful act of suppression, especially in respect of stories that reflect badly on the government or the ruling party.

2.Image building
THIS week the government media used President Mugabe’s visit to Iran and government’s hosting of various regional meetings to paper over the country’s pariah status. They carried 38 stories on these matters, of which 21 appeared in the official Press while ZBH aired 17.
Almost all their reports passively rehashed official statements that sought to portray the country as enjoying sound international relations.

As a result, there was no critical assessment of how exactly the country would benefit from the trip and the meetings. For example, ZBH (22/11, main bulletins) announced that “six agreements were signed” between Zimbabwe and Iran resulting in a “memorandum of understanding on social, political and economic affairs.”
Similarly, Spot FM (23/11, 8pm) simply claimed that the “lives of millions are to improve through various agreements reached at the Comesa summit” and other regional meetings the country hosted without explaining how.
Neither did it provide information on the agreements.

Instead, the official broadcaster seemed more interested in sprucing up the images of the two countries, which it alleged were victims of unwarranted Western demonisation. While Iran was unreasonably being vilified for its “nuclear programme”, ZBH claimed (20/11, morning bulletins) that Zimbabwe was unjustifiably being ostracised for its “land reform”.
No attempt was made to honestly discuss the reasons behind the West’s concerns over the two countries.
Instead, ZTV and Spot FM (20/11, 8pm) passively quoted Mugabe narrowly blaming the West for the chaos in Iraq and lambasting US President George Bush for naming Zimbabwe and Iran as part of the “axis of evil”. He contended that it was the West that were the “actual evil doers” Zimbabwe and Iran had to fight “in order to re-establish a multi-polar world”.

The official Press’ reports were cut from the same cloth.
The Herald and Chronicle (21/11), for example, passively reported Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad exalting Mugabe as a “prominent, influential and just leader, a person who loves freedom” and a “leading fighter against colonialism on the African continent”.
Without reconciling such remarks with the situation on the ground, particularly state-sanctioned human rights violations, they then reported (22/11) Iran as having pledged to “stand by Zimbabwe” and condemn the “illegal economic sanctions imposed against Harare by the West”.

Besides allowing Iran to dishonestly present the targeted travel sanctions imposed on the ruling elite as a trade embargo, the papers did not explain the actual reasons behind their imposition.
The official media’s attempt to gloss over the country’s isolation was also apparent in the manner they handled the country’s hosting of regional ministerial meetings and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) summit.

Instead of examining the import of the meetings, these media narrowly projected them as yet another affirmation of the international community’s confidence in Zimbabwe.
For instance, The Herald (21/11) claimed that contrary to “blatant lies peddled by the Western propaganda machinery” that Zimbabwe was isolated, the country’s membership to Comesa “shows it has never been out of the family of nations”.

The government media’s selective use of favourable statements by foreign diplomats to distort the country’s true international status and their failure to professionally handle the matter was reflected in their sourcing patterns.
Notably, none of the official media tried to balance their reports with alternative views.
Except for the Mirror group, the rest of the 11 stories that the private media carried (Press 9, electronic media 2) did not see anything beneficial from the presidential visit to Iran and the regional summits, which they generally ignored.
They noted that the Iran visit would not benefit Zimbabwe’s economy and would actually result in further mortgaging the country’s mineral resources.

For example, Studio 7 (21/11) and The Financial Gazette (23/11) revealed that Zimbabwe had “agreed to supply Iran with (several) minerals” to settle its debt. The Zimbabwe Independent and SW Radio Africa (24/11) carried similar reports noting that previous deals Mugabe had signed with various countries to halt Zimbabwe’s economic decline had not yielded the desired results.

In addition, the two pointed out that although Zimbabwe had granted Russia and China mineral rights in an effort to attract economic aid from the East, the region has so far “not given Mugabe credit lines”.

This, SW Radio Africa observed, was due to the “lawless business environment” that government had created in the country.
Although the private media carried fewer stories, they critically handled the subject as illustrated by the private electronic media’s balanced sourcing pattern.

3.Economy and corruption
THE official media continued to bury the extent of the country’s economic decline and its actual causes in stories that projected government’s economic turnaround strategies as paying dividends.
For example, 85% of the 40 stories the official Press carried on the economy were glowing reports on measures the authorities were taking to address the country’s haemorrhaging economy. The remaining six narrowly blamed corruption for the country’s economic distress, characterised by the galloping cost of living, commodity shortages, decaying infrastructure and poor service delivery.

But instead of interpreting these issues in light of government’s mismanagement record, the papers simply presented the authorities as working tirelessly to clean up the mess.
The Herald (20/11), for example, unquestioningly revealed that government would renew its US$50 million fuel deal with French bank BNP Paribas “as it battles to address the fuel woes dogging the country”.
No attempt was made to probe the source of the funds or discuss the quantity of fuel to be procured under the facility in relation to the country’s requirements.

Likewise, The Sunday Mail (26/11) merely announced – without analysis - that the authorities had struck deals with Russian and Iranian companies to build power plants in their efforts to boost the country’s ailing capacity to generate electricity.
ZBH was no different in its 38 stories on the topic.
It highlighted symptoms of economic decline in isolation of government policies and passively allowed officials to narrowly blame business for the economic chaos while defending their turn-around strategies.
For example, Spot FM and ZTV (22/11, 8pm) allowed Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa to blame business for commodity shortages saying his 2007 budget, which would be premised on a “promising agricultural season” would “deal with unscrupulous business people who create artificial shortages” without explaining how.

ZTV also simply granted Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono carte blanche to present a deceitful defence of the printing of money as a “necessary evil” that would lay “the basis for stability and recovery for future generations”. The negative ramifications of such policies on the country’s struggling economy were utterly ignored.
The official media’s reluctance to examine the authorities’ policy deficiencies complemented their efforts to promote government measures as an antidote for the ailing economy.

It was against this background that The Herald and Chronicle (20/11) passively reported Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe official David Govere claiming that the country’s economy “would recover” next year because of the government’s NEDPP and stakeholders’ “unprecedented determination to rectify macro-economic fundamentals…”
The government papers’ biased coverage in defence of government policies was illustrated by their dependence on official voices.
Although ZBH’s sourcing pattern appeared fairly balanced,the views raised by its commentators were either buried in official pronouncements or used to endorse government policies.

The private media remained candid about the country’s gloomy economic outlook and its root causes in the 55 stories they carried on the subject. Of these, 50 appeared in the private papers and five in the private electronic media.
The stories reported news of commodity shortages, price increases, the drastic decline in industrial productivity, mismanagement of state-owned enterprises, crippling forex shortages and the continued weakening value of the local currency.

In one of the stories, The Daily Mirror (20/11) revealed that several companies in the manufacturing sector were “operating at below 10% capacity”, adding that Olivine Industries had “ceased the production of cooking oil owing to the unavailability of raw materials”.
SW Radio Africa (22/11) and The Financial Gazette (23/11) quoted economists and business attributing such problems and commodity shortages to government’s failed economic policies.

In fact, the Gazette noted that the much-publicized NEDPP was “heading for the dustbin” as government was now “drafting its successor”. It quoted economists saying the crafting of another economic blueprint was not only “an admission of failure to fix the crisis by the government” but demonstrated “confusion” surrounding the country’s economic management.
The Zimbabwe Independent concurred, noting that NEDPP had “missed almost all of its targets”.

As further evidence of government’s failed policies, Studio 7 (24/11) quoted economist John Robertson warning that the local currency would slide to US$1:ZW$4000 by end of December and “plummet to $18,000 by end of 2007” on the parallel market “unless the government institutes bold economic and political reforms”.
The Gazette and Independent also followed up on the alleged plundering of state enterprises by government officials.

While the Gazette provided more details on the alleged involvement of Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo in the ZUPCO scandal, the Independent announced that Parliament intended to summon government officials implicated in the pillaging of Ziscosteel (Zisco) to “explain themselves”.

Although the official media referred to these issues, all six corruption stories either projected government as committed to stemming graft, or simply reported on the official dismissal of allegations of corruption by the authorities.

The private media’s critical assessment of the country’s continuing economic crisis was reflected by the private papers’ attempts to balance official voices with comments from those outside government.

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw

ZimJournalists Arise Does Not Take Responsibility For The Content Of This Report

A French Twist To World News.

By ZimJournalists Arise
Not to be outdone by USA’s CNN, the British’s BBC, the Middle East’s Al-Jazeera, the French have launched their own 24 hour news channel this week. The channel which will be televised across the globe, seeks to articulate France’s vision and values to the world 24/7. Televised broadcast on two channels will be transmitted to Europe, Middle East and Africa via satellite to 75 million households in more than 90 countries. ZimJournalists Arise could not immediately establish whether or not Zimbabwean on satellite will be able to access the channel. To date only Americans living in Washington dc who have Comcast cable will able to view. An Arabic language channel is to air next year, with Spanish expected to follow in the next three years

Zimbabwe Living Standards Drop By 150%
By IRIN

Zimbabwe's living standards have declined by 150 percent within the last decade, says a poverty assessment survey complied and published by the public service and social welfare ministry.

"The period 1996 to 2005 was marked by accelerated deterioration in the socio-economic situation," the survey said. "In contrast to the development achievements of the first ten years of independence (granted from Britain in 1980), the decade of the 1990s witnessed a turnaround of economic fortunes as economic decline set in and structural problems of high poverty and inequality persisted."

The social welfare ministry survey revealed that between 1995 and 2003, more than 63 percent of rural people could not obtain enough money to meet both basic food and non-food requirements, while the figure in urban areas was 53 percent. The survey covered 58 rural districts and 27 urban areas across the country's ten provinces.

Minimum monthly incomes of urban dwellers declined sharply during the same period because of the "deteriorating macro-economic environment, characterised by hyperinflation, negative GDP [gross domestic product] and shrinking formal job opportunities".

Gender was also recognised as having an impact on poverty levels. "Female-headed households, who are already mostly very poor, are moving towards the bottom limit," the ministry said. Since the last survey in 1995, malnutrition in children under five increased by 35 percent, people without access to clean water increased by 25 percent, and the number of people without access to healthcare went up by 48 percent.

The ZANU-PF government has experimented with six different economic policies since 1996, with dire consequences: hyperinflation has been hovering around 1,000 percent - the highest in the world; unemployment levels are above 70 percent; the industrial base has contracted by a third since 2000; foreign currency is scarce; shortages of basic commodities, such as food and energy, have become commonplace.

The poverty assessment cited the country's economic problems after the withdrawal of international donor support "following the implementation of a controversial land reform programme" as a contributing factor to the economic meltdown.

In 2000 President Robert Mugabe's government embarked on a fast-track land redistribution exercise that sought to give land to thousands of blacks from impoverished communal areas by removing more than 4,000 commercial white farmers from their farms. The European Union and the United States subsequently imposed limited sanctions on top government officials for human rights violations and Mugabe's disputed re-election in 2002.

According to independent analysts, the farming sector, once one of the main foreign exchange earners, has shrunk by about 65 percent as a result of the land reform programme.

The survey said poverty, already growing, had been worsened by recurrent droughts and floods, as well as an 18.1 percent HIV/ AIDS prevalence - one of the world's highest - which compounded non-productivity in the farming sector, as a recent ministry of agriculture study had concluded.

Farming communities were among the majority of areas that did not have access to health centres, with people having to travel more than 10km to the nearest clinic or hospital.

Rising medical costs forced about 30 percent of pregnant women to deliver at home, and skilled personnel attended to only 72 percent of those who went to health centres to have their babies, mostly due to an exodus of health workers in search of better salaries and working conditions.

Falling standards of living have made basics seem like luxuries. "I bought a wardrobe, bed and radio with my first salary but these things are now a pipedream for most people - even those with the so-called executive jobs," Sibangani Nkomo, 45, a teacher now employed as a human resources officer at a leading wholesaler in the capital, Harare, told IRIN.

Nkomo takes home Z$200,000 (US$800) a month, most of which is absorbed by rent, leaving him with no option but to borrow from friends and loan sharks. His wife went to Britain three years ago, where she works as a child minder and sends home the occasional US$200.

He has not been able to visit his elderly mother in rural Masvingo, about 250km south of Harare, for the past three years because he cannot afford the cost of transport. "When I can, I send her [my mother] a packet of sugar and a bottle of cooking oil through the driver of the bus that gets to my rural home, and I know she thinks I no longer care about her."

Before the country's economic meltdown, Nkomo said, weekends were spent with friends, when they would drink beer or attend local soccer matches. Nowadays, economic restraints keep him housebound.

According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), in October the basic monthly cost of living for a family of six was Z$141,706 (US$566); in November it cost at least Z$208,000 (US$832) - a 47.3 percent increase.

"CCZ is greatly concerned about the general price increases, especially in the month of November, which recorded significant increases compared to other months in the year," the consumer watchdog said in a statement.

MISA Zimbabwe Analysis Of Draft Bill of the Interception of Communications Bill, 2006

Introduction

This is an analysis carried out by the Media Institute of Southern
Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe comparing the 1st and 2nd Draft Bills of the
Interception of Communications Bill. MISA-Zimbabwe makes a commentary of the
serious implications of this proposed law in the last half of this
analysis.

After submissions were made on the Interception of Communication Bill
(H.B 4, 2006) by stakeholders at a Parliamentary Public Hearing, and to
Parliament after the Hearing, the Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs - Patrick Chinamasa presented a motion to the House of
Assembly in the following terms:

"That the present text of the Interception of Communication Bill (H.B
4, 2006) currently in the Order Paper be withdrawn and be replaced by a
new consolidated text of the Bill in terms of Standing Order No. 128
and that the new Bill be treated as having been introduced in terms of
Standing Order No. 103 and referred to the Parliamentary Legal
Committee."

The House of Assembly approved the motion on Tuesday 7th November 2006.
A new Consolidated Text of the Bill has now been developed, pursuant to
the subject motion.

This presentation compares to the two sets of documents, and provides a
critical analysis of the proposed communications law.

1.Technical and Quantitative Comparison between the ORIGINAL BILL,
with the NEW CONSOLIDATED TEXT

In this presentation, the original Interception of Communication Bill
(H.B 4, 2006, that was published in the Government Gazette of 26 May
2006, shall be referred to as the "Original Bill". The revised document
that has replaced to Original Bill pursuant to the motion that was
approved by the House of Assembly on Tuesday 7th November 2007 shall be
referred to as the "New Consolidated Text."

There are at least 38 differences between the Original Bill and the New
Consolidated Text. Certain differences are major, some are minor,
others are significant and many are insignificant. The differences are as
follows:

1.1 In the summary contained in the introductory part of the New
Consolidated Text, relating to "Part V" of the Bill, Appellant Jurisdiction
is transferred from the Minister to the Administrative Court

1.2 Still in the same paragraph (referred to in 1.1 herein above,
under the Original Bill there is provision for a two-stage appeal process,
that is firstly an Appeal to the Minister, then secondly an Appeal to
the Administrative Court. Under the new consolidated text, Appellant
jurisdiction lies solely with the Administrative Court. It is a one-tier
Appeal process.

1.3 The summary for Part V under the New Consolidated Text bestows
upon the Attorney General (AG), review powers in respect of interception
issues. The relevant summary under the Original Bill makes no mention
of the review powers for the AG.

1.4 On the Index, on the s7 part thereof, the Original Bill refers to
"Scope of Warrant" only, yet the New Consolidated Text expands the
matter to "Scope of Warrant and Renewal thereof."

1.5 The s10 item on the Original Bill index carries the word
"telecommunication". The New Consolidated Text contains "telecommunications"

1.6 The New Consolidated Text's index includes "Review of Exercise of
Minister's powers under this Act" as s19. This item is absent from the
Original Bill.

1.7 In the Interpretation or definitions section, for the definition
of the term "authorized person", the Original Text refers to s5 (1) but
the New Consolidated Text simply refers to s5.

1.8 The Original Text contains a definition for the term
"Interception Subject" or "target". The term and its accompanying definition are
omitted in the New Consolidated Text.

1.9 The New Consolidated Text defines the term "national security of
Zimbabwe". There is no such definition in the Original Text.

1.10 The New Consolidated Text also defines the term "organized
criminal group".

Again, there is no such definition in the Original Text.

1.11 The definition of the term "serious offence" under the New
Consolidated Text differs from the one offered in the Original Text. Whereas
the Original Bill simply assigns the definition provided in the Serious
Offences (Confiscation of Profits) Act (Chapter 9:17) to the proposed
Act, the New Consolidated Text provides an independent definition, that
is: "conduct constituting an offence punishable by a maximum
deprivation of liberty of at least four years or a more serious penalty."

1.12 s4 of the Original Bill provides that "the technical experts shall
give technical advise …", but the same section in the New
Consolidated Text stipulates that "the monitoring centre shall give technical
advice …"

1.13 at the end of s5 (3) (e) of the New Consolidated Text, the word
"and" is inserted. That word does not appear on that spot in the
Original Bill

1.14 The provisions in s6 (1) (a) (i) and (ii) of the New
Consolidated Text are fresh.
The issuance of warrants relating to (i)"a serious offence by an
organised group

…", and (ii) an offence referred to in the Third Schedule or the
Ninth Schedule of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter
9:07), do not arise in the original Bill.

1.15 In the Original Bill there is a provision [s6 (1) (d) ] for the
issuance of a warrant if "there is a threat to the national interest
involving the State's international relations or obligations." That
clause is omitted in the New Consolidated Text.

1.16 s7 (1) (a) of the New Consolidated Text starts with "subject to
subsection (2), ..". The provisions of the same section in the Original
Bill are not made subject to any other part of the Bill. The phrase
"subject to subsection (2), .." does not appear in the Original Bill.

1.17 S7 (1) (a) also has the effect of extending the life of a renewed
warrant from one month, to three months. Clearly the duration over
which a citizen's right to communication is interfered with is longer
under the New Consolidated Text than it is in the Original Bill.

1.18 The Provisions in s7 (1) (a) (i) and (ii) in the New Consolidated
Text do not appear in the Original Text. These provisions relate to
warrants that may be renewed by the Minister (i) in respect of a serious
offence by an organised criminal group, or (ii) or in relation to
serious offences as listed in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

1.19 s7 (1) (a) (ii) of the New Consolidated Text also introduces an
aspect that is not included in the Original Bill. This fresh provision
compels the Minister, before issuing a warrant, to consult the Attorney
General (AG), that is in matters relating to offences arising from the
Third Schedule or the Ninth Schedule of the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act.

1.20 s7 (2) of the New Consolidated Text does not appear at all in the
Original Bill.This new section is to the effect that "upon
expiry of a warrant … or within six months of such expiry, the warrant
may, for good cause shown by the authorised person, be renewed for a
further period not exceeding three months -

(a) by the Minister in consultation with the AG in respect of a serious
offence by an organised group or in matters relating to national
security, national economic interests, or public safety."

1.21 s7 (3) of the New Consolidated Text is also a whole new provision.
It is not contained in the Original Bill. In the new section, it is
provided that "upon expiry of a warrant … or within six months of such
expiry, the warrant may, for good cause shown by the authorised person,
be renewed for a further period not exceeding three months by the
Administrative Court upon an Ex-Parte application by the authorised person
concerned." (N.B. An Ex Parte application is one that is made by one
party without the other party being called upon to respond to the
allegations raised.)

1.22 s7 (4) of the New Consolidated Text is not included in the
Original Bill. This new section provides that "every renewal that is sought
within six months of the expiry of a warrant that was renewed in terms
of (the law), may be renewed for further periods not exceeding three
months at a time by the Administrative Court upon an ex parte application
by the authorised person concerned."

1.23 Also not featuring in the Original Bill but included in the New
Consolidated Text is s7 (5) which stipulates that "an authorised person
shall notify the Minister in advance and in writing of any application
for the renewal of a warrant …"

1.24 s9 (1) (c) of the Original Text refers to "call-related"
information …, yet the New Consolidated Text 'talks' of "call-relation"
information …

1.25 in the New Consolidated Text, s9 (1) (i) starts with the word:
"that …" The same section in the Original Bill starts from "all
interceptions ….)

1.26 In the New Consolidated Text, the punctuation is slightly changed
by the addition of a comma under s11 (5) (a) between the words "which"
and "alone" - "those the disclosure of which, alone …

1.27 In s11 (6) (a), the draftsman/ woman makes a futile attempt to
correct the bad English that had been used in the Original Bill. The
Original Bill provided that "if a person to whom a notice has been given -

(a)has been in possession of any key to the protected information,
but no longer in possesses it …" In the New Consolidated Text,
relevant portion reads: "… any key to the protected information, but is no
longer possesses it …"

1.28 The Original Bill in its s12 (5) (b) stipulates compliance "with
this section and section 9", but the New Consolidated Text provides for
compliance "with section 9" only, which means that the phrase 'this
section and' has been omitted in the New Consolidated Text.

1.29 Under section 13 (1) (a) of the Original Bill, the proposed law
refers to the execution of "a warrant or directive …". The New
Consolidated Text expands the execution to include: "a warrant, notice or
directive …". That is to say the execution of a notice is fresh to the New
Consolidated Text.

1.30 In the New Consolidated Text, sections 13 (2) and 13 (3) of the
Original Bill are reversed so that s13 (2) of the Original Bill is now
s13(3) in the New Consolidated Text, and s13 (3) of the Original Bill is
now s 13 (2) in the New Consolidated Text.

1.31 Punctuation is slightly amended in s13 (3) of the New Consolidated
Text, by the insertion of a comma between the words "providers" and
"or", that is to say - "…categories of service providers, or protected
…" The comma does not appear in the Original Bill.

1.32 s13 (4) of the Original Bill refers to " … personnel and
administration services which are required …", but the same section under
the New Consolidated Text drops the "services" so that it reads: " …
personnel and administration which are required …"

1.33 The Appeals sections of the two documents also differ. On the one
hand s18 (1) of the Original Bill provides that "any person who is
aggrieved by a warrant, directive or order issued …". On the other hand,
the same section in the s18 (1) provides that "any person who is
aggrieved by a warrant, a directive referred to in section 6 (2) (a) or a
directive or order issued …". The addition to the New Consolidated Text
is therefore the phrase: " a directive referred to in section 6 (2)
(a)"

1.34 Under the New Consolidated Text, in section 18 (1) thereof,
appeals will be heard by the Administrative Court, not the Minister as was
provided for under the Original Bill.

1.35 The New Consolidated Text, in s18 (1) thereof, the grace period
within which an appeal may be lodged by an aggrieved party is extended
from the fourteen days/ two weeks that were provided in the Original
Bill, upwards to one month, that is four weeks.

1.36 Under the Original Bill, in s18 (1) thereof, the Minister had
authority to "vary or set aside the warrant, directive or order appealed
against. He/ she has been stripped of such powers under the New
Consolidated Text.

1.37 The New Consolidated Text contains a whole new section - s18 (3),
which does not appear in the Original Bill. The new section provides
that: "For the avoidance of doubt, the Administrative Court is an
"adjudicating authority" for the purposes of the Courts and Adjudicating
Authorities (Publicity Restriction) Act [Chapter 7:04] when considering an
Appeal in terms of this section." Section 19 of the New Consolidated
Text - "Review of Minister's powers under this Act" - is fresh to the
New Consolidated Text. It is not part of the Original Bill. The new
section provides that not later than three months after the end of each
calendar year, the Minister shall submit for review by the AG, a written
summary of the warrants that were issued during the subject year, which
were not renewed.

1.38 The inevitable result of the addition of a new section 19 to the
New Consolidated Text is that what appeared as s19 in the Original Bill,
that is "Regulations", is now section 20 under the New Consolidated
Text. The content of the section however remains wholly unchanged.

2.A Critical and Qualitative Analysis of the New Consolidated Text

Under this part of the analysis, the proposed law, as appearing
under the Original Bill, and as amended by the New Consolidated Text,
shall be referred to simply as "the proposed law", or "the Bill".

2.1It is quite clear from the technical and quantitative
analysis given herein above that the New Consolidated Text is not
substantially different from the Original Bill.

2.2The most notable observation is that the New Consolidated
Text (the Bill) still carries unconstitutional provisions in that it
threatens citizens' fundamental rights to privacy freedom of conscience,
expression and association.

2.3The Bill still attempts to overturn the outcome of the Law
Society of Zimbabwe Vs the Minister of Transport and Communications, and
the Attorney General case of the year 2003, which ruled that freedom of
expression includes freedom from interference with correspondence
(electronic or postal).

2.4 That case also made it clear that laws with vague
provisions, and which bestow extremely broad and unfettered powers to an
individual without checks and balances are not reasonable. That is the case
with the proposed law.

2.5 The Bill carries vague and broad provisions. It contains
terms like "any directive" [s6 (2) (a) ], and "any other information"
[s10 (1) (c)]. It renders wide discretionary powers to individuals. The
last paragraph of the summary section of the Bill states that the
Minister shall be empowered to make regulations for all matters which in his
opinion, are necessary or convenient to be prescribed. All that
constitutes a bad law.

2.6 This Bill also introduces unprecedented grounds for law
making. The minister is empowered to legislate for convenience or
expedience (see s12 (3) (d) of the Bill), to the benefit of the government, and
potentially to the detriment of citizens. Authorised persons are also
given wide discretionary or opinionated powers (e.g s11 (7) (b), they
may destroy records "if in the opinion of the authorised person …" it
is appropriate to do so.)

2.7 It is not clear why the Attorney General has been granted
review powers, and the right to be consulted on certain issues under the
Bill.

2.8 Although attempts are made at defining the terms: "national
security", and "organised criminal group", the issues surrounding these
terms remain largely debatable and vague.

2.9The definition of Minister also leaves the legislative
function open to all sorts of possibilities. Any person whom the President,
in his whim and caprice, wishes to lend legislative powers, could end
up deciding on these critical issues affecting civil liberties,
notwithstanding the competence or otherwise of such a person to deal with the
relevant issues. This cannot be acceptable in a democratic society.

2.10 Authorised persons are also empowered to nominate persons of
their choice to apply for warrants. That is also a dangerous provision
as the discretionary powers bestowed upon the Minister are too wide.

2.11 The Bill makes very little provision for citizens to respond
to the allegations that lead to warrants being issued against them.
That is contrary to the principles of natural justice, which require that
both parties to an issue must be given a fair chances to present their
respective accounts on the subject issue.

2.12 The circumstances under which requests may be granted under ex
parte applications, in the Bill, are not justifiable. The issues that
are subjected to ex parte proceedings are not as serious or as urgent
enough as is required under common law.

2.13 The duration of warrants (3 months) is far too long. Why
should a citizen's privacy be under invasion for such a long time? The
Original Bill provided that the life of a renewed warrant would be only
one month long. The New Consolidated Text extends it to three months,
which is an exacerbation of the infringement of the citizen's liberties.

2.14 And the Bill does not provide any limit as to the number of
times for which warrants may be renewed. Any law should afford the
citizen a substantial degree of certainty.

2.15 The Bill also carries heavy custodial sentences. For
instance, s3 (3) of the Bill provides for a maximum sentence of five years
imprisonment on persons who intercept or attempt to intercept communication
without a warrant. S11 (8) imposes the same period of imprisonment
upon persons who fail to disclose a required key. These situations could
be resolved through civil proceedings.

2.16 The Bill is an illustration of the government's determination
to criminalise, more and more, matters that should ordinarily be dealt
with in civil courts, or through alternative dispute resolution.

2.17 The autonomy of the proposed Monitoring of Interception of
Communications Centre is threatened by the provision that technical
experts at the Centre shall be designated by "the government
telecommunications agency …"

2.18 The proposed law is grossly unfair as it seeks to impose
financial obligations upon corporate citizens, in a fashion that is not
justifiable in a democratic society.

2.19 Under the proposed law, private, confidential and personal
information may be intercepted and abused by the system. Lawyer-client
confidentiality, banker-customer confidentiality, husband-wife
confidentiality, and all other forms of confidentiality, shall be breached should
the proposed law be enacted into actual law.

2.20 Service providers including those in the Internet Service
Provision, the banking, the legal, and other industries and profession,
will no longer be able to assure their clients that issues discussed, or
information conveyed in the normal transaction of business, will remain
private and confidential

2.21 Service providers in the communications industry shall be
forced to incur huge capital and foreign currency expenses for the
acquisition of hardware and software that will become necessary for compliance
with the proposed law. Some players in the industry could be driven
out of business. The technical description of the hardware and software
facilities outlined in section 9 of the Bill makes it clear that it
will be a costly exercise.

2.22To worsen the plight of the targeted businesses, the Bill also
excludes compensation for indirect costs. (see s13 (4))

2.23The provisions for compensation in the Bill are insufficient
to protect the financial interests of players in the industry. S13 (1)
(b) of the Bill provides that the Minister … shall prescribe
"reasonable tariffs of compensation payable …". This means the Minister could
still decide that the sum claimed by a service provider as
compensation, is unreasonable, notwithstanding the actual sums that the service
provider would have spent on the required machinery and software.

2.24 The Bill is also flawed in its failure to provide for
compensation or damages in cases of the issuance of wrongful or malicious
warrants. The protection granted to authorised persons is unjustifiable.

2.25 The in-house and mass media industries could also be adversely
affected as news materials could be intercepted in the course of
transmission, thereby making it impossible or difficult for the relevant
media houses to operate. That would also naturally limit the nation's
access to information but infringe on freedom of expression rights.

2.26 The Bill attempts to present the government as a friendly
authority. There is reference in section 9 of the Bill to "assistance by
service providers". But the state is certainly not seeking assistance.
It is crafting a decree. In s9 (2) of the Bill, it is declared that
"a service provider who fails to give assistance … shall be guilty of
an offence and liable to a fine …" Assistance by its very nature,
ought to be charitable. Once the slightest degree of force or penalties
arises, the term assistance becomes inappropriate.

2.27 The word "recommendation" is also used inappropriately in s19
(3) of the Bill because the Minister is compelled to comply. To say "
… the Minister shall comply …" makes the provision peremptory, and
it renders the word recommendation redundant. "Directive" would be a
better word.

2.28 The authors of the proposed law are not as friendly and
compassionate as might be suggested by the use of soft words in the Bill.

2.29 The Bill still caries sections with problematic word
arrangement, and bad English. Any law must be well presented to citizens.

2.30 The Bill does not make it clear what the effect of an appeal
will be upon a warrant.

2.31It is also not clear why the AG's review function should be
exercised only at the end of each year, when in fact citizens are
affected by the law throughout the year. It is also not clear why the review
process should apply only to the warrants that were not renewed.

Positive developments in bill

2.32.1 The reduction of Ministerial powers through transfer of certain
functions to the Administrative Courts, and the provision of review
functions by the AG or the Administrative Court

2.32.2 The inclusion of some rudimentary (though inadequate) system of
checks and balances through the involvement of the Attorney General.
(the AG might not the best office to provide that function)

2.32.3 The Bill extends the grace period within which appeals may be
lodged from two weeks (in the Original Bill) to four weeks (in the New
Consolidated Text). As stated earlier, the shortcoming under this
process is that it is not clear what the effect of the appeal would be on the
warrant. And, further, the victim might not become aware that a
warrant has been issued against him, which lack of knowledge would deprive
him/ her from his/ her right to appeal.

2.32.4 Appellate authority has been transferred from the Minister to
the Administrative Court.

2.32.5 Discretion under the Appeals section of the Bill has been
transferred from the Minister to the Administrative Court, and such
discretion has been limited to the issue of costs.

It goes without saying that the negative aspects of the proposed law outweigh the positive ones.

The Interception of Communications Bill, 2006, even in its revised
form, is a retrogressive and repressive piece of law that has no place in a
democratic society. No amount of revision would justify the impending
snooping. The Bill fails to disclose the solid objective behind the
proposal for interception of communications.

Analysis done by Chris Mhike (Legal Practitioner) on Behalf of
MISA-Zimbabwe
For any questions, enquiries, queries please contact:

Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe
84 McChlery Avenue
Eastlea
Box HR 8113
Harare Zimbabwe
Tel +263 4 776165 or +263 11 602 448 or +263 11 621 015
E-mail misa@mweb.co.zw, wilbert@misazim.co.zw