Dismissal of Mahoso from Daily News case described as insignificant

By Henry Makiwa
15 November 2007

Media analysts have described the omission of Tafataona Mahoso from the government committee looking into the Daily News case, as a non-event.

This follows a public statement by Sikhanyiso Ndlovu on Wednesday, in which the Information minister announced that Media and Information Commission (MIC) chairman Mahoso and fellow board member,
Pascal Mukondiwa will not be part of the new-look committee on the case. Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) executives, who published the banned Daily News and Daily News on Sunday newspapers, had raised concern about the impartiality of the two Zanu PF zealots.

Ndlovu’s announcement has been viewed as a toning down of the government’s hard-line stance towards the freeing of media space. It is understood that the Mugabe regime has been under pressure from brokers of the mediated talks between the ruling party and the MDC, to allow the Daily News to begin publishing again.

Critics have fingered Mahoso as the chief conspirator in the banning of the two ANZ papers and the closure of others.

At a press conference in Harare Ndlovu said Chinondidyachii Mararike has been appointed interim chairman to deal with the ANZ application and would replace Mahoso.

Observers have dismissed the changes to the committee, given that Mararike is a known Zanu PF sympathiser. He is a former head of a London-based “anti-imperialism” organisation called Davirai Mhere and is a lawyer and columnist in the state-run media, commenting on fighting “western propaganda”.

Former Daily News editor, Bill Saidi, said that the government should stop “throwing red herrings” and reconstitute the Daily News forthwith.

He said: “They can fool some people sometimes but they can’t fool all the people all the time. The whole case needs to be treated as a matter of urgency now because the government will be more than happy to still go ahead and hold the crucial elections in March under current conditions. We need a free press before then and in good time too, to make sure that the electorate is well informed long before the polls. It will not make much of a difference if they award the ANZ a license in February because then there will be not enough time for the media to play its role to inform and educate society. I wouldn’t entertain any hopes as yet, these people (Zanu PF) are cunning, and they can be ruthless.”

The two ANZ papers were banned by the government on 11 September 2003 under the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Supreme Court ruled then that the company was publishing its two titles outside the law because it refused to register them under tough media laws introduced following Mugabe's controversial re-election in 2002.

However, in May this year a High Court judge ordered the MIC to consider a fresh application for the newspapers, resulting in these new members being named to the board to handle the application.

A free media is extremely important to ensure free and fair elections. It is interesting that freeing the airwaves for radio, which reaches by far the largest audience in Zimbabwe, is not being discussed.