The media of Zimbabwe has seen varying
amounts of control by successive governments, coming under tight restriction in
recent years by the government of Robert Mugabe, particularly during the growing
socio-economic and political calamity in the country. The article is basically
goaded by
the recent political dynamics at play in the country as we have
witnessed ZANU PF and MDC-T Leader Morgan Tsvangirai employing “umabonwa
abulawe” tactics to eliminate internal rivals as been apparent in the media
of late. As the adage goes “he who pays the piper dictates the tune” couldn’t
be false in this scenario. The ZANU PF factions fight will be referred to as
the “October Massacre” in this paper named after the month in which President
Robert Mugabe’s control of the state media enabled him to influence public
opinion, humiliate and demoralize the apparent opponent Vice President Joyce
Teurai Ropa Mujuru through the state media who are instrumental in the on-going
anti-corruption campaign towards ZANU PF’s elective congress to be held later
this year.
In the same vein, divergent schools of thought may want to view the
actions of the media towards the First Vice President Joyce Mujuru, as the
fourth estate role that the media is generally required to carry out in a democratic
sphere. The prime roles of the media in a democracy is to act as a fourth
estate as it is mandated to act as a monitor of the government behavior and
guards the public interests by highlighting cases of maladministration, abuse
of power and corruption as is the case with the Joyce “Teurayi Ropa” Mujuru who
has been accused in many publications of massive corruption practices and
recently the Bulawayo based Chronicle was screaming about her alleged Chicken
Import scandal. By covering such cases the media helps in assuring and
promoting accountability and transparency of governments and other powerful
factions. It is then without fear or favor that the author believes that the
watchdog role is perhaps the most obvious role with regards to corruption and
we can draw so many examples where the media acted as catalysts for change by
highlighting malfeasance.
It is again in the same vein that this author seeks to ask the question:
“Are we not just being taken for a ride?” this question is aroused by the mere
fact that straight from being endorsed as the new government, the media has
been used as a whistle-blower as they have played a key role in exposing
corruption in the government ministries and in the public sectors, a move that
saw the likes of ZBC Boss, Happison Muchechetere, PSMAS Boss Cuthbert Dube
amongst others fired from their positions but was just firing the cash cows
justice enough for the people? I believe it is very unfortunate that as the
country has gone through all the “salary gate” scandals, we have lost sight of
the bigger picture where citizens must be demanding the prosecution of the
looters. Instead of doing a follow up on those cases and advocating for
justice, the clever government knew that gossip and confusion will divert the
not so intelligent Zimbabweans from the Salary gate scandal by introducing the
“October Massacre” that I believe will be dwelled upon until whoever the
craftsmen is derives a lucrative dummy to divert our attention to a new issue
and leave this one as stale as it is.
Before we even tackle the Salary gate, it is imperative to note how the
media has been used as a dummy to divert our attention from focusing on the
failure by the government to address bread and butter issues that are
affecting the populace of this country on a daily basis, issues relating
strongly to service delivery, employment creation, the failure or achievements
of the ZimAsset (Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic
Transformation) program so far, the enactment of the constitutionally
protected devolution of power, protection of the rights of children, women and
other special groups mentioned in the constitution.
Instead of forcing the Robert Mugabe regime to give Zimbabweans
answers, we have a media that focuses on destroying any discordant voices that
have the potential to really challenge him. They report heavily on stories that
empower Mugabe’s biggest excuses. Excuses such as: the economic decline was
caused by the illegal sanctions don’t blame me, Zimbabwe’s problems have become
our problems, this is global, don’t blame me. The common message shared by
Mugabe and his minions in the media is clear. Mugabe doesn’t own this economic
apocalypse. Collectively they shout, it is Mujuru’s fault. In the meantime the
economic collapse is morphing into a catastrophic, systemic failure.
One factor that we cannot run away from as a people no matter how the
media plays a blind eye is that there has been an increase in unemployment
nationwide. The “new” government is failing to create employment as a service
for its productive age group. Zimbabwe’s economy has degenerated into liquidity
crunch – a state of short supply of cash to lend to business and consumers with
high interests rates. As a result, companies and industries are closing at an unsustainable
rate. On average, 300 people are retrenched every week to join thousands of
other unemployed, professionally trained people. But it is uninteresting that
some of the few companies that have remained open are failing to pay their
employees. Examples are Hwange Colliery Mine and National Railways of Zimbabwe.
When a government is voted into power, it assumes a constitutional mandate to
deliver social, economic and political goods to its citizens. The government
should be constantly reminded to provide services for its citizens so that they
can fulfill their potentials.
Of note are the recent strikes by the junior and middle level doctors in
Zimbabwe, a situation that has worsened the already crumbling Zimbabwe’s
health-care services. If I had the power to influence the minds of the populace
of this lovely nation in the south of the Sahara I would mobilize people to
rise up and demand that the government pays living wages to the people
entrusted with our health. It is also imperative that the government and law
makers who are quick to rush to other countries for medical treatment realize
that they are putting our lives as poor tax payers at risk. I imagine with the
Region 5 games set to be hosted in Bulawayo in a few weeks to come, the vast
number of visitors that Zimbabwe will get from neighboring countries coupled
with the Ebola outbreaks… The rest is figment to imagination.
It is however key to note that when a government is elected into office,
it seizes to become a party entity and it is in this notion that t author
pleads with the youthful generation regardless of their political affiliation
unite and tackle the bull by its horns and demand what is rightfully theirs.
Folding hands and watching our motherland go to the dogs will never yield any
result but prove that we are a coward generation with a victim mentality and
always waiting for thing to be done for them. Taking a leaf from the liberation
struggle, it was the young that became vibrant and organized themselves into
voices of reason that led to the freedom of this country we call Zimbabwe
today. One person once said to me, “Nothing bits the power of somebody with no
power in society; one thing that the powerless people are good at is the power
to organize themselves into clusters. If only they could realize that not
having power in society put them at an advantage, they would unite and become
the force to which the powerful will always keep looking back and want to
appease”.
The nation needs answers on issues to do with diamond mining, corruption
in the security sector, (parastatal salary scams), the land issue (and) farm
implements among others
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