THE 60-member Sadc Parliamentary Forum observer mission in the country for the July 31 harmonised elections, was on Saturday told that Zimbabwean journalists feared they would be targeted during the polls because of lack of media reforms guaranteeing their security.
Njabulo Ncube
The obsevers, who arrived in the country on Wednesday met representatives from the Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe. The regional grouping sought to hear the views of the country’s media regarding the coverage of the polls.
ZUJ secretary-general Foster Dongozi said the biggest concern was the safety and protection of journalists as they covered the polls unilaterally proclaimed by President Robert Mugabe without requisite reforms in the media.
Dongozi said they feared covering the polls in the wake of the criminalisation of the profession by State security agents who had no qualms in arresting reporters in the line of duty.
“We have seen a huge increase in the arrest of journalists, including a severe beating in recent weeks,” Dongozi said. “Such actions have a huge bearing on how the media will cover these elections.”
Misa director Nhlanhla Ngwenya told the mission recent incidents of assault and harassment of journalists by Zanu PF and MDC-T pointed to a volatile working environment for the media.
He predicted that media freedom violations were likely to increase with impunity in the absence of the envisaged legislative reforms.
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“This is evidenced by the increase in number of cases involving the assault and harassment of journalists in the wake of the proclamation of 31 July 2013 as the date for Zimbabwe’s general elections,” he said.
“For example, six months into the year 2013 we had already recorded 58% of cases of attacks against journalists.”
Ngwenya said Sadc should insist that the government of Zimbabwe guarantees that journalists covering the elections would be allowed to conduct their duties without hindrance.
“Leaders of political parties should educate their supporters that their actions constitute serious violation of journalists’ constitutional right to media freedom and citizens’ right to freedom of expression and access to information,” he said.
“ Political leaders should guard against making inflammatory statements that incite and excite their supporters to take the law into their own hands (against journalists) because this tarnishes the images of their respective parties and that of Zimbabwe.”
On June 14 a Chinhoyi-based journalist Paul Pindani was abducted from his home, severely assaulted and left for dead by unknown assailants who were wearing masks. Other cases involve assault of Zimbabwe Independent reporter Herbert Moyo and detention of Mashudu Netsiada, a senior reporter with the Chronicle by MDC-T supporters and security personnel.
