The whole day we heard media reports that Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and yet we now hear that he was never arrested, but the police only went to the MDC office in search of people they suspected to be involved in the several acts of violence that happened recently in Zimbabwe.
The BBC led the reporting saying that Tsvangirai was arrested and then released. Again, this sensationalism comes at a time when there is a major summit that discusses the Zimbabwean situation. This strategy of sensationalism is now tired, compromised and irritating. It does not help the situation in Zimbabwe.
A news agency that initially reported the story seems to be failing to defend its arrest claims now. The same news agency is now telling us thatTsvangirai left Harvest Building without telling the journalists that he was arrested. So where did the rest of the media get the story that Tsvangirai was arrested?
Now, this vindicates South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad's claim last week that the media has grown a tendency of reporting things that would not have happened. If the media need to save their credibility, they have to uphold integrity. Now, in their aim to put Zimbabwe in the spotlight, that element of unreliability could be used against these journalists to divert attention, even if, initially there was a genuine case for putting the issues in spotlight. Why would people choose to believe journalists whose reporting is suspect? Until Tsvangirai tells us that he was arrested, then we will consider the reports as discredited and unfortunate.
5 comments:
It was clear to right minded Zimbabweans who know the truth that the reported arrest was nothing but an attempt to further demonise Zimbabwe. The chief culprits are Zimbabweans themselves. Why do we allow ourselves to do this to our country? Some regional media like a neighbouring country where I am jump onto the bandwagon and refers to "the war in Zimbabwe"..Please! The imperialist onslught will continue. The military strategy is discredited and so new tactics are being used to effect regime change. A group of strong Zimbabweans with foresight is needed to resist this onslaught and help our people who are being misled day and night. It is a pity there seems to be quite a number of Africans with access to the BBC and the internet who take everything from the colonial master as gospel. We Zimbabweans must do whatever we can to correct this wrong impression about our country.
It is funny to read your commentary on what you suspect is an event that did not take place. Yesterday I called my brother round about the time the reported event was taking place, just to catch up on family issues from the diaspora where I am, and lo and behold, he told me that there was commotion in the city because anti-riot police had raided the MDC offices. My brother's city office is just across the road from Harvest House where the MDC offices are housed. I do not doubt that arrests of whomsoever was in the office at the time happened. I do not believe that your assertion is true that what is being reported in the media is work of the imperialist West to effect regime change. Your analysis is myopic and flimsy. Do not just raise topics just for the sake of it. You should take into account the consequencies of you discourse especially to those affected and their relations who may be in the diaspora like you. I find that you and the other anonymous supporter are in denial. The heart of the matter is summarised by this IT dictum: 'garbage in, garbage out'. Mugabe is in power now. Instead of wasting his time convening emergency meetings to put in place repressive laws, he should be discussing how to extricate the country from the mess it is in. The logical question you guys may ask is probably that he wants to deal with those undermining his authority. Well, if he was running the affairs of the country well, then noone would ever think of undermining his authority in any way. Mugabe and his minions need to desist from emasculating people. He should let the people of Zimbabwe choose the course of the nation what he should be giving them is leadership. Why is he clinging to power when he has demonstrated in the last 5 years that his capacity for providing effective leadership has diminished? What makes him think he is the only one destined to lead the country? What does the Zimbabwean population owe him which he hasn't got in his 27 years of power? Why is it that he has not groomed a successor for continuity of his party's stranglehold on power? Its time someone reminded him that he is a mere mortal like everybody, in due course he will also be pushing daises from the ground even though he might lie at the national shrine. He should be man enough to recognise the simple fact that he has messed up the nation and time for him to vacate the throne is up. From a flourishing unified, productive nation our country has been turned into a basket case. Our economy for now is no better than that of East Timor. If there is anything that people will remember him for, it is his single-handed destruction of our nation pride because he admires lunatics like Kim Jong Il and the Cuban despot Fidel Castro. If those imperialists he has poured vitriol on during most of his misguided sermons during funerals and/or rallies wanted to force regime change, they can easily do it because they have the money and the military might to do so. Lets not blame others for something that can easily be verified that it is of our own making. Probably this blog could be used positively by generating a petition to be sent to the Parliament of Zimbabwe registering our discontent in Mugabe and his kleptocratic regime and the state of our nation!!!!!!!
Thanks for the response. I note that you make very general and problematic arguments. Before I proceed, where is Harvest House? Is it opposite any office block? I mean is it facing the Rezende St terminus or N. Mandela Avenue or L Takawira?
1. You say if Mugabe rules well "noone would ever think of undermining his authority in any way". Do you realise that this is a false statement for all its intents and purposes? Where in the world and in politics have you seen total agreement? In fact, more democracy means more plurality of voices and more dissent. Not mere dissent but a strong passion to oust sitting government – but through the legal route. e.g. SA, UK, US, Sweden.
2. The fact that your brother saw the police going into Harvest House does not necessarily mean that they were arresting Tsvangirai. You say, " I do not doubt that arrests of whomsoever was in the office at the time happened". What makes you throw away the doubt? Tsvangirai himself has not told us that he was arrested. I did not deny or even discuss the arrest any other person except that of Tsvangirai. So it boggles one's mind to hear you declare so boldly (yet you suggest that neither you nor your brother never saw what actually happened) about the arrest just because your brother has an office opposite Harvest House and he only saw police going in there.
3.You cry about Mugabe remaining in power and you suggest that he does not let people vote. Voting happened and MDC lost on several occasions. You can even ask Isaac Matongo the MDC chairman and he will tell you why MDC loses. Right now the MDC is on the same destructive path of boycotting elections and therefore not making preparations and then on the eleventh hour jump into the ring. Obviously they will lose in such a scenario. The defeat is made worse by the weak leadership of Tsvangirai himself and his policy agenda. If he decides to boycott then he should stay out completely.
4.Well, you obviously hate Castro with passion, but he is my hero. He has achieved quite a lot for his nation under the violence of the United States. Viva Castro and long live Che!!!! I wonder how the world would be were Che not killed by the US agents?
5. You suggest that regime change can be effected easily. Well, it can’t because African leaders and other progressive nations around the world condemn this illegal policy and would not support it. You see, this regime change thing has to be looked in a context of principles. If you allow such lawlessness to occur, where then do you draw a line to stop? Besides, if we allow lawlessness in one area why deny lawlessness in other areas? Your arguments would be like allowing a ZPF or MDC supporter to call for indiscriminate beating of members of the other party and then we all support such an illegal and barbaric action. We have to draw lines to what is good and bad, especially you, who seems to be a law abiding and democratic person. But if lawlessness is your preference, then Bring it on man! I do not support lawlessness and violence. They must stop!!!
6.Well, if we can put together a petition on agreed issues on this Blog that would be great. I stand to work for anything that brings out the best in Zimbabwe. But also this forum realised the weakness in some arguments put forward in public discourse and was compelled to engage those ideas and hopefully channel them into productive or even solid ideas that can be useful for the country, instead of letting weak and partisan ideas roam freely. The danger with today's world is that, with compressed time and space, people can throw all kinds of ideas and unsuspecting members of the publics can easily consume these, in many instances. It is therefore imperative that we all crosscheck our ideas vigorously and make sure that they are sound and progressive. We can’t have shortcuts to getting a sustainable solution to the problems in Zimbabwe.
The Conservative says...
Kuthula, you heckle the anonymous contributor while pretending to be proffering a solution yet in essence you have not offered a viable alternative to the Zimbabwean crisis.
What exactly is heroic about Fidel Castro after almost 50 years in office? Food shortages, coupons, etc were it not for the thriving tourism industry and remittances from expatriate Cubans, the country would be in almost certain crisis but that's another matter.
To the heart of the issue, which is Tsvangirai's alleged arrest. I concede that we have not heard official reports that Tsvangrai has been re-arrested, but there are reports that the MDC HQ was raided. Considering the fact that he was previously brutally beaten and subsequently arrested not so long ago, could be perhaps a leading reason why there was immediate outrage at this assertion (his alleged re-arrest).
But is it not clear to any right-minded Zimbabwean that things are not well in the country? Can people freely express their displeasure at Mugabe's misrule without fear of reprisals? The POSA and AIIPA laws make it near impossible for political movements to carry out their activities without hindrance. A few years ago the Daily News was bombed by 'unknown' attackers who to date have not been brought to justice.....
So to argue about whether or not Tsvangirai was actually arrested or not, hardly seems to be a major issue, when taking into account some of the issues highlighted above. Kuthula, what exactly is your agenda.......? Is this an open discussion on the Zimbabwean crisis, or is it simply an attempt to discredit Tsvangirai and the MDC, and to tacitly bolster support for the government of Zimbabwe?
Be more explicit sir.
My “hackling” of the anonymous contributor is informed by my understanding of issues and my right to engage and respond to him/her. I do not think its wrong at all to be seen to be engaging vigorously. In my very first message I made it clear that it is my hope that we engage in a civilised and yet vigorous manner. The right word you should have used is “engage” not hackle.
You also despise Castro. He is heroic because he lives next to a country with bad intentions (the US) and yet he has been able to fend it off for half a century and yet still despite the sanctions, has managed to give his people the little that is left. He has also made huge progress in some social issues despite the fastened hands. I am surprised that you even think that there would be plenty to eat and merry go round when the democratically and hugely popular government of Cuba and its people are under the noose of the hangman.
No one denies that the MDC offices were raided. I am glad you say “perhaps” it happened. But we need concrete facts, which by your own fair admission you realise are not there. And indeed, your suggestion is true that people are reacting to past events, but reporters do not work on assumptions. They should get the story right and that is all I am encouraging. Is that a bad thing?
You suggest that there is someone who said everything was ok in Zimbabwe. I certainly hope that you do not mean me. Nobody ever denied that things were not right. Am I right to suggest that you get the impression that when people discuss the Zimbabwean issue from a different perspective, then they are taken to mean that everything is okay in Zimbabwe? No, we only have a different view of the issues in terms of what caused the problem and how we can solve it. Many things are wrong in Zimbabwe.
You ask whether people can freely express their opinions. Much as that does not need an answer I will still provide one for you. Yes, they do. Open The Standard, the Zimbabwe Independent and other newspapers (have links on this blog) and you will see that you can indeed express your opinion. I do not know why you want to suggest that people cannot do so. With all due respect that is now a tired and discredited line of argument only valid in gossip columns. I think you might have wanted to say that there are limits to what people can say. Sure, just like everywhere else in the world. And the mode of “draconian” control is different in various areas of the world.
To suggest that it is “Near impossible” to engage in political processes is a bit stretched. Maybe you might want to say that there are some hindrances to the political processes. This is different from “near impossible”. POSA and AIPA have their functions and can be challenged in courts. As the notorious story we are discussing has demonstrated, we might need, from time to time, some media monitoring of some sort. Yes, they are contentious issues in these legislations, just as in all other legislations, which can be solved through responsible patriotic engagement or through the courts.
You say I should not argue whether Tsvangirai was arrested or not. But this was the whole point of my article because it’s a communication that can have implications for order and rule of law. In my article it was the gist of the story. If you have burning issues about discussing other serious issues, some of which you raise above, then we can split them and discuss them individually. But for now the issue were the false reports.
You ask about my agenda. It is to interrogate a wide explanation of issues relating to the Zimbabwean situation as opposed to the narrow “politically correct” viewpoint. I could equally ask you what your agenda is, but I will not do so because it is not my compulsion. Rather, my compulsion is to unpack your ideas and interrogate them to understand their validity. I think you also need to approach “my agenda” from that perspective. But my interrogation is only a means by which we would have a clear view of issues happening in Zimbabwe and based on that, build solid and viable policies that would bring prosperity to Zimbabwe. I am not saying my policies are the best, but that I interrogate other policies to see how sound they are.
You say I might be bolstering the government of Zimbabwe. You seem to be shocked. No, I am not, but why would I not? After all, as you rightly point out, it’s the GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE not some murky rebel group, without sovereign legitimacy. I should therefore respect the choice of the people of Zimbabwe. Who am I to challenge the choice the majority makes?
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