MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT ZIMBABWE
MEDIA UPDATE # 2001/45
5- 11 November 2001

CONTENTS
1. SUMMARY
2. THE ANZ SAGA: How to report on a competitor
3. LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS: The Land Acquisition
Act and the Electoral Act
4. THE FINANCIAL GAZETTE POLL
5. THE ABDUCTION OF WAR VETERAN CAIN NKALA
6. COMMENTS FROM SUBSCRIBERS-

1. SUMMARY

o The harassment of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe
(Private) Limited, publishers of The Daily News, continued
in the week. The paper’s editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Nyarota,
and the company’s founding Chief Executive Officer, Wilf
Mbanga, were arrested, detained and subsequently
appeared in court.

o The Zimbabwe Investment Centre (ZIC) accused
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) of violating
investment laws and exchange control regulations. The ZIC-
instigated arrests came in the wake of claims by Diamond
Insurance – a minority shareholder in ANZ and an
associate company of Africa Resources Limited (ARL)
owned by Mutumwa Mawere – that it had unearthed
possible fraudulent misrepresentation in the placing of the
publishing company as a private entity.

o Earlier, Diamond Insurance had made an unsuccessful
High Court challenge to the investment by the Independent
Media Group in the ANZ as represented by Renaissance
Asset Management. Only last month Mawere also caused
the arrests of ANZ shareholders Judith Todd, Dr Burgit
Mohamud, Ndaba Mpofu and Stuart Mattison for allegedly
submitting false information in their High Court affidavits.
Police recorded warned and cautioned statements from
them.

o Coverage of the issue in the public media largely ignored
this background and used the story to discredit The Daily
News. Their coverage relied solely on a ZIC letter written to
ANZ advising the company that due to irregularities it was
canceling its investment licence. Comment from the ANZ
was significantly missing. It was only after The Daily News
carried reports presenting the ANZ position that readers
heard the other side of the story.

o Meanwhile, government amended the Land Acquisition Act
and announced its intention to change the Electoral Act.
The Herald merely reported the amendment to the Land
Acquisition Act by presidential decree as if it was normal
procedure and provided no analysis. Other media missed
the story.

o Although all media reported government’s intention to
amend the Electoral Act, only the privately owned Press
sourced alternative opinion on the issue. However, all
media failed to give a comprehensive analysis of the
amendments and inform the public on other electoral
issues, such as voter registration, the inspection of the
voters’ roll, and the Citizenship Act.

o Although both ZBC and Zimpapers quoted Information
Minister, Jonathan Moyo, defining the differences between
election observers and monitors, they then confused the
definitions when referring to international requests to send
foreign observer missions in an apparent attempt to justify
government’s position and particularly its refusal to allow a
European Union (EU) team into the country for the
elections.

2. THE ANZ SAGA: How to report on a competitor

The public media, as exemplified by The Herald (6/11), focused
exclusively on the ZIC letter – allegedly leaked to them – and
ignored the ANZ position on the matter. The paper’s lead story,
Daily News in trouble, and sub-headlined Investment certificate
cancelled, Criminal violations cited, dwelt mostly on how the ZIC
had cancelled the ANZ investment certificate, which “means that
the basis on which the company was established has been
removed and the company should cease to exit”.

The paper went on to claim that the ANZ had failed to comply with
investment laws and exchange control regulations and cited an
alleged non-existent company, Motley Investments (Pvt) Limited,
as the reason behind the cancellation:

“We have now established that in truth and fact, no such
company was registered with the Registrar of
Companies…Accordingly, had the centre been aware that
Motley Investments was not a registered company, the
certificate would not have been issued.”

In the same article, the ZIC was reported as having declared the
investment by Renaissance Asset Management in ANZ null and
void.
ZBC (Radio & ZTV 6/11,8pm) simply regurgitated The Herald story
and quoted the police to buttress allegations that the paper’s
directors had committed a serious crime. The police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena was quoted on ZBCTV (8 pm) as saying:

“…The cases which we are currently investigating are much
more grave and we would like to go deeper into those cases…”

The reporter added, “ highly placed sources alleged that ANZ’s
foreign ownership is well above 90% much more than the
stipulated 60%” without providing any supporting evidence.

It became clear that the state media was using the story to
discredit The Daily News when ZBCTV juxtaposed the story about
ANZ’s licence with the Nigerian Ambassador’s attack on an opinion
piece carried by the paper alleging that some Commonwealth
Ministerial Committee members might have been bribed during
their fact-finding mission. The report had been broadcast the
previous day (5/11, 8pm). The attack on the paper was also
reported on Radio 2/4 on the 7th in its 6am bulletin.

The Daily News (7/11) countered this article with its front page
story, Herald lies again, through a press statement issued by the
chief executive of the ANZ, Muchadeyi Masunda. The paper argued
that the ZIC had not cancelled ANZ’s certificate, but that the
certificate itself – valid for two years – had expired. Besides,
Mbanga and Nyarota had presented themselves to the ZIC as
directors of Motley Trading and not Motley Investments. “If ZIC
now wishes to cancel an expired certificate it is their
prerogative,” Masunda said.

The story also questioned how ZIC could declare null and void the
investment of a Zimbabwean company into another local one.

“In any event, the High Court had given a ruling on this issue
in favour of ANZ. It is most extraordinary for an acting director
of the ZIC to seek to reverse a High Court decision. He needs
to be careful that he is not held in contempt of court,” added
Masunda.

Mawere was accused, in the same article, of being in the forefront
in the fight against the newspaper.
“Never before, in the history of corporate affairs has so much
energy been expended by one minority shareholder to cause
the downfall of a company in which it is an investor.”

However, The Herald (7/11) article, ANZ investors stand to lose
stake, ignored the information provided by the ANZ and reported
the possibility of the ANZ losing its investment certificate. It quoted
Mawere, and an unnamed “senior lawyer with expertise in
commercial law” to give the impression that it had sought an
expert’s interpretation of the whole saga. Mawere is thus quoted:
“The investment laws were clearly violated and we are not
protected as a country…”

The Herald (8/11) reproduced the ZIC official letter to ANZ lawyers,
signed by Richard Mubaiwa – acting executive director – headed,
Violations of provisions of ZIC Act to counter The Daily News of 7
November. The paper also reproduced a letter written on behalf of
ANZ by Price Waterhouse Coopers confirming that Motley
Investments (Private) Limited has been formed and a ZIC-issued
investment certificate bearing the name Motley Investments.

Like The Herald, ZBC (radio and ZTV, 8/11, 8pm) continued to
suggest that ANZ directors violated the Investment Act. ZTV
reporter Justin Manyau cited one of the ANZ’s shareholders, Stuart
Mattison’s letter, alleging that his company owned more than 80%
of the shares, much higher than the stipulated 60% for foreign
investment. In the same report, a police officer was quoted stating
that Mbanga and Nyarota were charged with fraud or contravening
section 40 of the Investment Act.

The picture only became more clear in the story, Nyarota arrested,
The Daily News (9/11) in which the paper reported that the arrests
of Mbanga and Nyarota stemmed from an error made by Price
Waterhouse Coopers in a letter to the ZIC on the name of the
company with a shareholding in ANZ. The paper quoted David
Scott, the senior partner of Price Waterhouse Coopers, admitting
his firm’s mistake in a letter to the ANZ.

ZBC (ZTV and radio, 9/11, 8pm) merely made side reference to the
typographical error during its reportage of the court proceedings.
No comment from Price Waterhouse Coopers was carried.

Lawrence Chibwe of Stumbles and Rowe described the charge laid
against Mbanga and Nyarota as incomprehensible, (The Daily
News’ , Nyarota arrested (9/11). Chibwe was further quoted saying
the arrest of the two came from “very senior police officers and
political heavyweights”.
The Zimbabwe Independent (9/11) quoted Masunda corroborating
Chibwe’s claims describing the arrest as a “politically-motivated
campaign” against the paper. The Independent’s article, Daily
News threaten to sue police, quoted Masunda saying: “It has
really got to a point where the aggrieved parties will have no
option but to take action against police officers in their
individual capacities…because there is no way in which it can
be argued they were acting in their official capacity or public
interest.”

Eric Matinenga, representing the ANZ, also accused the police and
the courts of harassing his clients. The Daily News article Nyarota
Mbanga appear in court (10/11), quoted Matinenga, who while
asking the court to dismiss his client’s case said, “There is
nothing on the facts which points to the accused persons
having committed an offence. This particular remand is an
abuse of process, meant to harass the two and it was done in
bad faith.”

The Herald’s one-sided reporting of the case was perhaps
predictable, but no less unprofessional for that. The fact that the
Zimpapers daily is the direct competitor of the Daily News only
strengthens the obligation for it to report a story affecting its rival in
a balanced and ethical fashion. Instead, it created a strong
impression that it was itself part of an apparent campaign to drive
the Daily News out of business.

3. LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS

a. The Land Acquisition Act

On 5 November, The Herald reported that Section 8 (3) of the Land
Acquisition Act empowered the government to assume ownership
of listed farms. An Inyika Trust spokesperson was quoted
reinforcing the implication of the Act to farmers. The Information
and Publicity Minister was also quoted as saying “according to
the laws of Zimbabwe farmers on listed farms are just
occupiers”. The article was written in the context of the pending
ruling on an application by Mr. Marshall Henry Roper to evict
settlers from his listed farm, probably to influence the outcome in
favour of the settlers.

However, in the event Justice Makarau ruled that the pegging of
plots on Roper’s farm should stop. The Herald (8/11) reported the
ruling in a rather misleading headline, Defend stay on farm, court
orders settlers, to downplay Roper’s victory. The Daily News (8/11)
reported the issue in an article with the more accurate headline
Makarau orders Chombo, Made to stop pegging plots.

The Herald (10/11) then reported that Government had used the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to amend the Land
Acquisition Act to give it the right to start allocating land acquired
for resettlement immediately after issuing an acquisition order
without interference from the owner or occupier of the land. The
amendment was reported without analysis as if this were a
perfectly normal step – whereas it appeared to be a response to
Justice Makarau’s ruling. The Daily News did not carry the story
and none of the Sunday papers subjected this to any scrutiny.

ZBC missed the story altogether.

b. Electoral Act

Government’s refusal to admit the EU’s election observer team in
the previous weeks resulted in the announcement by the Cabinet
that it had decided to amend the Electoral Act. The Herald (7/11)
reported that Government “resolved to make it clear that the
mandate of the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC)
includes recruitment, training and deployment of election
monitors for all polls”. In the same report, Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted as
saying it was undesirable for the ESC to use monitors recruited
and trained by NGOs “considering the fact that most non-
governmental organizations are partial, foreign funded, loyal
to their funders and therefore produce monitors who were
partisan”. No comment was reported from any of these
organizations.

The article merely cited comments made by MDC secretary
general Welshman Ncube to The Daily News (6/11) which was then
swamped with a lengthy quotation from Jonathan Moyo.

ZBC (8/11, 8pm) carried the report the following day. Minister
Chinamasa (ZTV, 8/11, 8pm) stated that foreign monitors are only
allowed where a government has collapsed and said, “But in our
case, the responsibility to monitor elections belongs to the
Zimbabwean government. It is our responsibility to ensure that
the elections are run properly and with integrity…we are still
the government of Zimbabwe which is going to invite anyone
who comes to our soil”.

In its follow up, The Herald (9/11) further reported that the
“Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick
Chinamasa is expected to table the amendments in Parliament
when it resumes sitting on November 20”.

In another article, misleadingly headlined “US envoy backs stance
on election monitors”, the US Ambassador was quoted as
supporting Zimbabwe’s stance on election monitors and forgot to
edit that the Ambassador’s comments that his country will be
expecting to be allowed to observe the election.

Without even analysing the implications of the amendment, the
state media went on to distract the public from the issue and
dragged them into the definitions of a monitor and an observer. The
Herald (9/11), Minister clarifies differences between monitors,
observers, quoted Minister Jonathan Moyo explaining the
difference between a monitor and an observer. In fact, Moyo’s
definition corresponded to the generally accepted distinction
between a monitor – who has certain powers to intervene to rectify
abuses – and an observer, who is only entitled to watch and report.
However, the sleight of hand occurred in the claim – entirely
unsubstantiated – that the EU wanted to send monitors. In fact the
EU, and other foreign organizations, have asked to send observers.
Hence also the misleading presentation of the US Ambassador’s
views.

ZBC (radio 6am & 1pm and ZTV, 8pm, 9/11), as is becoming the
norm, followed up the paper and offered the same definitions in a
voice over.

The Sunday Mail (11/11) celebrated the government’s intention in a
biased article headlined “State approves amendment of Electoral
Act”. Part of the article read:

The honeymoon for civic organizations that
have been preaching politics on the pretext of
carrying voter education could soon be over as
the Government has approved the amendment
of the Electoral Act”.

The article only quoted Minister Chinamasa and failed to cite
alternative voices.

Although radio (5/11, 8pm) quoted EU representative Ms
Francesca Mosca as having said that the union would meet the
government to discuss their intention to send an election team,
there was no effort made to ask the EU exactly what their request
was.

The private press on the other hand viewed the intention to amend
the Electoral Act as one of government’s clandestine motives to
influence the outcome of the election in its favour.

The Daily News (6/11) quoted the MDC as having said it would
insist that the government allows international observers and
monitors for the election “…because they want to cheat left,
right and centre”.

The Zimbabwe Mirror (9/11) also quoted MDC, accusing
government of “desperately attempting to manipulate next
year’s presidential election by refusing to accept international
observers”. However, its comment argued that the presidential
poll should remain the prerogative of Zimbabweans alone and called
upon the EU to respect Zimbabwe’s sovereignty instead of
threatening to impose sanctions if it refuses to accede to its
demands.

The Standard (11/11) comment was sceptical of the impartiality of
the recently launched mobile registration exercise taking place in
resettlement areas and occupied farms, which it felt was aimed at
boosting Zanu PF’s chances of winning the elections. And in its
article, Plans for rigging election begin, quoted both Zimbabwe
Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET) and the MDC accusing the
Government of trying to rig the election.

4. THE FINANCIAL GAZETTE POLL

Results of The Financial Gazette-sanctioned Target Research
opinion poll on Zimbabwe’s presidential election in 2002 stirred
some interest in the public media.

The Financial Gazette (8/11) carried three front-page stories
stemming from the research findings: Tsvangirai leads Mugabe,
MDC support increases and Poll violence rife. The first two stories
rated the opposition MDC’s chances of winning the presidential poll
ahead of that of the ruling Zanu PF while the third looked at how
political violence, perpetrated mostly by Zanu PF, was likely to
affect voting patterns in the election.

While The Financial Gazette simply restricted its coverage of these
issues to the findings by Target Research, the public media tried to
divert public attention from the findings by questioning the
credentials of Target Research, which they accused of supporting
the opposition.

When the results of the poll were published, ZTV (8/11, 8pm)
notified its viewers that they were going to carry comments on
findings the following day and invited its audience to e-mail their
comments. ZBC never reported the findings of the poll. In the same
report the newscaster, Obriel Mpofu, exposed ZBC’s intention to
discredit the results when he said,

“Last year, towards parliamentary elections the nation
witnessed a series of bogus election surveys. We are
beginning to see similar surveys ahead of next year’s
presidential elections…”

The following day ZBC (radio and ZTV, 9/11, 8pm) carried several
comments from people who questioned whether the sample was
representative and the credentials of Target Research. ZTV
accorded 6 minutes and 55 seconds to the survey and made an
attempt to appear balanced by quoting Dr. Ibbo Mandaza, Dr
Khabele Matlosa from SAPES, Joseph Mandizha, a lawyer, and
both Zanu PF and the MDC.

However, a closer analysis of the voices reveals that they were all
quoted to support the ZBC’s anti-survey slant. Southern African
Policy and Economic Series (SAPES) Trust, a research institute,
some of whose representatives including Mandaza have previously
commented in support of government policies, were quoted to give
the impression that the broadcaster had sought independent expert
views. The two political parties most affected by the research were
not given equal opportunity to comment. Zanu PF acting secretary
for the Commissariat Dr. Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was accorded more
than a minute and a live sound bite while MDC’s Welshman
Ncube’s comments were cited from The Herald and voiced over for
10 seconds.

Dr. Mandaza went on to link Target Research with the opposition
when he said, “I think polls in this country have always had a
definitively political objective. Maybe to influence voters and
significantly they have been manufactured by persons known
to be in the opposition…”

To further discredit Target, Matlosa said, “…As SAPES Trust we
work with a number of institutions… We have never come
across this group at all. I was surprised when I read the paper
that they are renowned opinion polls surveyors…”

Dr. Ndlovu, was completely incomprehensible on the methodology
Target should have used when he said, “…As long as you don’t
go to a crowd and interview the whole people of the same
opinion or have people interviewed by newspapers that
already has an opinion, partisan opinion. Therefore the results
for sure will be concocted to suit the editorial policy of that
paper.”

In MDC and ZANU PF dismiss opinion, The Herald (9/10)
conveniently quoted ZANU PF’s information secretary Nathan
Shamuyarira accusing Target Research as “one of the many
racist and biased research organisations from the United States
that were ready and willing to undermine the sovereignty of
the country”.

Besides, the paper’s headline was also misleading. Although
Shamuyarira was quoted saying the opinion was nothing but an
attempt to confuse people, neither MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
nor his secretary general, Welshman Ncube, tacitly dismissed the
findings. For instance, Tsvangirai was only quoted as saying: “I
have read that report just like anybody else. I don’t comment
on stories that come out in papers.”

The paper also used its comment, Gazette survey contradictory, to
dismiss the Target Research opinion poll’s findings through the
comparative use of Zanu PF’s successful performance in
parliamentary by-elections. The comment further said: “What
makes the whole survey laughable is that no-one would have
expected The Financial Gazette to finance, let alone publish, a
survey that would have contradicted its own prediction of an
MDC victory in 2002.”

This simplistic dismissal of scientific research remained unbroken
in The Herald (10/11), Institute dismisses Fingaz poll survey. In the
story, the paper quoted director of the little known Southern Africa
Institute for Democracy William Nhari cynically dismissing results
of the poll as having been done “under a tree in Bulawayo”.

5. THE ABDUCTION OF WAR VETERAN CAIN NKALA

The abduction of the Bulawayo provincial war veterans’ chairman,
Cain Nkala, received prominence on ZBC. ZBC carried the report
for five days during the week in all news bulletins. ZTV devoted 22
minutes to the abduction and even sent its Chief Correspondent,
Reuben Barwe, to Bulawayo to cover the story. Mention of previous
abductions (e.g. Patrick Nabanyama, an MDC election agent) was
carefully avoided on ZBC. While the state media swamped readers
with conspiracy theories, the private media attributed the abduction
to internal squabbles within Zanu PF, leaving the public confused
as to what the real story was.

The state media quoted war veterans threatening revenge attacks
over the abduction without any analysis of the implications of such
threats.

The Chronicle (7/11) quoted the Zanu PF provincial chairman,
Jabulani Sibanda, saying: “This is terrorism at its worst which is
being perpetrated by people such as the British Prime Minister
Tony Blair”.

This was reiterated at the end of the week (ZTV, 11/11, 8pm) when
Ian Beddows, a Zanu PF supporter, made a spurious allegation
that, “this is a deliberate attempt by MI5 (Britain security
agents) working through MDC…to destabilize Zimbabwe and
in particular the Matabeleland region”.

There was no comment on the unlikelihood that Tony Blair was
taking time out from the Afghanistan crisis to attend to events in
Bulawayo – or that MI5 is in fact the British internal security
service and was therefore unlikely to be operating in Matabeleland.

The Herald (7/11) buried the initial story of the abduction on Page
3. As has become the norm, the police comment was sought to
corroborate Zanu PF’s unsubstantiated claims that the opposition
was to blame. Assistant Commissioner Oliver Mashonganyika
(ZTV, 9/11, 8pm) said, “… It will be difficult to link it to any
other people apart from maybe the opposition party…” The
opposition was not accorded any space to defend itself.

Barwe (ZTV, 9/11, 8pm) in his report made reference to the
abduction of a Zanu PF supporter in Nkayi by alleged opposition
members and conveniently ignored incidents where MDC
supporters have been abducted. In particular, failing to relate the
case to that of the MDC’s Patrick Nabanyama was poor
journalism, since Nkala was accused of involvement in the
Nabanyama abduction.

The private press linked the abduction of Nkala to Zanu PF’s
internal fighting and dismissed allegations of MDC involvement. The
Financial Gazette (8/11) quoted unnamed sources within Zanu PF
who said that Nkala could have been a victim of internal party
squabbles. Sibanda was quoted denying the allegation. The
Financial Gazette also accorded MDC space to dispel allegations
that the party was behind the kidnapping.
The Daily News (8/11) reported that the police had raided MDC
Bulawayo offices in search of Nkala and linked Nkala to the
abduction of Nabanyama. The MDC was also quoted denying
charges that it was responsible for the kidnapping. In its comment
(9/11) the daily dismissed accusations by war veterans that MDC
was responsible for the abduction. Part of the comment read:

“In all probability, this abduction was stage-managed by ZANU
PF in conjunction with the war veterans’ association”

The Standard (11/11) ‘CIO behind abduction’ – war vets quoted
unnamed war veterans who accused state security operatives of
being behind the attack.

The coverage of the Cain Nkala case and others like it is a serious
test of the professionalism of the Zimbabwean media. In a situation
where sentiments are inflamed and lives are at risk the media have
a responsibility to report in a manner that is careful, factual, truthful
and non-inflammatory. In the current atmosphere of lawlessness,
careless and inflammatory reporting could have a very high cost.

6. COMMENTS FROM SUBSCRIBERS

ZBC VOICES OVER FOREIGN FOOTAGE
By WildCahi, Zimbabwe

What about ZBC's latest lack of acknowledgement of its satellite
sources? I have noticed over the past few days that on the news
when ZBC screens CNN or other foreign footage from, for example,
Afghanistan, they cover the cable news logo with their own and use
their own commentary!
They did the same with the live cricket broadcast from Sharjah,
covering the ZTV logo with their own. What are they up to?

PRICE CONTROLS REVISITED
By Reg Rumney, BusinessMap, South Africa.

In Update 2001/42 you carried a comment from a subscriber who
complained about your coverage of price controls.
Price controls have long been discredited, but in any case the
context in which they are being imposed will clearly negate their
usefulness. You can't fix price controls if you can't fix the exchange
rate or peg wage rates. And obviously the government needs to re-
instil respect for the rule of law or few foreigners will feel the desire
to invest any money there, or sell anything there except for a big
premium to make up for the risk.
On SA firms' profiteering, my question would be how Massmart or
any other foreign firm can profiteer if it can't repatriate the profits!
And inflated prices in Zimbabwe cannot be inflated in rands after
being depreciated by the declining Zimbabwe dollar.
I enjoy your analyses of media coverage, and I think we could profit
from something like it in South Africa, which has a fairly vital
media industry, but is beginning to exhibit some worrying
deviations from journalistic standards - and I am not thinking of the
State-owned media necessarily. Some of it is inherited from the
history of opposition media during apartheid.

From MMPZ: MMPZ drew its monitoring methodologies from the
experience of Article 19: Global Campaign for Freedom of
Expression and the Media Monitoring Project in South Africa,
among others. You may wish to get in touch with the MMP-SA on
[email protected]
Ends

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