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The front page of The Herald which sold out in many areas by midmorning with bulk buyers asking for more copies

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
SOME people yesterday bulk-bought copies of The Herald, in a move that appeared designed to curb the reach of the front page story of Vice President Joice Mujuru’s US$1 million scandal in which she is accused of abusing her office to extort and self-exile Kenyan and Indian investors who pumped over US$1 million into her family-owned duty-free shops at the Harare International Airport.

In Masvingo, Mutare and Harare, vendors confirmed that buyers were scrambling for copies of the leading daily, whose main story was a revelation of illicit business deals involving Vice President Mujuru.

The story detailed how VP Mujuru received and signed for thousands of dollars in illegal cash payments from Kenyan and Indian financiers who had invested in her International Travel Shops Africa (Ltd).

VP Mujuru went on to elbow out the investors in a manner that bordered on extortion and abuse of office.

In Harare, Mutare, Masvingo and other cities yesterday, most Herald vendors were off the streets as early as 10am without any returns.

In Masvingo, an unknown man visited one of the selling points and bought 37 copies in cash, while other vendors in the city reported that some people were also buying more than 10 copies of the paper at a time.

Someone from the city phoned The Herald later in the day asking for 500 copies.

Zimpapers distribution officer for Masvingo region Mr Micah Zinduru confirmed the development.

“One man bought 20 copies at once in the town this morning and came back to the same point a few minutes later to buy 17 more,” he said.

“We do not know his reason for buying such large quantities, but for us it was good business. “The newspaper was sold out by 10am and we recorded very high sales today.”

In Harare, there was brisk business with most vendors leaving the streets empty-handed before midday.

A senior vendor in Harare Ms Judith Kaseke said it appeared politics was now a big seller.

“Political news is selling these days and today (yesterday) readers were scrambling for copies of The Herald,” she said. “The paper sold like hot cakes and we finished work very early.”

Zimpapers circulation assistant for Mutare Mr Nicodemus Nezomba said the sales were unusually high and the vendors could not meet the demand.

Analyst Dr Charity Manyeruke said the grabbing of newspapers by a few individuals could be sabotage in terms of access to information.

She said those who grab newspapers will be trying to deny the nation the right to accessing information.

“There is a hostile environment in terms of people knowing the truth these days considering attacks on the public media by some political factions,” said Dr Manyeruke.

She said trying to block the spread of information was a futile exercise considering the technological advancement.

“The saboteurs must know that their exercise is a futile one as the same information can be accessed through the Internet, Whatsapp, television, radio and many other forms of the media.”

Politician Mr Mathias Guchutu said the bulk-buying of The Herald could be interpreted in different ways.

“It is either the buyers want to spread the news to some areas where newspapers cannot be accessed to ensure everyone gets the interesting news or it can be a way of killing the impact of the news,” said Mr Guchutu.