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Herald Reporter
Government has dismissed as false a story in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper alleging that Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa had failed to secure an economic rescue package from China, South Korea and Kuwait; as well as a reprieve from multilateral lending institutions.

“The ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services is appalled by a story appearing in one of the national weeklies under the headline banner, ‘Chinamasa panics over economic meltdown’. The story is blatantly a fabricated one. It has no basis whatsoever in fact as it builds on something that did not happen,” Information Ministry principal director Mr Regis Chikowore said.

He said the words attributed to Minister Chinamasa did not come from him but from a ghost source or the writer.

“This is an example of what has gone wrong with our journalism and we hope that the Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) takes note of this kind of journalism.

“The effect of this sensational story is to cause panic and also to pooh the sterling efforts, which are being deployed both to defend the economy against hostile sanctions and to grow it on the steam of the just recovered agricultural sector, that both aspects elude the Zimbabwe Independent, itself a financial paper, mirrors poorly of our journalism,” he said.

Mr Chikowore said it was also nonsensical for the newspaper to suggest that Minister Chinamasa met any security structures, including the Joint Operations Command, as suggested.

“Whenever security structures have been incorporated into ministries, it has been in the context of civil-military relations whose operationalisation are a matter of public record and knowledge,” he said.

“It is also interesting that this mischievous article comes hard behind very hostile pronouncements at the MDC-T-organised ZCTU May Day celebrations.

“Was this mere coincidence, or are we beginning to see the unfurling of a sinister programme to destabilise our country in the agricultural sector?” Mr Chikowore said.

He said there was no excuse for publishing an unsubstantiated story when Information Ministry was available to assist journalists with anything relating to Government business.

“Press freedom is guaranteed, but it is not a licence to tell a naked lie. It is regrettable that this has happened on the eve of the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day,” Mr Chikowore said.