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Morgan Tsvangirai

Tafara Shumba Correspondent
Addressing a miserable crowd of his supporters in Masvingo recently, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, a self-proclaimed democrat, attacked and threatened the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and other public media for allegedly not giving enough coverage to his party. That rumbling exposed the MDC-T leader in many big ways.

As a leader of a party that is facing annihilation, Mr Tsvangirai could have dwelt on more important and topical issues than to cry for media coverage.

The MDC-T is facing an imminent crack over Tsvangirai’s unilateral decision to boycott by-elections. The boycott is set to decimate the party’s numbers in parliament, a development that will limit its chances of forcing through the so-called electoral reforms that have become Tsvangirai’s popular chorus. The reforms he cries for will never come through the barbaric demonstrations in front of SADC delegates.

A greater chunk of the support base has gone away with the Renewal Team.

These, among other series of challenges, could have been more apt to talk about at this rally.

Tsvangirai seems to think and wants to create a wrong impression that the problems bedevilling his party are caused by the paucity of coverage by the public media. He must have surely run short of what to say to his supporters when he slammed the public media for that unjustified motive.

The public media, or any other media, are just mirrors of society that report events as they happen. As they carry out this mandate, they centre on issues of public interest. They cover issues of national development.

The public media are doing exceptionally well in this regard.

In view of this, Tsvangirai must point out his public interest engagements that received media blackout. Of late, nothing newsworthy has been happening in the MDC-T save for incessant internal strife.

The public media cannot surely expend resources covering street dramas acted out at number 44 Nelson Mandela Avenue. Apart from threatening the public media, Tsvangirai also called for the reversal of the historic land reform programme. Does he really want the public media to cover this type of hogwash? For whose consumption?

Tsvangirai does not have a political eye to read the mood of the mass. People are not interested in media coverage.

They are more concerned about bread and butter issues that Zanu PF is ably addressing.

Zanu PF talks about empowerment, food security in the face of the imminent drought, shelter and many other important socio-economic development issues as enshrined in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) blueprint.

These issues are sweet to the ears of the masses.

The public and private media would have failed if they omitted such important issues in their coverage.

As a self-styled democrat, Tsvangirai must respect the freedom of the media.

It is one of the democratic tenets. As a politician, as we are made to believe, he must never interfere with the editorial independence of the fourth estate of government.

He must pluck a leaf from some Zanu PF politicians who own or once owned some media projects. They do not interfere with the editorial policy.

Their media sometimes go to an extent of even slating them when public interest is at stake.

Tsvangirai does not own even a tabloid yet he demands coverage whenever he coughs.

This alone tells the story of a man who would assault media freedom upon his miraculous ascension to power.

With all the state apparatus at his disposal, he is likely to treat the public media as his personal project.

Some MDC-T activists in the newsrooms of private media masquerading as journalists dedicate acres of space maligning President Robert Mugabe.

Not a single day was he heard threatening them with closure or any other action despite wielding constitutional power to do so.

In fact, Tsvangirai must not complain about media blackout for he receives more favourable coverage than President Mugabe does.

All the private media in the country fight from his corner and so do the international imperialist media houses such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, CNN and many others.

He has the sympathy of Studio 7 and other pirate radio stations whose existence is solely dedicated to shoring up Tsvangirai and his party.

As an opinion leader within the MDC-T community, his statement endangers reporters working for the public media.

It is surprising that the Zimbabwe Union of Journalist has chosen to wink at such undemocratic assault of media freedom from a presidential hopeful.

Following his threats, some sycophants such as Murisi Zwizwayi reportedly attempted to poke a ZBC cameraman in the face.

Even the MDC-T supporters took lead from their boss and attempted to physically assault the ZBC reporters.

How different is he from the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, who fanned xenophobia in South Africa?

To make matters worse, a learned secretary-general of the party sweated to defend such undemocratic behaviour.

Some things are indefensible, Mr Mwonzora!

Mr Tsvangirai is a real enemy of democracy and the media in particular.

This is not the first time that he has threatened media freedom.

During the launch of his party’s national policy in May 2013, Mr Tsvangirai, believing that he was an inch away from State House, threatened the media houses that wrote negatively about him and his party. He said those media houses risked closure should he prevail in the July 2013 plebiscite.

“You can’t have a newspaper with six articles saying Tsvangira this, Tsvangirai that. Everyday! Regai vakadaro. But musi umwe gava richadambura musungo. That kind of a media has no future in a democratic Zimbabwe. I want to tell you this, muchadya izvozvo,” said Tsvangirai in a threat to the state media.

An Independent reporter, Hebert Moyo, was nearly killed by the MDC-T youths at the party’s headquarters in June 2013 while covering a demonstration by party members who were protesting against the imposition of candidates in Sunningdale.

A photographer with the defunct Zimbabwe Mail, Watson Ofumeli, was also attacked by the MDC-T youths in the presence of Mr Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai has threatened almost everybody. The chiefs, service chiefs, police, soldiers, civil servants, among others, have all received threats from Tsvangirai.