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Cletus Mushanawani in MUTARE
The Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial coordinatiing committee meeting yesterday shot down a resolution from the Youth League to have public media barred from covering its meetings. The Youth League accused the editors of being biased. Addressing a PCC meeting held at Mutare Polytechnic, the acting provincial youth chairman, Cde Mubuso Chinguno, said: “Cde chairman, we had our meeting as the Youth League just before this meeting and we are saying we are not happy with the type of editors at The Herald. We want them stopped from covering our meetings. We have an editor who is here and should be asked to leave.”

However, Cde Chinguno failed to get any support from other organs of the party as provincial secretary for information and publicity, Cde Oliver Mandipaka, shot him down. Cde Mandipaka told the meeting that it was in the best interest of the party to have a harmonious working relationship with the media.

Politburo member and Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Dr Chris Mushohwe, who was also part of the meetingintervened and said: “I am the minister responsible and if you have issues with the media, or its personnel you should approach us using the right channels. If you are saying you do not want the media to cover you, what are you saying? The media are mere messengers.

“We should not be emotional when we are conducting party activities. We should be there to build the party than to destroy it.”

When asked to clarify his utterances after the meeting, Cde Chinguno said: “Our main worry is that the Minister (Dr Mushohwe) and his permanent secretary, Cde George Charamba, are not doing anything to stop the publication of stories attacking President Mugabe and the First Lady in the public media. They are even giving the likes of Jabulani Sibanda a platform to say their rubbish in the paper,” clearly showing he is an ardent follower of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development minister Professor Jonathan Moyo who has made it his daily vocation to cast aspersions at The Herald on his Twitter account, to the extent of creating storms in a tea cup.

The youths also accused some senior members in the party of sabotaging the 21st February Movement fund-raising activities. They argued that some of the ministers from the province were ignoring their phone calls.

The youths also argued that some other party cadres were phoning potential sponsors telling them not to contribute anything towards the fund-raising activities. Zanu-PF national secretary for transport and welfare Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said President Mugabe’s birthday was a serious event that should be accorded the respect it deserved.

“We are talking of the birthday of a respected person, yet some of us want to trivialise it. We should not pick unnecessary quarrels over the fund-raising activities. Youths should not blame the leadership for failing to come on board because some of us were not aware of their programmes and activities. We should be united in all our activities. As youths, we should learn to respect our leaders. President Mugabe is a symbol of discipline and we should emulate him,” she said