The former editor of the Daily News Francis Mdlongwa said the closure of the paper was the result of orders coming straight from Information Minister Jonathan Moyo but Moyo could not act without consulting President Robert Mugabe.
Mdlongwa who had just resigned from the paper because of differences with chief executive officer Sam Sipepa Nkomo said the government was going to get more repressive every day and every hour.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 03HARARE1887, GOZ UPS THE ANTE ON CLOSURE OF ONLY INDEPENDENT
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001887
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF FOR A/S KANSTEINER AND PDAS SNYDER; AF/S FOR
DELISI AND RAYNOR; AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
GUATEMALA CITY FOR DCM WHARTON
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2013
SUBJECT: GOZ UPS THE ANTE ON CLOSURE OF ONLY INDEPENDENT
DAILY NEWSPAPER
Classified By: JPolacheck for reasons 1.5 b/d
¶1. (C) SUMMARY In the span of six days, from September 11 to
16, the GOZ has gone from declaring The Daily News (TDN)
illegal (9/11; ref a), to occupying and shutting down TDN
operations (9/12; ref b), to accepting TDN registration under
the onerous Access to Information and Privacy Protection Act
(AIPPA) (9/15), to finally raiding the offices and seizing
tangible assets of the company (9/16; ref c). After the
September 11 Supreme Court ruling, all GOZ actions occurred
without warrants, courts orders, etc. Simultaneously,
President Mugabe reportedly told the South African
Vice-President that he was unaware these police actions and
implied that the situation would be rectified. Executives
with TDN are divided as to what course of action to take.
END SUMMARY
Hope springs eternal
—————————–
¶2. (SBU) Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) CEO Sam
Nkomo told mission personnel on September 15 that TDN would
be back on the streets by the next day as they felt they had
complied with the Supreme Court ruling. Earlier that
morning, Gugulethu Moyo, legal counsel for ANZ, went to the
Media and Information Commission (MIC) to attempt to register
ANZ as a media company as required under section 66 of AIPPA.
Public comments were made by the MIC chairman stating that
there was no point in ANZ “approaching MIC with dirty hands,”
a reference to the earlier court case during which ANZ had
not registered with the MIC while challenging AIPPA on
constitutional grounds. Despite this, Moyo was treated
professionally at the MIC while successfully filing a
preliminary request for registration. AIPPA stipulates that
once a request for registration is submitted, the media house
is legally entitled to operate while the request was pending.
TDN thus expected to be allowed back into their premises,
which were occupied by armed police, and to recommence
publication immediately.
¶3. (C) Criminal charges against Nkomo for running an illegal
company were not filed on the 15th as expected, which Moyo
said gave hope for a negotiated settlement. Another reason
for hope was that Nkomo heard from the ANZ owner, based in
SA, that Vice-President Jacob Zuma of South Africa called
Mugabe regarding the actions against TDN and that Mugabe
reportedly claimed not to have known about the impending
action and assured the GOSA that TDN will be allowed to
operate again.
You can’t get a flock of chickens to run straight
——————————
¶4. (SBU) Editor-in-Chief of ANZ, Francis Mdlongwa told
emboffs on September 15 that he resigned earlier that day
over a long-standing dispute with Nkomo over chain of command
issues. He revealed that in an emergency executive meeting
of the ANZ held September 10 to discuss the Supreme Court
ruling declaring their operations illegal, Nkomo was the lone
voice in favor of immediately registering with the MIC.
Mdlongwa voiced unrelenting opposition to registration,
arguing it would force TDN journalists to register as well.
Individual registration is especially oppressive in this
environment because it requires a declaration of one’s
political affiliation. Regardless, he claimed the parting
with Nkomo was cordial and that he would continue to consult
with ANZ as needed, but not in a capacity which required him
to register. This contradicted the account of his
resignation which played on the front page of the government
controlled “The Herald” on September 16.
Hope takes a cold shower
———————–
¶5. (SBU) Mdlongwa then talked of the closure of TDN as a
result of “orders coming straight from Jonathan (note,
Jonathan Moyo, Minister for Information and day-to-day
controller of GOZ-owned media outlets, end note)…but Moyo
can’t act without consulting with Mugabe.” He then said that
the GOZ was “going to the wire…testing public opinion in
Zimbabwe and the world.” He then claimed the GOZ would only
get “more repressive everyday and every hour.”
Listen to the pessimists
————————
¶6. (C) A routine phone call to Gugu Moyo the morning of
September 16, revealed that the police were at the offices of
TDN and were in the process of packing and removing all the
assets of ANZ that weren’t nailed down. Under the guise of
negotiation, the police invited Nkomo and Moyo to TDN
offices. On arrival, it was clear to Moyo that negotiations
were not taking place that day, as the police arrived with
the special weapons Law and Order Maintenance unit and with
riot police. Moyo reports the police said they were to take
all the assets of the illegal company. Upon asking for a
warrant, court order, etc., she was told “if you want a
warrant, we’ll just arrest you for resisting our operation.”
At that point, Nkomo left to see counsel to initiate an
urgent injunction preventing the police from proceeding.
Evening consultations with Moyo indicated that the injunction
was filed and yet the police were continuing to cart off big
ticket items such as computers. According to TDN technical
staff, as long as the police do not begin tearing up the
wiring, TDN could be back on the streets using laptops.
Who’s next?
————–
¶7. (SBU) While attempting to document the events of the
16th, two photographers, for AFP and Reuters, fully
accredited with the MIC, were detained and their cameras
reportedly confiscated. The September 16-edition of the
government-controlled “The Herald,” in the article covering
on TDN crisis said “It also emerged yesterday that the Media
Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe Chapter (an NGO
concerned with press freedom and professionalism, end note)
which was making the most noise was also not registered and
was operating illegally.” MISA officials expressed concern
that they were next.
¶8. (C) COMMENT: What began as a small government victory in
the running court battles between GOZ and the rest of society
quickly exploded into a full scale attack on the government’s
most consistent critic. There is no doubt that Min. J. Moyo
would have liked to have done this months ago, and was
waiting for the slimmest legal pretext. The Herald swipe at
MISA appears to indicate that Min. Moyo may use AIPPA to
launch his long-awaited pogrom against the independent print
media and its supporters. We find it difficult to envision
that Moyo has kept Mugabe in the dark about these matters.
More likely, the GOZ is measuring the international reaction
and whether it can get away with keeping TDN shut down with
or without legal pretext. We urge the Department to the
maintain strong public position and to interact with other
governments and media watchdog institutes to build pressure
against repressive GOZ actions.
SULLIVAN
(68 VIEWS)
