Some journalists employed by the Daily News, which had become Zimbabwe’s biggest circulation newspaper before it was banned in 2003, were on the payroll of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo.
The paper was, and may still be, owned by Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa who reportedly paid the journalists their full salaries for the five months that the journalists were not working before they were all fired.
Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, who was the chief executive if Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, the parent company of the Daily News, told United States embassy officials that he had fired all 250 workers from the Daily News after they barricaded him in his office.
Nkomo said he had a list of list of ANZ staff who were on Jonathan Moyo’s payroll, many of whom were on the paper’s editorial staff.
The Daily News was barred from continuing to publish because it had not registered as required by law.
The paper was founded by Geoff Nyarota and Wilf Mbanga in 1999 and was banned in September 2003. It resumed operations in 2010.
Below are the Wikileaks cables that mention Moyo’s name:
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