The unsolicited attack on media freedom by supposed vanguards of the same said freedom is a lived reality of the phantom besetting our country.
It is not only a tragedy to the contemporary but in posterity, for our generation will be judged by the same barometer of politicised rationale.
As journalists ponder on their already besieged industry, our dear Permanent Secretary of Information cum Presidential Spokesperson Mr Gorge Charamba, is obviously flourishing under the fawning attention of his paymasters.
Mr Charamba clearly does not know which rob to wear, for he is inundated by his multiplicity of roles, obviously creating the incongruence in his utterances.
As a government employee he is expected to uphold the constitution which expressly guarantees freedom of expression and the media, sections which I won’t quote because he obviously knows them.
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It would be understandable although not forgiven, if we were still using the Lancaster House constitution but in this day and age of a new dispensation, a progressive constitution, Mr Charamba’s sentiments against the media are downright unacceptable.
He is quoted in the state controlled weekly The Sunday Mail castigating private media which in his rose colored glasses has become an appendage of the opposition.
Has the state media been able to draw a line between government and ZANU PF one would be quick to ask Mr Charamba?
For as he blames the excesses of the private media, which to a certain extent cannot be ignored, does he rationalize the way the state (public) media is confused between party and state issues.
“Don’t feel unfairly treated when the hammer descends on you because wada mabrickbats yet you are staying in a glass house,” he ominously warns the media.
Such an attitude smacks of authoritarianism which has become the benchmark and legacy of our pre and post colonial governments, who have all been trigger happy when it comes to media regulation.
Charamba also goes to further insult our intelligence as he utters “The same legislators who you have abused from day one to the last day are the same people giving you the law. So where do you go for remedy? KumaBritish and Americans?”
So should the private media be silent when the politicians come and whisper their tales in the ears of the media, sweep under the carpet wrong doings of politicians for expediency. No I declare, in protection of noble profession, let them sit in their chambers and make more repressive laws than for me to praise the power excesses.
Did the Americans and British participate in the constitution making process which gave birth to a progressive constitution guaranteeing expressly, the freedom of the media? We spoke as Zimbabweans on our own, to now reduce us to seeking legislative advice from them is indeed just too much even for you Mr Secretary.
Not so long ago, even though I was not yet born, the Voice of Zimbabwe was outlawed in this country and labeled a terrorist radio station akin to the way the Studio 7 of the Voice of America has been tagged as an opposition mouthpiece.
Do you draw any similarities Mr Permanent Secretary? Of course you will argue that the former was for a just cause of liberation, but as a rule of thumb there can never be any opposition where there is no oppression and suppression, there is consensus.
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What is it that the Studio 7 broadcasts which is not aired out on the state radio stations? Do the same people interviewed on Studio 7 get the same opportunity on the state controlled ideological apparatus? Do listeners tune in freely or under duress to this opposition mouthpiece?
To expect Mr Charamba to answer such questions is of course stretching the imagination on my part, for anything that is critical of ZANU PF is to others counter revolutionary, notwithstanding the fight for multi party democracy.
Whence when Zimbabweans, well within their rights, form political movements they are deemed as western sponsored regime change puppets, as if their intelligence to form a party in the first place is borrowed.
Mr Charamba’s attitude towards private media also reminds me of the omnipotence assumed by fellow colleagues who work for state media, their holier than thou attitude sometimes sickens me.
This misguided notion that the media is supposed to caress and massage the prominent in their opulence is a dying dichotomy of desperate anti democrats, with monarchical vestiges, steeped in deep in power excesses, it nauseates.
For us who practice journalism, it is an outright attack on our livelihood and families.
While the Charambas of this world vilify the media for the most apparent problem besetting our country, that of a dualism and two faced elements, those of us who observe and have the power to write will do so in the means available.
If the solution is closing up media space, then history has not taught those in authority any lesson, there will always be other means of expression. Just like the blank spaces of the censored print media published during the colonial era, was an expression in itself so will divergent ideas find outlets.
Please Mr Charamba get rid of one garb if anyone is to take you seriously, not that we are not concerned about your threats, but for the sake of the next Permanent Secretary whose role will be to protect all media outlets, within the provisions of the law that is.
To continue in your denial of the obvious succession conundrum within ZANUPF, erroneously deemed in many circles as an extension of government, will not solve the problem. For even as you deny factionalism those in the midst of it denounce it day in day out.
Who then shall we quote when they preach against the divisions within their political establishments, do we say that the Women’s League secretary said down with corruption but our dear Permanent Secretary denies its existence?
Please spare us your hypocrisy and let us struggle with the day to day dodging of political activists baying for our blood, or of course our search for alternative energy in this power starved nation of ours.
I presume having penned this, I am now your enemy, but before this enmity ensues to its fullness, please ensure that all your threats to the media are turned into reality. Also make sure that ZANUPF appoints you its spokesperson so that you can deny, officially on its behalf, factionalism which is stalling all economic progress in the country.
Also make sure that you ditch the dualism in your actions because we know not which Charamba speaks when you utter threats against private media.
Otherwise if this has not been achieved please read the IMPI recommendations and notice that readers want a diverse media with a pluralistic nature.
Also let history teach you that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Photo credit: www.southerneye.co.zw
