Arcadia Foundation

Journalist Stanley Kwenda has fled to South Africa after alleging that he received a death threat by telephone  from a senior police officer, linked to a story he wrote in The Zimbabwean. The newspaper says that “‘impeccable sources” have supplied them with the name of a senior member of the police’s law and order section, a member who has been associated over the years with the arrest and torture of opposition politicians, journalists and human rights activists, but they cannot publish it for legal reasons.

Meanwhile, the Media Institute of Southern Africa has “cautiously welcomed” the appointment of commissioners to the Zimbabwe Media Commission, while recognising that the commission could still be used to enforce the repressive provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.Kwenda, who is a member of MISA-Zimbabwe’s Harare Advocacy Committee, and is the director of the Artists for Democracy Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT).

The Arcadia Foundation wishes to join MISA-Zimbabwe in condemning this development as yet another serious threat to media freedom and the right of journalists to conduct their lawful professional duties without fear or hindrance from any quarters.

We along with MISA-Zimbabwe also urge the inclusive government and the Police Commissioner General to unequivocally guarantee the safety of journalists and to ensure Kwenda’s security pending full investigations into the alleged threats.

This surely is a tall order when dealing with a disheveled government whose parties have gone toe-to-toe as opposed to dividing responsibilities in order to re-establish a lost infrastructure. Where possible, this kind of blatant censorship and intimidation (widely utilized by the Zanu-PF forces during the elections) is abhorrent and should be addressed and remedied in order to appease the many that have started glancing back at Zimbabwe for potential investment opportunity.

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