The adage; “A leopard does not change its colours” in Shona (Shiri inemuririro wayo haikanganwe “ holds true for the Herald’s editorial policy.
In an article reproduced on this site the titled ‘Tsvangirai calls for the lifting of sanctions’ the State owned flagship went to town in its mischievous interpretation of the Premier’s maiden speech to Parliament in a manner only matched by Retired Justice Smith misinterpreted the Zimbabwe Constitution provisions governing appointment of Permanent Secretaries by relying on an amended clause that he was familiar to him while in active practice.
The only difference is the Herald was putting aconscious and deliberate spin on the Premier’s words whereas retired Justice Smith was displaying total ignorance about Constitutional Amendment No 19’s provisions on appointments of Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors and other Senior Officers of the Inclusive Government.
The Herald leader was as misleading as most of the contents of the article turned out to be.
“PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called on the West to remove the illegal economic sanctions in recognition of the national reconstruction process,” the Herald falsely claimed from the very onset.
The Prime Minister delivered a 4214 word speech without once mentioning the word sanctions.
Surely a person capable of packing that number of words in his speech could not be seriously expected to fail to include the word ‘sanctions’ if he intended to address that issue as alleged by the Herald.
There is a not so difficult to understand reason why the Herald is obsessed with the Zanu PF mantra about targeted sanctions and their negative impact on the country’s economy.
Editors of the paper are like most overzealous Zanu PF adherents, barred from travelling to many Western countries to enjoy the proceeds of their corruptly amassed wealth at a time when the country can no longer support anyone’s enjoyment of luxurious life styles.
Leading proponents of the removal of the travel bans are those that have been slapped the ban and not ordinary Zimbabweans. It is a personal attempt to secure public sympathy from the very people the restricted officials a trampling over with impunity to open avenues to the joys in the Western economies.
The Herald states as fact that in his speech to the Seventh Parliament of Zimbabwe, “the Prime Minister finally added his voice to the growing anti-sanctions lobby led by Sadc, the African Union, Comesa, the Non-Aligned Movement and progressives the world over.”
Reading such a statement an unsuspecting person would conclude that the Herald has ever asked the Premier to call for the lifting of sanctions against his country and he refused.
Nothing like that has ever happened as Tsvangirai is on record as stating that Zimbabwe was not under any form of sanctions but rather Zanu PF malcontents with no respect for the rule of law and property rights.
As MDC leader he has maintained that he saw no political value devolving to him and his party from him calling for removal of travel restrictions imposed on Zanu PF merchants of impunity and would thus not involve himself with that hopeless exercise.
When the matter was brought up in SADC mediated negotiations that resulted in the Inclusive Government he signed the clause on removal of sanctions without blinking his eyes.
It is therefore grossly inaccurate for the Herald to sell us that he has spoken against the restrictions for the first time in his maiden parliamentary speech when the Global Political Agreement to which he is a subscriber signatory contains such a clause in black and white.
In any event the context in which he called for the lifting of restrictions is consistent with his earlier views that restrictions must be lifted in tandem with compliance with the reasons for which they were imposed.
“PM Tsvangirai said progress had been made in improving political polarisation and the West should, as a result, lift the ‘restrictive measures’, but then adds a spin, “an apparent reference to the sanctions.”
The import of that spin is that for Tsvangirai “restrictive measures” are what the herald and Zanu PF terms “sanctions” which is not the case.
For the PM sanctions are sanctions and restrictive measures are restrictions imposed on senior Zanu PF apologists because they were intolerant of political competition and they had no respect for the rule of law, property rights and fundamental human rights which they now have shown willingness to uphold by agreeing to go into a government where they are not sole custodians of power.
In recognition of that compliance the PM then said he was now in a position to vouch for the restricted that they are truly reformed and worthy of readmission to the world of unrestricted travel.
If they had not reformed teh PM would not have vouched for them to be set free from the clutches of the travel restrictions.
Those are the efforts the Herald accurately reported the PM as having told Parliament of necessitating reconsideration of the restrictive measures burdening Zanu PF members in his government in the following terms;
"I therefore urge the international community to recognise our efforts, and to note the progress that we make in this regard, and to match our progress by moving towards the removal of restrictive measures," to applause from parliamentarians.
The Zanu PF members of Parliament who t had already begun denouncing sanctions a few minutes into the Prime Minister’s address were happy that their new boss cares about them to the extent they tow the line while the MDC contingent joined them in the applause because they had accepted that restrictive measures must be lifted in tandem with them playing ball on issues that invited restrictive measures upon them.
“Zimbabwe remains encumbered by the illegal sanctions that led to the cutting of lines of credit from multilateral lending institution,” ranted the Herald.
For all we know the only illegal sanctions that encumber Zimbabweans are selective application of laws, racism, legislated restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of political affiliation and assembly as well as State coordinated violence, denial of access to preventative health and world class education.
These are the sanctions we expect the Herald to spearhead campaigns for their lifting not travel restrictions imposed on corrupt leadership.
Clearly the Herald is drifting back into its comfort zone of mischievous misrepresentation of the PM whom the publication has not fully accepted as the leader of the current Government.
The problem of misrepresentation and opinion loading in news reports will haunt the Inclusive Government unless there is a deliberate infusion of new thinking in the editorial staff of the State media.
JOMIC must act swiftly to ensure this dilution is expeditiously implemented to guarantee impartial reporting by \publicly owned media.
“PM Tsvangirai, ... echoed President Mugabe’s statement over the past weekend that there would be no going back on land redistribution, “the Herald went into top gear misrepresentation.
A cursory glance of the speech by anyone with grade 7 literacy level will show that contrary to that assertion by the Herald, the PM was at pains to explain the negative impact of the chaotic land reforms that he said were continuing even as he presented his speech in parliament.
He deplored thecontinued impunity on productive farms and promised a land audit that would ensure the one man one farm concept is upheld and restore productivity in the Agricultural sector.
This is what the Premier had to say about Agriculture in a tacit and unambiguous way that does not allow for the kind of misinterpretation coming from Herald House.
“In addition, the collapse of our agricultural production is clear evidence of what can happen to a vital sector of our economy when the rule of law is substituted for the rule of lawlessness.
A viable land acquisition and distribution process is essential to redress the racist land ownership patterns established during the colonial era.
As flawed as the recent process of land redistribution has been, this government does not intend to reverse it, but rather to institute measures that will once again see our agricultural sector becoming the jewel of Southern Africa. To achieve this we need to address the issue of land utilisation above all else.
We must halt the wanton disruptions of productive farming activities that are continuing as I speak. Already our food production for the coming season is going to be less than that of last year’s abysmal season. Those that believe that they can move onto a viable farm and steal the crops that are about to be harvested are wrong. In our culture, as in our law, you cannot reap what you have not sown. In addition, those that are undertaking these activities are threatening seasonal crop production to the value of over US$150 million - money that our economy desperately needs.
In the GPA we have committed ourselves and our parties to recognising that all land is used productively in the interests of all the people of Zimbabwe. A farm is a business that should provide food for our nation, revenue to our economy and employment for our people.
In line with this, your new Government has committed to, amongst other things:
• conduct a comprehensive, transparent and non-partisan land audit, during the tenure of this Seventh Parliament of Zimbabwe, for the purpose of establishing accountability and eliminating multiple farm ownerships.
• ensure that all Zimbabweans who are eligible to be allocated land and who apply for it shall be considered for allocation of land irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation;
• ensure security of tenure to all land holders.
• work together to secure international support and finance for the land reform programme in terms of compensation for the former land owners and support for new farmers.
This process will go a long way to healing our agricultural sector which in turn will be restored to its vital role in the economy and future of our great nation.
How that was interpreted at the Herald to mean the PM agrees with the President on the impunity in the Agricultural sector is beyond comprehension.
The PM is appalled with the decline in agricultural productivity and the chaotic manner in which Zanu PF handled land reforms but is prepared to panel beat the dented project because he sees the potential value in the agricultural sector that is being put to waste when it could be harnessed to improve our quality of life.
The Herald must be ordered to publish speeches verbatim to stop its editors spinning context for cheap political mileage for their preferred political leaders.
“He also commended the multi-currency trading system enunciated in the fiscal and monetary policies saying this had removed major distortions that had become prevalent in the economy,” the Herald continued with its cynical commentary.
The PM did not credit anyone with formulating the fiscal and monetary policies but merely pointed out that multi currency usage had ameliorated price distortions.
What was the motive of crediting the formulators of the monetary policy if it was not a cynical campaign for under siege Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono to be allowed to keep his job on the strength of the current fiscal and monetary policies?
The use of multi currencies is not a novel idea of the governor of the Reserve Bank.
In 99.99% of countries that manage their economies in a sound manner conversion of multi currencies into local currency and vice versa is done over bank counters.
The Financial sector is in the chaos it is because of Dr Gono’s warped fiscal policies and misappropriation of funds.
The local currency is not part of the multi currency because Gono printed so much of it, it is now not worth the paper it is printed on.
For the Herald to celebrate and credit the Governor who scripted the demise of our currency in a political effort to discredit the PM is totally uncalled for.
Dr Gono allowed the Government to deploy the military to fight inflation. Where did that leave us?
The Herald Editorial team must be injected with new thinking not this crap in charge at present.
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