ZIMBABWE’S INFORMATION minister and a top aide are being sued for contempt of court by four local journalists after the authorities refused them access to an international trade conference last weekend despite being legally bound to allow them in.
The decision to sue the minister, Webster Shamu, and the official, George Charamba, was taken by the four freelance journalists after they won a landmark case against the government last Friday, in which they challenged the legal status of the country’s Media and Information Commission (MIC), which, they said, no longer existed.
High court judge Bharat Patel ruled the MIC was no longer legitimate and, as such, no journalist in the country needed to register with it.
Established in 2002 by President Robert Mugabe’s government as a means to control the negative publicity his controversial land reform policies were receiving, journalists had to apply to the MIC for accreditation before being legally allowed to work in Zimbabwe.
However, the commission was abolished in January last year and was due to be replaced by a new, more liberal media body.
To date, no steps have been taken by the unity government to set up the new body, despite February’s powersharing deal citing a need for increased press freedoms.
On foot of Friday’s high court decision, reporters Stanley Gama, Stanley Kwenda, Jealous Mawarire and Valentine Maponga went to Victoria Falls with the court order to ensure they could cover the trade summit, which was chaired by President Mugabe.
However, according to the journalists, security officials told them they could not enter without MIC cards.
“They told us to ‘get out with your court orders’,” Mr Gama told reporters on Tuesday.
The journalists’ lawyer, Selby Hwacha, said the refusal to allow the men access to the 19-nation Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa summit was in contempt of the high court order which was made on Friday and as such they would be seeking the court to intervene.
“We are filing a contempt complaint.
“They [Mr Shamu and Mr Charamba] didn’t take steps to ensure the court order was complied with,” Mr Gama said.
Contempt of court orders in Zimbabwe usually result in the arrest of offenders.
The incident in Victoria Falls has coincided with prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s aid-seeking trip to Europe and the United States, where he is attempting to convince donor countries that the new unity government with his former nemesis, Mr Mugabe, is working.
However, the western governments visited so far have refused to increase financial aid, insisting “irreversible” reforms in the areas of human rights and media freedoms need to be introduced before the much-needed finance would be released.