Frelimo militia in Zanu-PF campaigns saga thickens; Govt says reports are fake, demands urgent apology
By Staff Writer
A news report alleging the involvement of neighboring Mozambique militia in Zanu-PF campaigns has turned nasty following the issuance of a very emotional response by the government which vehemently dismissed the allegations.
A video doing rounds captures a FRELIMO official telling supporters in Chipinge South’s Ward 28 that their government was prepared to shoot and kill any businessperson who fails to support Zanu PF at the August 23 polls.
The official, whose name is not given and was in the company of an army commander said a loss for Zanu PF or Mnangagwa will signal the end of Zimbabwe’s relationship with Mozambique.
But in a surprising twist of events, the deputy chief secretary , Presidential Communications ,George Charamba released an emotional statement Tuesday evening , dismissing the allegations and demanding a public apology as a matter of urgency.
The developments which came as a surprise are in direct contradiction over the matter which is normally expected to be between the ruling Zanu-pf and the publication which carried the story, NewsDay.
“We thus hope and expect that the Zimbabwe Media Commission ZMC takes a clear and bold position against this flagrant abuse of media freedoms whose impact on national security and or inter-state relations are dire and injurious respectively.
“That the article repeatedly and self- consciously used the adverb reportedly clearly shows deliberate , gratuitious malice and a conscious decision to proceed to publish falsehoods regardless as if to wilfuly spite rules of the craft.
“So too, does the tabloid paper’s decision to proceed on the basis of some spurious video clip anonymously placed and circulated on social media,” Charamba said.
He expressed hopes that the Zimbabwe Media Commission ZMC will take a clear and bold position against this flagrant abuse of media freedoms whose impact on national security and or inter- state relations are dire and injurious respectively.
“Government thus demands an immediate public apology from AMH and an unconditional retraction of this offensive article article by the newspaper concerned. Further, government expects apology and retraction to have the same prominence as the offending article,” added Charamba.
