Dear President Mnangagwa,
PERMIT me to begin with a gentle reminder.
When you sought refuge from the late President Robert Mugabe, it was Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) — the very media house now facing your administration’s ire — that courageously chronicled your anguish and your promises to a nation yearning for change. No other dared.
Your recent threats against the media now appear to be manifesting in alarming actions.
We have witnessed the detention of Heart & Soul Broadcasting Services (HStv) journalist Blessed Mhlanga for 73 days without trial and the distressing imprisonment of Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba.
Furthermore, threatened litigation from your legal representatives against AMH strike many as frivolous and vexatious — tactics more commonly associated with insecure “tinpot dictators” than with a leader of your stated calibre.
You once described yourself as “soft as wool”; surely, this does not align with such heavy-handedness.
Perhaps, Mr President, you are simply ill-advised by those whose true agenda might be to erode the very constitutional tenets that underpin your authority and tenure.
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One might even suspect the same voices pushing for constitutional amendments to extend your term are inadvertently tarnishing Brand Zimbabwe.
Mr President, your position and authority flow directly from the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
No words, spoken or written, should truly threaten your office, at least not until the natural conclusion of your constitutional term.
Your tenure, therefore, is inherently secure.
To arrest journalists and unleash intimidatory lawsuits is, frankly, "not a done thing" in modern democracies.
It damages Brand Zimbabwe, undermines your “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra and attacks the public’s fundamental right to information, Press freedom and free speech — the very lifeblood of a functioning democracy.
Capital, after all, is notoriously timid and shies away from jurisdictions perceived as insecure or intolerant.
The recent charges against Zaba and AMH for “undermining or insulting the President” following a satirical Muckraker column in the Zimbabwe Independent are particularly telling.
It’s worth noting that this is only the second time Muckraker has faced such legal action over the past 29 years, with the late Colonel Claudious Makova having lost a case where the court rightly ruled that satire cannot be taken as defamation.
As the late Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist and Anglican cleric Jonathan Swift once quipped, “The only way to deal with politicians is to slap them with satire and slap them hard.”
Perhaps those who cannot stomach the heat of the satirical kitchen should consider a different line of work.
A free Press serves as a vital watchdog and satire is one of its most potent tools.
While you, Mr President, have been observed at rallies dishing out insults that leave fawning audiences in stitches, and your acolytes follow suit with similar abandon, this behaviour is hardly exemplary.
I respectfully submit that your precious time could be far more profitably spent elsewhere than fixating on satire, the media and journalists.
Words from journalists, particularly when aimed at a constitutionally protected President, inflict no real harm.
Instead, allow me to highlight the true insults to your office and the nation — the very issues that effectively undermine your authority and demand your immediate, decisive attention:
The real threats to Zimbabwe
- HIV and Aids surge: The alarming increase in HIV and Aids among young people, with over 1,3 million Zimbabweans living with the virus, demands your urgent intervention.
- Youth crisis: High unemployment, escalating rates of drug abuse and suicide among our youth, coupled with a disconcerting rise in teenage pregnancies and abortions, represent a grave indictment on our collective future and gravely undermine your authority.
School drop-out rates are up meaning the young people face a gloomy future.
- Endemic corruption: Corruption has become tragically synonymous with your administration, tarnishing your good name. You came into office promising to rid us of the “thieves” around President Mugabe; yet, the cancer of corruption persists, costing Zimbabwe nearly US$2 billion annually, according to our own prosecutor-general.
This siphons away resources, places an unbearable tax burden on the poor and leaves our hospitals empty and our health delivery system broken.
Zimbabwe ranks a dismal 158th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.
- Pervasive poverty: Poverty remains endemic, demanding firm and decisive action to uplift our struggling populace.
- Crumbling infrastructure: Most of our infrastructure lies derelict, leaving millions struggling for basic services like clean water.
Fifty people died of cholera in November 2023 in Chitungwiza after going for days without running water — a grim testament to this crisis. The water crisis persists.
- Deteriorating healthcare: Our healthcare services continue to deteriorate and remain out of reach for the majority. With only 1 724 doctors and 17 245 nurses serving over 16 million people, our doctor-to-population ratio is nine times lower than the global average.
- Mr President, the list of urgent and long-standing issues is extensive.
In my humble opinion, these are the true affronts that besmirch your name and erode public respect for your office.
It is difficult to respect a leader when their administration is associated with the pain and predicament of the masses.
Your administration must cease criminalising journalism while the real criminals — those responsible for massive corruption — walk freely on our streets.
These are the individuals who should be brought before our courts, tried and sent to prison.
Not Faith Zaba. Not Blessed Mhlanga. And not any journalist lawfully practising their trade or citizens freely expressing their opinions.
Finally, President Mnangagwa, you must be an exemplary father to this nation. Lead with love, empathy, compassion, mercy and wisdom.
Be exemplary in your words and in the words of those who represent you. For, Mr President, respect is earned, not commanded.
Fear and resentment can never be converted to genuine respect.
Sincerely,
Trevor Ncube
- Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings (Publishers of Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard and NewsDay)
