"Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, and democracy, as we know it, is dead."
These words, spoken by Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, resonate with chilling clarity in Zimbabwe, where the recent arrest of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) journalist Blessed Mhlanga underscores the government’s relentless assault on press freedom.
Authorities accuse Mhlanga of “inciting violence” during his November 2024 and January 2025 interviews with war veteran Blessed Geza.
Geza called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to resign, accusing him of nepotism, corruption, and failing to address economic issues.
Mhlanga’s detention is not an isolated incident but part of a decades-long pattern of repression under Zanu PF rule.
The methods are predictable: arrests, intimidation, torture, and, in extreme cases, enforced disappearances. State institutions—the police, the courts, and security agencies—have been weaponised to silence dissent and stifle independent journalism.
Speaking after Mhlanga’s court appearance, AMH chairman and veteran journalist Trevor Ncube, who has witnessed this repression firsthand, bemoaned the “selective application of the law” in Zimbabwe.
He aptly summarised the situation: “President Mnangagwa owns the courts. They have said they own the military, they own the police, and they will do as they please.”
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The weaponisation of state institutions has been evident since the era of Robert Mugabe, when journalists exposing corruption, human rights abuses, or military misconduct faced severe consequences.
In 1999, The Standard journalists Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto were arrested and tortured by the military after publishing an exposé on an alleged coup plot.
Their ordeal sent a clear message: reporting on sensitive political issues would not be tolerated.
That same year, The Daily News was bombed in an attack widely believed to be state-sponsored. No one was held accountable.
In 2011, state security agents raided NewsDay offices and threatened journalists in another attempt to muzzle independent journalism.
The case of Itai Dzamara, a journalist and activist who called for Mugabe’s resignation, remains a haunting example of the regime’s brutality.
Dzamara was abducted in broad daylight in 2015 and has never been seen again. Mnangagwa’s government has done little to investigate his disappearance.
Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 after toppling Mugabe in a military coup, promising a “new dispensation” that would uphold democratic principles. However, his tenure has proven to be a continuation of the same oppressive tactics.
Investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, for instance, was arrested multiple times in 2020 after exposing government corruption, including the looting of Covid-19 relief funds. The charges against him — inciting violence — were widely seen as politically motivated.
Chin’ono exposed a multimillion-dollar scandal dubbed “Covidgate,” in which senior government officials and business elites were accused of siphoning funds meant for Covid-19 medical supplies.
His investigative work, which included detailed evidence of corruption, implicated high-ranking figures in Mnangagwa’s administration.
Instead of addressing the allegations, the government targeted Chin’ono.
His detention was widely condemned as an attempt to silence a journalist who had exposed the rot at the heart of Zimbabwe’s leadership.
Chin’ono has been vocal about the plight of fellow journalists, including Blessed Mhlanga. Commenting on Mhlanga’s case on X, Chin’ono wrote: “He (Mhlanga) is detained for something he neither did nor said. This is how journalists are treated in Zimbabwe! Where in the world does a journalist get arrested for what someone else said?”
Chin’ono’s words highlight the absurdity of Mhlanga’s detention. Mhlanga’s arrest is emblematic of the broader crackdown on press freedom in Zimbabwe.
His case underscores the government’s determination to control the narrative and punish those who dare to challenge its authority.
By targeting journalists like Mhlanga, the government seeks to instil fear and discourage others from
The Zimbabwean government views independent journalism not as a pillar of democracy but as a threat to its grip on power.
The arrest of Mhlanga, like those before him, is not just an attack on an individual — it is an attack on the right of Zimbabweans to access uncensored information.
The international community has a role to play in holding the Zimbabwean government accountable.
Organisations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International have repeatedly called for an end to the harassment of journalists in Zimbabwe.
However, without sustained pressure from regional bodies like the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, the Mnangagwa regime is unlikely to change its tactics.
As long as the state continues to weaponise its security apparatus against journalists, Zimbabwe’s democracy will remain an illusion.
The more the government tightens its grip on information, the more it vilifies those who challenge its version of reality.
Without a free press, there can be no accountability, no transparency, and no democracy.
The international community must stand in solidarity with Zimbabwean journalists, amplifying their voices and demanding an end to the repression that has plagued the country for decades.
Only then can Zimbabwe begin to move toward a future where truth and justice prevail.
