Iden Wetherall in Harare
When Zimbabwe’s senior public prosecutor made it clear on Monday that the police had insufficient evidence to proceed with defamation charges against those at the helm of the contry’s leading independent newspaper, and that arrests and charges were in any case inappropriate procedures in such a case, a telephone call from the attorney general’s office soon put him straight. He was instructed to proceed anyway.
Proprietor Elias Rusike (54), Financial Gazette executive editor Trevor Ncube (33), and deputy editor Simba Makunike (31) were charged with criminal defamation after their arrest and detention over the weekend. The charges followed a complaint from high court judge Paddington Garwe and Cabinet Minister Enos Chikowore about allegations in the newspaper that they had officiated at a state house wedding ceremony for President Robert Mugabe (72) and his former secretary, Grace Marufu (37). All concerned, including Mugabe, have denied that the ceremony took place.
Legal sources reported that senior public prosecutor Duncan Dingana had ordered criminal charges to be dropped saying the allegations and evidence to date were “not serious enough” to warrant arrest and remand of the journalists. He was overruled by attorney general Patrick Chinamasa who sits in Mugabe’s cabinet. Criminal defamation is a rarely- pressed charge that requires proof of “potential disruption to the community”.
The prosecution has aroused widespread concern among Zimbabwe’s nascent civil society who fears that following its crushing electoral victory, Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, which is unashamedly hostile to pluralism and an independent press, will proceed to punish its most prominent critics.
Mugabe has expressed his hostility towards the independent press on previous occasions, referring to it as “the yellow press”. He is said to have become enraged when Horizon magazine disclosed details of his present relationship with Marufu last month, even though it had been rumoured in Harare for two years. There has been no attempt to deny that customary marriage exchanges have taken place between the families or that two children have subsequently been born, Robert Junior (6) and Bona (5), named after Mugabe’s late mother. Marufu’s first husband, an airforce officer, is reportedly claiming that Robert is his son. He has been posted abroad.
Sources in Zimbabwe’s diplomatic community suggest that leaks about the couple have emanated from powerful political figures in the ruling party who fear that the emergence of a Mugabe dynasty may one day eclipse their chances of preferment.
The state media, which has remained obediently silent about the President’s marriage until the recent disclosures, last week suggested that Mugabe might consider action in the civil courts against those seeking to “damage his reputation” ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Althought official newspapers have been quick to suggest that the President’s office has nothing to do with the current prosecution, it is difficult to conceive of such high-level action without Mugabe’s knowledge.
The well-organised swoop in which a team of over 16 police officers took part betrays a politcial hand, editor Ncube believes. “This is an unambiguous attempt at intimidation,” he said, adding that police interrogation focused on his sources in the wedding story.
The three journalists were picked up on Saturday morning and taken by detectives to their offices which were searched. No arrest or search warrants were produced, they said. Defence advocate Erik Morris claimed after Monday’s hearing the timing of the arrests was clearly designed to maximise the period of detention.
“It seems to be a return to the glorious old Rhodesian Front days,” Morris said, referring to the white monority regime of Ian Smith before 1980. “That is what used to happen then.”
Students held placards outside the courtroom saying “Smith’s laws again”.
The Financial Gazette has been responsible for a series of disclosures highlighting official corruption, the most recent case involving a cellular phone contract.
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace representative Mike Auret said the arrests were reminiscent of the Smith era and designed to “instill fear in the local media”.
President Mugabe is in the United States this week working up investment for Zimbabwe. Commentators note his case for investing in a democratic Zimbabwe will now look threadbare. And stories about his private life are not likely to go away.
The International Federation of Journalists on Wednesday urged Mugabe “to take steps immediately to reassure the international community that Zimbabwe remains steadfast in its commitment to press freedom.”
Justice Garwe presided over the trial of anaesthetist Richard McGown last year. On that occasion he declined to institute proceedings against a ruling party newspaper that gave prominence to calls for the “amputation of white limbs” if McGown was not found guilty. In the same case, Attorney-General Chinamasa said in response to defence pleas for action against those inciting violence and contempt of court: “That is the price you pay for a free