The Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) this week seized all unedited tapes of President Robert Mugabe’s exclusive birthday interview with state broadcaster ZBC after sensitive comments about the controversial succession issue were leaked.
In a rare outburst, Mugabe had lashed out at his Vice-President, Joyce Mujuru, for demeaning him and using unorthodox party procedures to take over power.
The president’s office had directed that parts of the interview be edited out and the edited version was aired last week. But copies of the unedited interview found their way to the private media, which reported on it, prompting state operatives to storm Pockets Hill, the ZBC headquarters.
“All the raw footage is gone,” said a staffer at the ZBC. “They [CIO operatives] accused the editorial team of releasing unauthorised versions of the interview.”
Coxwell Chigwana, a CIO official, headed a four-man CIO team that interrogated the editorial board at the broadcaster about the leak last Sunday.
“The thinking within the president’s office was that Mugabe’s succession outburst was going to create disharmony within the party and government,” another staffer at the state broadcaster told the Mail & Guardian.
“Mugabe had never named and shamed his colleagues in government over the succession issue before, but had grown exasperated over what he thinks are attempts to remove him before his term expires,” the source said.