THE ruling Zanu PF party acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa’s attempts to muzzle the Press from reporting “negatively” about the President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his family are unfortunate and a brazen attack on media independence.
If a member of the First Family, just like every other citizen, becomes newsworthy, positively or negatively, then should be subjected to media scrutiny because media freedom is a hallmark of any democracy.
It is unfortunate that Zanu PF has always been intolerant of scrutiny, especially by the private media, and to claim that any negative report about the First Family has to be “unscrupulous” or part of a “sponsored” agenda is shocking.
Just like every other citizen, members of the First Family must operate according to the law and refrain from corrupt dealings because when these find their way into the Press, there is nothing “systematic”, “well-choreographed” or “sponsored” about it.
In fact, it is Drax International that is publishing falsehoods by claiming in its statement it “has never met, communicated or done any business with any members of the first family” when a series of pictures featuring Collins and his mother, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, separately with Drax International’s Zimbabwe representative, Delish Nguwaya.
