Knowing the centre of power

FOR those of us who work in the media, and I’m sure that extends to foreign embassies and international bodies, the state-run Herald newspaper is sometimes as much fun to read as it is useful.

It is unfortunate that the newspaper enjoys a monopoly. There can be no justification for stifling media plurality in a country that demands to be considered as a democracy.

Because of this monopoly, the Herald can print absurdities and readers do not have a choice to boycott – which would be the option readily available to them had there been competition.

But to say the Herald is 24 pages of absurdities is not a fair characterisation. The paper does its fair bit of community reporting and because of its vast operation, it can bring stories from the remotest corner of Zimbabwe to the world.

But there is a far bigger role the Herald plays. By reading the paper, you very much know what President Robert Mugabe is getting up to as the opinions of his press secretary, George Charamba, drip through the ink of the Zimpapers printing press.

Unlike Britain or the United States where the Prime Minister and President hold press conferences with journalists, the Herald is the only source of Mugabe’s opinions in Zimbabwe.

It is a role the paper plays with remarkable enthusiasm, so you can imagine the massive shock to the system the paper got when for the first time since Mugabe came to power in 1980, it was faced with two centres of power in government.

Not only did Mugabe lose an election last year, he was forced to sit around a table with his opponents who had been described in some rather colourful language in the state media.

But trust the propagandists around Mugabe to get round this awkward situation. Despite the electoral setbacks, the President is still very much in charge, they want you to know. The President is still very much in charge of EVERYTHING, they remind us daily.

Of course the reminders are not as obvious as that. That would be a sure way to get Morgan Tsvangirai labelling the Herald an “outstanding issue?” So the Herald has found a way of delivering this subtle message to the nation with remarkable word economy.

President Robert Mugabe, you will find this somewhere in your copy almost daily, is “the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces”.

The other way of saying that is “Morgan Tsvangirai is not the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces”, so don’t be deceived.

The only danger for the Herald and those peddling this propaganda is that they must be careful not to overuse those references to Mugabe otherwise where they are intended to strike fear into the hearts of “imperialists” and their “local running dogs”, it may very well turn His Excellency into an object of fun.

Idi Amin tried it in Uganda but he died miserable in Saudi Arabia after fleeing his own people. Amin, you will remember, had the grand title of “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, King of Scotland, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular”.

I wouldn’t bet against the Herald soon writing: “His Excellency Cde Robert Mugabe, who is the Head of State and Government, Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Chancellor of all the State Universities, President and First Secretary of the ruling Zanu PF party, Patron of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association and Life President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.”