Moyo's hand feared as Chronicle journalists sent on leave

Moyo's hand feared as Chronicle journalists sent on leave

MOYO

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By Staff Reporter

SEVERAL senior journalists from the state-run Chronicle newspaper have been sent on forced leave in an apparent purge following the "Tsholotsho Declaration" storm, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.

The surprise move comes despite recent assurances by management that no-one would go on leave before the parliamentary elections scheduled for March.

The official line is that the journalists are being sent on leave because they have accumulated a lot of leave days, but there was marked concern among some employees who spoke to New Zimbabwe.com.

"We are being told it's just leave, but there is a lot of concern among the guys here. No-one knows what exactly is going on," a journalist who requested anonymity said.

The Chronicle's editor Stephen Ndlovu was recently reprimanded by government spokesman George Charamba over the paper's unquestioning support for Informatioon Minister Jonathan Moyo who got a serious ticking-off from President Robert Mugabe and senior colleagues in the ruling Zanu PF.

Moyo is alleged to have attempted to stage a coup at a meeting in Tsholotsho by defying a directive to nominate a woman for the vice president's post alongside six Zanu PF provincial chairman who have all been suspended. Another accusation is that Moyo instructed editors of state newspapers, which he controls, not to write stories about Joyce Mujuru, Mugabe's favoured candidate.

The urgency in sending the employees on leave has alarmed many. Hardest hit is the Trends magazine, part of Zimpapers Bulawayo, whose editor Edwin Dube and deputy editor Limukani Ncube have both been sent on leave. Also going on the forced leave is the Chronicle's assistant news editor Tumeliso Makhurane, the assistant editor Paul Mambo and Sports editor Lovemore Dube. Even the editor of the vernacular newspaper Umthunywa, Bhekinkosi Ncube, has been asked to rest.

"The morale has hit rock bottom here because no-one knows what is going on," said one journalist. "Coming just after the Tsholotsho crisis, people think this may be a way of getting rid of us."

Mambo was the acting Chronicle editor when an irate President Robert Mugabe flew into Bulawayo to rectify things following the so called "Tsholotsho Declaration". According to sensational new claims, it was at this point that Moyo panicked and sent an SMS to Mambo asking him to lift the publicity black-out on Mujuru. A journalist who saw the message says it read: "pliz write something on (Joyce) Mujuru maybe it will help my situation."

Moyo was hauled before a Zanu PF disciplinary committee and got a "strong reprimand" from President Mugabe before being dropped from the central committee. At that disciplinary hearing, Moyo had prepared a document to defend himself, whose contents later surfaced on the pages of the Chronicle as he launched his own defence. Ndlovu who had returned from Portugal carried a three page special on Moyo as he sought to rebut allegation after allegation over the "Tsholotsho Declaration".

Inside sources say Moyo was still unhappy that some of his arguments were heavily edited, and as it turned out, by Mambo. This included his contention that a boy named Isaac who recently came out to claim Moyo was his father was a creation of the Central Intelligence Organisation at the behest of his enemies who wanted to discredit him.

"There are two things," said one journalist. "It's either we are being paranoid and making a melee out of nothing, or there is a major purge going on to replace senior journalists with Moyo's foot soldiers."

The only senior people who are remaining are Mkhululi Sibanda and Isaac Waniwa, both thought to be close confidantes of the editor, and by extension, Moyo.
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