The famous police truck

Pic; The police truck that took away MDC members of staff after the raid at Harvest House. They were tortured while in police custody.Many of them are still in police custody (remand prison) including journalist Luke Tamborinyoka.

American gospel star in Zim

Pic: Famous American gospel star Ron kenoly perfoms at the Harare International Conference Center on Friday.

The picture that got Boldwill Hungwe into trouble

Pic. The president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, Beatrice Mtetwa shows her bruised body after police beatings. On Thursday Hungwe got a call from the Harare Central Police station to answer to questions about the photo which the police said, violated the Public Order and Security Act.

University of Zimbabwe now a Pig Pan

Iwent to the University of Zimbabwe yesterday to check on the falling standards of living there. Its was a sad scenario judging from the fact that the institution was once the 'A' class of most of universities in the continent. The pics show (bottom) the furniture in one of the residential halls common room and (top), a blocked toilet. Students now resort to bush toilets.

World Press Freedom Day Remembered

Pic: Gift Phiri leaving the megistrate courts last month.


In remembrance of the world press freedom day, some of us (journalists) gathered at the press club to share our thoughts about the media environment in our country among other things. We had a speech read by Foster Dongozi (Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary general) on behalf of the International federation of Journalists IFJ which highlighted a number of issues regarding our working environment.

"Impunity should no longer be tolerated when a journalist is killed, attacked or threatened" he read."In Africa it is sad to note that press freedom is constantly under.....violent attacks on the media, arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, utilisation of draconian law to imprison journalists, impunity and bad working conditions are the main factors that continue to confront journalists.... in the continent" he said.

Such a scenario highlighted by the speech Dongozi read, followed some very interesting comments and contributions from some journalists who had attended. It is sad to note that the press freedom day came during the government's intensified campaign against journalist who are mostly from the private media. This year alone we saw the killing of Edward Chikomba by unknown assailants, the arrest and torture of Gift Phiri a journalist with the Zimbabwean and other journalists being denied accreditation. Furthermore concerns were also raised about the poor remuneration and working conditions journalists are being subjected to.

In his solidarity message Dongozi highlighted the lack of activity amongst Zim Journalists when it came to resisting government threats. ' We need to come with programmes of action that will hold the authorities accountable" he said.

In the year 2000, the supreme court of Zimbabwe ruled that monopoly of the airwaves is unconstitutional. To the contrary, the playing field in the operations of the media is uneven with the government holding the monopoly of the airwaves. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation is being abused, as one journalist said, and almost operating like a propaganda machine of the ruling party. The media by and large is channeling hate messages and thus playing a dangerous roll, another journalist said. People in the highest offices are seen uttering and given prominence to say messages like"instill fear in the hearts of a white man".

We now have a situation where we have trial by the media another sited. The official media saw it fit that they become the courts of this land. We have often seen headlines like "MDC petrol bombers" even before they (alleged MDC bombers) are proven guilty of such crimes. Quite a number of issues were discussed including the need for journalists to come up with a petition to bring to attention our concerns as journalists before the government and the issue of the media council. A minute of silence was then observed in remembrance of Chikomba.

Harare is all Yours Gazza

Pic: Namibian Kwaito star Gazza doing what he knows best at the Harare International Festival of the Arts.

HIFA Opens With a Bang

Pic: HIFA Opening

The HIFA opening show on Tuesday was a fantastic moment to those fans who had long awaited for its coming. It was a fusion of so many artistic acts- music, ballet- just to mention a few. What was really magnificent about the presentation was the systematic arrangement of the presentations as the fusion of the acts would flow without noticeable breaks.

My biggest highlight of the show was the presentation by Namibian Kwaito star Gazza. This young man is the new wave of the volatility of Kwaito. I have had the privilege of watching many South African kwaito artists play, but Gazza's act was rather unique. It is his ability to wow the public with his easy going dances, heavy beat and outstanding voice. This goes to show that music is such a powerful. Some of his songs that "rocked" were the likes of KKN, Vistan, Oshinima and many from his new project. I will recommend anyone to track this guy.

The festival is still going on. There is the much awaited show on sunday when Thandiswa Mazwai from South African music outfit Bongo Muffin is to present her show as a solo artist. Zimbabweans are so used to her acts and hits as a group and not as a solo artist. We still wonder how she is going to put up a brilliant show without Speed and Jah Seed.