Farai Dziva|A rogue Zanu PF councillor, Sengerayi Manyanga invaded the offices of Masvingo based radio station Hevoi FM on Saturday night and threatened to beat up head of current affairs Regis Chingawo.
See below a statement released by Masvingo Media Centre:
Press Freedom Crackdown In Masvingo
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, ZUJ, is deeply concerned by increasing threats to journalists working in Masvingo Province.
This follows threats made to Hevoi FM News Editor Regis Chingawo by a ruling Zanu PF councillor, Sengerayi Manyanga.
The councillor reportedly wants to control the radio station’s social media policy but his attempts have been thwarted.
Chingawo, a member of the ZUJ National Executive, told the national office last night that he did not feel safe and believed his life was now in danger.
The threats were made at the radio station’s offices towards midnight on Saturday 28 December in Masvingo town.
The small community of journalists in Masvingo has been left traumatised by the developments as they have recorded a huge increase in threats to freedom of expression in the province in the last quarter of the year.
According to information received from Masvingo, the councillor for ward 10 in Masvingo town is reported to have laid an ambush at the Hevoi FM News offices on the night.
Upon realising that Chingawo would not reveal himself , the councillor angrily confronted the security officer at the radio station and demanded to know Chingawo’s whereabouts and threatened to mobilize against the senior journalist.
The councillor was accompanied by a mob which remained in the background as he laid siege on the radio station.
A police report was made at Masvingo Central Police Station today.
ZUJ Secretary General Foster Dongozi said the issue of the safety and security of journalists continued to be a major concern for the Union with political parties and some security forces continuing to be the major culprits.
“We have also noticed a worrying trend in Masvingo Province in which the safety of journalists is threatened by rogue politicians and security details.
“The same rogue councillor has threatened to close another media organisation in the province while Masvingo Mirror senior journalist Nkulumani Mlambo was hounded out of a public event attended by donors by security aides in Chiredzi recently.”
The Secretary General called on the Zanu PF leadership in Masvingo to condemn acts of violence and impunity against journalists and freedom of expression.
“If journalists are harmed in Masvingo we will know who the culprits are. But beyond that, we can also see that there are some rogue and renegade elements who want to frustrate Zimbabwe’s global re engagement policy by continuing to soil its image so that it remains a pariah state.
“The government has assured us at the highest level that it does not have a policy of impunity against journalists and we would want it to take stern measures against those violating the rights and safety of journalists.”
