August 1 Commission names spokesperson

Veteran broadcaster and former ZBC Radio Services general manager John Masuku has been tapped as the spokesperson of the independent commission installed to establish what happened before an army crackdown on opposition supporters on August 1 in which at least six people were killed in post-election violence.

Masuku, a versatile broadcast journalist and media trainer with interest in strategic communication and communication for development consultancy, came out tops in interviews conducted to find a spokesperson.

The commission, appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and led by former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, has to identify the actors and their leaders, their motive and strategies employed in the protests, to investigate the circumstances which necessitated the involvement of the military in assisting the maintenance of law and order.

Masuku was quoted in news wires saying: "I am very excited to be the spokesperson of such a group of eminent persons who include a former state President, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, army commander as well as top legal and political minds."