Joice Mujuru behind Moyo panel troubles, claim

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) has fallen victim to divisions in Zanu PF with a faction linked to Vice President Joice Mujuru accused of working to kill the initiative.

The 25-member panel, set up in December, has been touring the country soliciting for citizens' views on how to reconfigure the country's media industry, drawing $300 in allowances per sitting from a cash pot of $1.6 million provided by treasury.

The panel is headed by former Daily News editor and opposition MDC-T MP aspirant, Geoffrey Nyarota, an appointment that saw Moyo being accused of subversion by an angry President Robert Mugabe.

A member of the panel, who asked not to be named, said their work was surprisingly being undermined by members of the Zanu PF government.

The member said last week Mash East minister Simba Mudarikwa read the panel the Riot Act saying IMPI was not provided for in the country's statutes.

Mudarikwa was a close ally of the late General Solomon Mujuru, the vice president's late husband and former army commander.