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'The Herald inciting genocide,' says Sikhala
19 Nov 2014 at 20:39hrs | Views
Outspoken MDC-T activist Job Sikhala has accused state-run newspaper, The Herald of 'inciting genocide' in a similar manner to that of a Rwandan radio station, which led to the massacre of about 800 000 Tutsis by moderate Hutus.
Sikhala, who also said The Herald is creating a repeat-scenario of the 1980s disturbances in Matabeleland since dubbed 'Gukurahundi', was speaking in light of the latest state media tirade against Vice President Joice Mujuru, who is at the centre of an alleged assassination plot on President Mugabe.
State run media, The Herald included, has given the First Lady Grace Mugabe exclusive coverage as she rants on about how Mujuru attempts to unconstitutionally oust Mugabe despite the latter's refute of the claims.
Earlier on, The Herald editor Caesar Zvayi had posted on his Facebook page boasting that he decides what and what not to publish and "the buck stops with me".
Yesterday on his Facebook page, Sikhala said The Herald has a history of "cooking its own fiction" where it has "framed" Mugabe's targets on assassination plots.
"The Herald like that Radio Station in Rwanda must be charged of inciting genocide in Zimbabwe. The Herald cooks its own fiction and pass(es) it as an authentic story.
"In 2002, it brought a fictitious story that President Morgan Tsvangirai was plotting Mugabe's assassination and this resulted in 107 MDC supporters killed during the period," said Sikhala, adding that the recently released South African government's observer mission report detailed how Zanu-PF ‘stole' the election through violence.
Sikhala said The Herald systematically serialised similar propaganda against the late Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo, leading to the massacre of his estimated 20 000 supporters.
"When Mugabe accused Joshua Nkomo of plotting to assassinate him and overthrow his government in 1981, the Herald ran some propaganda campaign in a hysterical fashion and it led to the massacre of more than 20 000 supporters of Joshua Nkomo in Matabeleland.
"This figure is by conservative researchers. Others put the figure at more than 50 000," he said.
The former S't Mary's legislator says Ndabaningi Sithole was also "accused of the same by the hysterical Herald and 13 of his supporters were murdered overnight by the genocide gangster".
He claims that: "today as we speak, there is a group of terrorists unleashed everywhere to head hunt Mai Mujuru supporters for the same fate."
In his post, Zvayi said people should not speculate and associate him with a particular faction in Zanu-PF or try to dictate editorial content to him.
"I am the editor of The Herald, the buck stops with me. Every story therein passes through my machine for approval. We do not make the news, we report events as they unfold, if you do not agree with how things are going tough luck but don't expect me or my team to ignore them for you," he said.
Sikhala, who also said The Herald is creating a repeat-scenario of the 1980s disturbances in Matabeleland since dubbed 'Gukurahundi', was speaking in light of the latest state media tirade against Vice President Joice Mujuru, who is at the centre of an alleged assassination plot on President Mugabe.
State run media, The Herald included, has given the First Lady Grace Mugabe exclusive coverage as she rants on about how Mujuru attempts to unconstitutionally oust Mugabe despite the latter's refute of the claims.
Earlier on, The Herald editor Caesar Zvayi had posted on his Facebook page boasting that he decides what and what not to publish and "the buck stops with me".
Yesterday on his Facebook page, Sikhala said The Herald has a history of "cooking its own fiction" where it has "framed" Mugabe's targets on assassination plots.
"The Herald like that Radio Station in Rwanda must be charged of inciting genocide in Zimbabwe. The Herald cooks its own fiction and pass(es) it as an authentic story.
"In 2002, it brought a fictitious story that President Morgan Tsvangirai was plotting Mugabe's assassination and this resulted in 107 MDC supporters killed during the period," said Sikhala, adding that the recently released South African government's observer mission report detailed how Zanu-PF ‘stole' the election through violence.
"When Mugabe accused Joshua Nkomo of plotting to assassinate him and overthrow his government in 1981, the Herald ran some propaganda campaign in a hysterical fashion and it led to the massacre of more than 20 000 supporters of Joshua Nkomo in Matabeleland.
"This figure is by conservative researchers. Others put the figure at more than 50 000," he said.
The former S't Mary's legislator says Ndabaningi Sithole was also "accused of the same by the hysterical Herald and 13 of his supporters were murdered overnight by the genocide gangster".
He claims that: "today as we speak, there is a group of terrorists unleashed everywhere to head hunt Mai Mujuru supporters for the same fate."
In his post, Zvayi said people should not speculate and associate him with a particular faction in Zanu-PF or try to dictate editorial content to him.
"I am the editor of The Herald, the buck stops with me. Every story therein passes through my machine for approval. We do not make the news, we report events as they unfold, if you do not agree with how things are going tough luck but don't expect me or my team to ignore them for you," he said.
Source - Radio Dialogue
