Jonathan Moyo defends Mugabe photograph deletion

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services minister Jonathan Moyo has defended the controversial action by State security agents who forced photojournalists to delete photographs of President Robert Mugabe after he stumbled and fell down at the Harare International Airport recently.

The nonagenarian leader who turns 91 next week tripped on the airport staircase  and fell down after addressing party supporters who had gathered to welcome him back home from the African Union Summit in Ethiopia where he had been elected chairman.

Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club on Friday Moyo described the decision by the State security agents as a necessary and normal reaction in any country.

"No one really who is experienced and normal will have any problems with security officials deleting footage or images they think are not okay," Moyo said.

"It happens at a national park that is their job. The Vatican does that, the police at the Vatican if you take pictures there they will delete," said the minister.

"If you go to that sacred temple in Cambodia and you take pictures of yourself nude and so forth like some French people were doing a few weeks ago, the police come, they will delete. That is an appropriate reaction, if they don't delete they deserve to be fired," said Moyo.

Mugabe's fall which the State media watered down as a mere carpet mishap went viral on the social media, with most making mockery of Zimbabwe's only president since independence.

The incident even attracted international media attention, with local opposition parties calling for Mugabe to step down and rest as he was way past his sell by date.

As a result of the incident, First Lady Grace Mugabe allegedly fumed over the way the aides failed to avert the fall of her frail husband, while Moyo said it has simply made them wiser for future handling of similar issues.

"These experiences get all of us to be wiser, mature, more understanding and to come to terms with the realities of modern technology. But I think we should have reasonable and mature discussions and not start laughing at each other."

Moyo said while deleting pictures proved a futile exercise in stopping footage leakage to the public, Moyo insinuated that, in case a similar incident occurs the best way was to confiscate the cameras used by the journalists.

"These digital devices have built in facilities for things that are deleted to remain alive for at least thirty days. So next time, we have learnt that we should not delete, we should take the devices," he said.

In a thinly veiled threat to the private media, the government spin doctor said they risked being barred from such state events as they were abusing the kind gesture extended to them by the government.

"What is really significant about this incident is that whereas in the past these people who rushed to upload those images on the Internet would not have been invited to the function at the airport.

"We are inviting them these days, so they must not pretend that they are cleverer than us when we are the ones who are inviting them and we want to continue inviting them.

"If they become irresponsible and unrealistic in their behaviour we will remind them, that is exactly the reason why we were not inviting you before and then we will all lose."

Moyo who again insisted that Mugabe did not fall but broke the fall attacked the local media which he accused of "struggling to handle the truth. "

"We have a media that believes the angle is the story, not the truth of the story. The truth is we have not bothered anyone about those images, instead we have asked you to compare those images with other similar incidences involving VIPs of that stature," said Moyo.