The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe was “snubbed” by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) which this past week was meeting in Angola to discuss the political and security issues affecting their bloc. And because the DRC was being discussed without Zimbabwe’s presence, then it meant President Mugabe had been snubbed.
That is the gospel according to the private media.
We could talk about how there are far more important issues pertaining to people’s livelihoods which the media should be concerning themselves with.
We could point out that the people of Zimbabwe expect the fourth estate of the realm to be busying itself with real news and abetting the national development agenda.
We could also dwell on the irony of a private media worrying itself about President Mugabe supposedly being snubbed with one breath, and with another breath worrying about tax payers’ money being “wasted” by our leader’s international obligations.
But we would be whistling in the hurricane of noise generated by a private media pathologically obsessed with President Mugabe and has been dreaming of his demise for longer than anyone cares to remember.
After all, that very report that screamed “Mugabe snubbed” carried a few lines in which the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joey Bimha, tried to educate them.
“We are not part of the ICGLR. However, the DRC is part of both the ICGLR and Sadc. Our participation in the defence of the sovereignty of the DRC was under Sadc.
“When Sadc is involved and the DRC is part of the discussion, we will take part, but only in the context of the regional body.”
Simple. But the private media cannot understand this, refuses to understand this.
Let us try and help Ambassador Bimha educate these fellows.
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa was at the Angola meeting — along with a representative of the President of Egypt — as a special invitee of President Eduardo dos Santos.
Further, South Africa sits on the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation, which is chaired by Mozambique and also includes Tanzania.
Why then are the folk at the private media perplexed by President Zuma’s presence in Angola and by President Mugabe’s absence?
Zimbabwe’s most recent engagement with the DRC issue has been at Sadc level as a member of the bloc as well as its Summit Troika.
Zimbabwe is a member of that Troika, which is presently chaired by Botswana, as immediate past Chair of the bloc, along with Swaziland, which is the incoming Chair.
Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana were not part of the ICGLR’s Angola Summit. South Africa was there as a special invitee of Angola, Tanzania was there as a member of the ICGLR.
But the gospel according to the private media is that President Mugabe was snubbed.
Are they aware that Zimbabwe is not a member of the ICGLR?
Should we brace ourselves for a headline declaring that the Kuwadzana Burial Society held a meeting last Saturday and “snubbed” President Mugabe by not inviting him?
Are they aware that the members of the ICGLR are Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, The Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia?
Do these sages in the private media feel better educated yet?
This issue is of importance because we cannot have an ill-informed media unleashing itself on an unsuspecting public with its arsenal of weapons of mass deception.
The media are always at the forefront of stating their importance to democracy and development, but we do not do ourselves any service by poisoning our people with such puerile propaganda.
Maybe it was a slow news day for our colleagues. Maybe the author and his editors do not know what the ICGLR is and who its members are. Maybe their handlers instructed them to bash President Mugabe at whatever cost.
Whatever the reason, the people of Zimbabwe do not deserve to be mistreated by people and organisations that ordinarily should be well-trusted and key partners in building a better nation for us all.
