Minister Mohadi Targets Journalists

This time Home Affairs co-minister Kembo Mohadi is the complainant over a story published by the paper in October alleging that the veteran politician was trying to force out some war veterans off their
land to make way for his son and nephew.

He reported the case in Gwanda and there are fears the detectives will take the journalists to the Matabeleland South capital, which is over 500 kilometers outside Harare.

The policemen who visited the Alpha Media Holdings offices led by a Detective Inspector Mukwaira ordered the two to report at Harare Central Police Station on Friday after they were told Madanhire was
off due to sickness.

On Wednesday, Madanhire and Matshazi were granted US$100 bail each and ordered to surrender their passports by Harare magistrate after they were charged with criminal defamation and theft of documents from
Kereke’s medical insurance company, Green Card.

The paper had reported that the society was facing imminent collapse because its income far outweighed expenditure.

Kereke also launched a US$2 million civil suit against the newspaper owed by Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), the publishers of the Zimbabwe Independent and NewsDay.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) has severed links with Kereke over his role in Madanhire and Matshazi’s arrest.

ZUJ said although Kereke was one of its major sponsors for this year’s journalistic awards, it cannot continue associating with him after his actions that threatened press freedom and the right by the media to
free expression.

“As ZUJ we subscribe totally to the higher values of a free media and we will not hesitate to defend the media’s unfettered freedom to expose the ills of society,” ZUJ said in a statement.

“We therefore declare that in future we will not deal with Dr Kereke in programmes that seek to enhance journalistic standards because his actions put him in direct confrontation with the cherished ideals of a
free media.”