adminThe US embassy recently engineered the seconding of two staffers: Associated Press photographer Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Wall Street Journal correspondent Farai Mutsaka to work in the PM’s Office for the next three months.
Mukwazhi, who doubles as the chief photographer for the Daily News, will reportedly head a Picture Network Centre which he would be directing from his base in the PM’s Office in Harare. The centre would be networking with photojournalists countrywide to compile images of violence, real or contrived, to be used to trash the political environment.
Mutsaka’s role, could not be ascertained, though it is most likely that he would be compiling dossiers for the visual campaign along with Mukwazhi. Mutsaka is the news editor at the Daily News. The Herald understands that following the allegations, the two American journalists were despatched to Harare to investigate.
The two failed to get clearance from the Government before their bid to enter the country purportedly for a holiday at the Victoria Falls.
The two should have sought clearance from the Media, Information and Publicity ministry first because of the nature of their duties.
Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba yesterday said they did not receive any application from the two.
He said he was not sure about the mission of the pair.
Sources said Mukwazhi was contravening the country’s accreditation rules and regulations by dabbling in politics. Investigations revealed that the two boarded the same plane back to their country around 12 noon.
The journalists are expected to apply through Zimbabwean embassies in their countries and in some cases they can apply directly to the ministry.
The application letter would be addressed to the permanent secretary in the ministry stating the applicant’s full names, gender, passport numbers, organisation/media house represented, designation, work station, contact details, nature of assignment and specific coverage dates in Zimbabwe. The ministry would then respond to the application through the embassy or directly to the applicant.
In terms of standing regulations, a journalist who has applied for accreditation, but has not yet received a response from the ministry of Media, Information and Publicity should not travel to Zimbabwe until the clearance has been obtained.
In March, at least 30 foreign journalists were accredited to cover the constitutional referendum, with only one turned down for failure to adhere to application rules.
Anita Powell of the Voice of America was not cleared mainly because she flew into Harare before being officially advised about the outcome of her application.
Online Reporter