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Gibson Nyikadzino Herald Correspondent
A certain lady journalist this week wrote in a foreign newspaper that: “A third of the (Zimbabwean) population – five million – have fled overseas, a larger exodus than from war zones in Syria and Ukraine.”
Fortunately, as of January 23, in its latest records the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 7 996 573 Ukrainians have fled the country as a result of the Western proxy war against Russia.
This amounts to around 19 percent of the Ukrainian population.
These figures already kill the lie that a third of Zimbabwe’s population who “fled” overseas is larger than refugees from Ukraine and Syria.
Official figures from Zimbabwe’s 2022 census show that there are 908 914 Zimbabweans abroad. And, because of the free movement of goods, services and also economic circumstances, among other things, people are bound to emigrate.
Such is the fake narrative about Zimbabwe being peddled in British media by their accessory, Ms Christina Lamb, who claims to have 29 years reporting from Zimbabwe.
It is Western nature to lie
Media and communication scholars have in the past decade debated about the proliferation of inaccurate journalism in the digital age and how it is contaminating facts and compromising objective reporting.
The latter has led to discussions of terms like misinformation and disinformation, and lately, fake news, which is hinged on the deliberate by-passing of news construction mechanisms to drive a particular narrative.
The general conclusion has been: “the advent of social media and unconventional journalism are proliferating misinformation and disinformation.”
However, while blame has been apportioned to the advent of social media, conventional or trained journalists have also become key architects of misinformation, disinformation and fake news because some think the presentation of facts, objectivity and balance are no longer necessary values in modern journalism.
Such has been the case with Ms Lamb, a journalist and “bestselling author” whose story in UK Sunday Times had pre-truths and alternative facts, only to expose herself as someone propagating racial political narratives about Zimbabwe and reminiscent of the British’s continued want of entitlement to preside over Zimbabwean issues.
In an era where fake news is being peddled not only through alternative media, traditional media like the UK’s Sunday Times and Western media outlets in general are becoming obsessed with lies.
Just last week, the German Foreign Minister Ms Annalena Baerbock at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said: “We are fighting a war against Russia.”
After months of trying to hide the truth from the people that the Russian special military operation in Ukraine was a product of Western instigation, Ms Baerbock confirmed the German and European position. After such, Western media is now accusing Russia of “twisting the minister’s war comments for propaganda”.
In July 2022, Western media, the so-called “free” and “independent”, also pushed the narrative that Russia had run out of ammunition, soldiers, tanks, helicopters, planes, trains and automobiles in the “early stages” of its special military operation in Ukraine.
Now, the West is supplying billions of dollars to Ukraine and dozens of military hardware from Leopard 2 to M1 Abrams tanks.
Does this still mean Russia has run out of stocks? Did Western media lie to the world? And, if they did, what else have they lied to the world about?
These lies can be a reflection on the nature of falsehoods that Western mainstream media can generate and impose its views using people like Christina Lamb, who share the lie about Zimbabwe.
Priming Zim for bad publicity
Whenever journalistic work is published, it is open to scrutiny and alternative information provided helps to close the inconsistencies and flawed assessments of what will have been published.
The good thing about Zimbabwe is that through its leadership, it has acknowledged the existence of challenges that over the years stalled economic headway.
And what has so far been done does not mean people should stop working and look forward to improved circumstances.
Challenges exist in many countries, like in the US the death of Tyre Nichols as a result of police brutality shows the depth of institutional racial mechanisms in America despite that Nichols was beaten by five black police officers.
Therefore, does this death mean nearly three years after George Floyd’s murder by police, the US is non-committed to racial equality?
In her article, Ms Lamb made deliberate distortions and cared little to speak to government officials or institutions that could have given “balance” to her opinionated feature story.
Hers was a narrative that sold the opposition agenda and priming the country for bad publicity ahead of the 2023 elections.
Part of her “story” describes Hatcliffe Extension as a “shanty town of plastic and cardboard shelters”; mentioning that in Zimbabwe “three quarters of people are unemployed”; that “there is an industry” gluing worn out US dollar notes; and the Zimbabwean Cabinet “recently agreed a so-called Patriotic Act to punish people who criticise the country”.
Using a methodology that works in labour governance, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has over the years carried out surveys in which they have shown that unemployment in Zimbabwe is at most 5,3 percent.
According to the ILO, if an individual is engaged, consistently for three months, in an activity that gives them economic rewards, that is considered a form of employment.
In that assessment by an international body, Ms Lamb’s figures are a lie.
Ms Lamb’s “story” has seen some local “media houses” that act as Western appendages celebrate her bravery to lie outright, misinform.
When journalism, which is research work, wilfully bypasses facts, statistics, figures and official information, it ceases to be one and becomes parochial work.
Zone of turmoil?
There are terms that are used in Western terminology to distinguish people, races and nationalities.
For example, when the West talks of relations with other people, terms such as “global North” and “global South” are used to refer to differences in terms of power, economic or military capability between North America and Western Europe, pitted against Asia, Africa, Middle-East and Latin America.
When the distinctions are made in terms of civilisations, the terms Occident and Oriental are used to refer to the West and East.
However, it is not only in this regard, other terms like “core” and “periphery” are also employed to show differences that exist between states and people.
Ms Lamb described Zimbabwe’s infrastructure as resembling “war zones”. This is quiet revealing coming from an orientation that has divided the world along “zones of peace”, a reference for the Western world, and “zones of turmoil” in reference to the rest.
As such, Zimbabwe is being primed in Western media as a “zone of turmoil”.
This reminds of Tobler’s first law of geography that “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things”.
In the SADC region and in Africa, the strategic location of Zimbabwe as the centrally located state in Southern Africa that has refused Western capture has infused stability to the region.
Zimbabwe cannot be a zone of turmoil while the rest of SADC remains stable. NO!
By labelling Zimbabwe as being in a war zone identifies the intentions of the West on this country ahead of the 2023 plebiscite and already, a trend has been started to prop the Zimbabwean opposition and besmirch Zimbabwe’s reputation.
Set up think-tanks
Like Ms Lamb, there is another flawed analysis about the Zimbabwean situation that was provided by one Nic Cheeseman a few days ago on what he termed “democracy”.
It is unnecessary to say much about it.
However, it is high time Zimbabwe starts to think around setting up powerful think-tanks that implement the framework of what works for Zimbabwe in continuity and whose narrative is understood by everyone.
The reason the Chinese, Russians, Turks or Iranians have transcended caring about what the West think about their nationals in regards to security, economic or political issues is because of strong investment in research and analysis at a policy, political and economic level.
With strong think-tanks, no African country should let the foreigners try to speak for what is happening to Africans, except Africans.
The ideological apparatus of the State should be spread in diversity to protect the interests of the country.
If Zimbabwe as a nation is not extinct, then Zimbabweans should speak for their country and suppress the immoral lies peddled by Western media to damage the progress of the black majority.
Zimbabweans, remember we are one. This is homeland!
Online Reporter