JUST IN: VMCZ mourns Kurwa

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

THE Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) has mourned former Chronicle Sports Editor Innocent Kurwa, who passed away after a tragic accident on Saturday, hailing the veteran journalist, who served in the organisation’s Provincial Adjudication Committee, as a champion for professional and non-partisan media in the country.

Kurwa (63) died early Sunday morning after his car, a Nissan Almera, was involved in a head-on collision along Leopold Takawira Avenue in Bulawayo.

The accident occurred on Saturday at around 9 pm near Ascot Shopping Centre and Kurwa succumbed to injuries at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) at around 2 am on Sunday.

In a statement, VMCZ Board chairperson Mr Alec Muchadehama, said Kurwa had played a critical role in the adjudication of media complaints.

“Mr Kurwa was part of the VMCZ Provincial Adjudication Committee for Bulawayo and served in that committee since the establishment of the provincial adjudication committees in 2013. Ever since Kurwa played a pivotal role in adjudication of media complaints from the province and served that committee with distinction. He went out of his way to ensure that all cases raised against the media in the province were expeditiously resolved and adjudicated on timeously,” he said.

Mr Muchadehama said Kurwa had been dedicated towards fostering good relations between the media and public in Bulawayo.

“VMCZ offers its deepest condolences to his children and the Kurwa family on this sad loss. Mr. Kurwa remained steadfastly loyal to the work of VMCZ and strongly believed media self-regulation was the best regulatory system for regulating the media. He worked towards forging of strong partnerships between the media in Bulawayo and members of the public and helped the VMCZ create strong partnerships with CSOs and community based organisantions in the province.

“His legacy for promoting a professional and non-partisan media will live as part of the proponents for the decentralisation of the work of the VMCZ, we honour him. VMCZ wishes the departed soul of Mr Kurwa rests in peace and wish fortitude to his family members to withstand this great tragedy. We honor his legacy and mourn his loss alongside his family and colleagues in the media fraternity,” he said.