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Prosper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
THERE is nothing wrong with former Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono’s hiring of MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti — a trained lawyer — as his legal representative, the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said yesterday.
In a statement, Prof Moyo said while the fact that Gono had hired Tendai Biti as his lawyer of choice to represent him in the Constitutional Court case filed against him by Dr Munyaradzi Kereke could understandably raise political eyebrows in Zanu-PF given the fact that Biti was the secretary general of the MDC-T, it should be understood in the clearest of terms that, like any other Zimbabwean, Dr Gono is entitled under our constitution to choose his own lawyer.”
He said it was trite to mention that lawyers were trained professionals whose appearance in the courts is governed by legal rules and not by politics or similar mumbo-jumbo.
“As such the notion that there are Zanu-PF lawyers and MDC lawyers is a sad commentary on our national politics whose polarisation has gone way too far.
“It might be a strategic master stroke for Gono to have chosen Biti as his lawyer, since the move effectively means that Biti, who is mentioned as a player in the court papers is now unavailable to Kereke as a potential witness in the Constitutional Court case in question. A lawyer should be a lawyer.”
Our Harare Bureau reported yesterday that Dr Gono had been nominated by Zanu-PF Manicaland Province to fill the Buhera Senate seat, but his “cosy relations with MDC-T officials was causing unease about where his allegiances lie”.
In an article headlined, “Gono-Biti ties raise suspicions”, the paper said there was much unease within the Zanu-PF leadership about Dr Gono’s suitability for the seat which was left vacant following the death of national hero Cde Kumbirai Kangai on August 24.
Prof Moyo said there was nothing wrong in Zanu-PF and MDC members engaging each other.
“In any event the hullaballoo over Gono’s selection of Biti as his lawyer pales into insignificance when compared to the fact that there are many marriages between Zanu-PF and MDC members, some of which are pretty high profile. Surely what is good for the bedroom must also be good for the courtroom.”
Prof Moyo said our Harare’s Bureau’s report on the issue was in bad taste and violated Dr Gono’s constitutional rights and the truth.
“It is unfortunate that this Herald story while purporting to be about a legal matter between Kereke and Gono and the Anti-Corruption Commission before the Constitutional Court, its main thrust is based on emotive and false assertions that smack of a hidden political agenda with nothing to do with the legal case,” he said.
“Among the many falsehoods in the story is the claim that Kereke is a Zanu-PF legislator. The fact known to the Herald as is known to everyone else is that Kereke was expelled from Zanu-PF before July 31 general elections.
“Indeed this fact was specifically used by Kereke himself before the Constitutional Court to regain his Bikita West Parliamentary seat after it had been declared vacant by the Speaker of the National Assembly on the instructions of Zanu-PF.”
Prof Moyo said our Harare Bureau’s claim that Manicaland province had endorsed Dr Gono’s nomination to fill the vacant senatorial seat in the province after Cde Kumbirayi Kangai’s death, was false.
“The correct position which the Herald has hitherto failed to report for reasons best known to the paper is that last Wednesday on December 11, the Zanu-PF Politburo unanimously endorsed Dr Gono’s senatorial nomination to represent Manicaland province in the upper house.
“There is therefore nothing amiss or untoward about the nomination which was done in a transparent manner and in terms of both the law and Zanu-PF procedures,” Prof Moyo said.
“What is as disturbing as it is inexplicable is that instead of professionally and ethically reporting about developments in the case lodged by Kereke in the Constitutional Court from a factual point of view, the Herald surprisingly took the route of a shameless smear campaign against Gono using the cover of cheap politics to the detriment of both Gono’s constitutional rights and the truth.”
Prof Moyo said even worse, our Harare Bureau’s undisguised smear campaign against Dr Gono was based on quotations from faceless and nameless sources described as senior Zanu-PF officials and a Zanu-PF Politburo member with close ties to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
“One does not need to be a rocket scientist to realise not only that the faceless and nameless sources in the unfortunate story are uncreative inventions but also that it is not possible for Kereke who is clearly the main source of the scurrilous story, to be at one and the same time rolled into senior Zanu-PF officials and Zanu-PF Politburo member with close ties to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces,” said Prof Moyo.
He said it was sad that our Harare Bureau of all the papers found it so easy to use an outdated and discredited tactic of basing serious allegations, false claims and emotive assertions on faceless and nameless Zanu-PF sources.
Said Prof Moyo: “That tactic is not journalism but political mischief propelled by cowardice. The Herald’s opportunistic attempt to bring the Zimbabwe Defence Forces into disrepute through Kereke’s story is not just disappointing but it is also very shocking, unprofessional and totally unacceptable.”
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