Three journalists up for extortion

Prosper Dembedza-Herald Correspondent

Three journalists have appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Court facing charges of extorting US$300 from Zimbabwe Council of Copyrights (ZICCO) chief executive officer Tafadzwa Masembura, allegedly in exchange for suppressing a damaging fraud story.

Desire Tshuma (47) of Observer News, along with Gideon Madzikatidze and Simbarashe Sithole, both affiliated with Bulawayo 24 News, were granted US$100 bail each after appearing before Magistrate Ruth Moyo on Tuesday.

According to court proceedings, the trio is accused of demanding money from Masembura under the pretext of halting the publication of an article detailing fraud allegations levelled against him by a former employee.

The court heard that the accused threatened to expose Masembura unless he complied with their demands.

The alleged extortion began on April 15, 2025, when Tshuma contacted Masembura via WhatsApp using a registered NetOne number.

He introduced himself as a journalist from Observer News and claimed to have attended a press conference where serious allegations had been made against the ZICCO boss, including embezzlement of over US$20,000 and labour malpractice.

The next day, Tshuma reportedly met with Masembura at an office in Harare’s central business district and demanded US$100 to prevent the story from being published.

Masembura complied and paid the amount.

On April 17, Tshuma allegedly returned, this time accompanied by Sithole and Madzikatidze and asked Masembura to buy them lunch, resulting in another US$100 payment.

The court further heard that on April 22, Sithole reached out again, requesting a meeting and expressing interest in covering the alleged fraud story.

During a meeting that same day, all three journalists reportedly listened to Masembura’s side of the story.

However, on April 23, Tshuma forwarded a draft article written by Sithole and Madzikatidze that detailed the allegations.

Tshuma allegedly used this draft as leverage, threatening publication unless further payments were made.

At that point, Masembura suspected he was being extorted and reported the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), which led to the trio’s arrest.

The case has been remanded as investigations continue.