UK forced to swallow its lies on President

Deputy Editor
The level of enmity some Western media organisations have against President Mugabe was revealed when The Guardian, a major British publication, lied to its Twitter followers that the Zimbabwean leader was booed at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The paper told its Twitter followers (people who follow what The Guardian posts on its Twitter account), who number more than 1,7 million, that President Mugabe’s reception in South Africa was hostile – prompting harsh responses from people who were actually following proceedings and pointed out that the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces had actually been cheered.

The Guardian was forced to retract its claim, but offered no apology for the lie.
The paper first tweeted that: “Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is booed at the Nelson Mandela memorial.”

After a raft of harsh responses, The Guardian then said, “Earlier tweet regarding Mugabe was being booed was incorrect. Zimbabwean President was cheered when introduced.”

Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service that allows people to send and read “tweets”, or updates, that are limited to 140 characters.

It is an increasingly popular way of providing users with instant updates on any issue.
The tweet immediately drew critical and responses. Clarkson Mambo wrote, “Shame on you, shame, shame”, an apparent reference to President Mugabe’s stinging indictment on Western powers that interfere in the domestic affairs of developing nations in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September this year.

A The Guardian Twitter follower using the name iAM_WeZ said, “different views or sm1 hd their own view even b4 watchn th show lol”.
Translated from “text-speak”, this means, “Different views or someone had their own view before watching the show. Laughing out loud.”
Monsieur Pote weighed in saying, “and @guardian claims our president got booed, r we watchn th same event? We have to b.”

This translates as, “The Guardian claims our President was booed. Are we watching the same event? We have to be.”
How The Guardian came to the conclusion that President Mugabe was booed is strange as the live broadcasts beamed across the world showed Zimbabwe’s leader getting a rapturous welcome from the more than 50 000 people packed into Soccer City Stadium for Cde Mandela’s memorial service.

President Mugabe – who was accompanied by First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and children Ms Bona and Chatunga, and Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and other senior  Government officials – sent the people in the stadium to their feet and into sustained applause when he walked into Soccer City.

And when he was introduced to the gathering by one of the Masters of Ceremonies, ANC deputy president Cde Cyril Ramaphosa, the image of President Mugabe sitting among other international dignitaries ignited another round of approbation.

He raised his fist in his traditional salute and the stadium erupted into wild applause, cheers and blasts of vuvuzelas.
Other leaders who received similar acclaim were former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and US President Barack Obama.

President Mugabe returned home yesterday afternoon after the Cde Mandela body viewing ceremony at Union Buildings in Tshwane, which is the seat of South Africa’s government. He was met at Harare International Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru, service chiefs and senior Government officials.

President Mugabe and members of the First Family were among dignitaries from more than 90 countries who travelled to South Africa this week to pay their last respects to that country’s first black president.

Cde Mandela, who died aged 95 last week, will be buried at his ancestral village of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province on December 15. His body is lying in state at Union Buildings.