ZANU PF youths protest against sanctions & ‘pirate’ radio

By Alex Bell
24 February 2010

Exiled radio stations, labelled pirates by the Robert Mugabe regime have once again come under attack from ZANU PF during a protest march by hundreds of youth members through the streets of Harare on Wednesday.

The group, which had been bussed in from all over the country, were also protesting against the targeted sanctions still imposed on the Robert Mugabe regime. Chanting slogans and waving placards, the group of youths marched through the city to ZANU PF’s provincial headquarters, stopping along the way to demonstrate outside the offices of Finance Minister Tendai Biti as well as the US embassy. They were eventually addressed by party leader Mugabe at ZANU PF’s headquarters before dispersing later in the day.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa reported Wednesday that the youths waved placards denouncing both ‘pirate’ radio stations and the sanctions. The placards read: ‘sanctions are evil,’ ‘no to sanctions,’ ‘stop the evil by pirate radios,’ and ‘MDC please stop the pirate radios.’ Muchemwa said that most onlookers were of the opinion that the youths were under clear ZANU PF instruction to make the two issues public, ‘to mask the real problems that are facing the government.’

“The majority of people are in agreement that these measures are targeted, and not responsible for the country’s collapse,” Muchemwa said, adding: “The sanctions issue is being used to overshadow real problems.”

The European Union has ratified its decision to extend the targeted sanctions by another year, amending them slightly to de-list nine companies and six names of mainly deceased people. The EU cited a lack of progress in the unity government, which has remained unofficially deadlocked over outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement. The move has been met with mixed reaction, with ZANU PF loyalists slamming the West’s ‘racist’ move, while campaigners for real change in Zimbabwe have said the measures should be strengthen further.

Meanwhile ZANU PF’s position on a truly free media was clearly demonstrated when photojournalist Andrison Manyere was apprehended and stopped from taking photographs of the demonstration. His camera was seized, along with the cellphones of a number of onlookers who were trying to record the march. Muchemwa and all other independent journalists were also barred from the ZANU PF headquarters where Mugabe addressed the protesting youths.

Last week, a leading press watchdog criticised the unity government for not fulfilling its promise of media reform in Zimbabwe. The Committee to Protect Journalists detailed in a recent report that ZANU PF loyalists have continued to harass, detain, and attack journalists. Since the coalition was formed in February last year, there have been arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, as well the imposition of exorbitant fees for visiting foreign journalists and local journalists working for foreign media.