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NewsDay

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Media commissioners snub Tsvangirai

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PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was last Friday forced to cancel his scheduled meeting with members of the Zimbabwe Media Commission after only three of the nine commissioners turned up.

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was last Friday forced to cancel his scheduled meeting with members of the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) after only three of the nine commissioners turned up amid reports that commissioners seconded by Zanu PF had been barred from attending the indaba.

Report by Everson Mushava

Of late, Tsvangirai has been meeting members of the different government commissions to appreciate their challenges.

The Premier has already held several meetings with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions (ZEC) to facilitate preparations for the referendum and harmonised elections.

On Friday, the MDC-T had arranged a similar meeting with the ZMC commissioners, but only three turned up.

Some of the commissioners who failed to attend the meeting include ZMC chair Godfrey Majonga and his deputy Nqobile Nyathi.

Majonga yesterday admitted the meeting was called off following a low show by the commissioners, but denied allegations that they had been ordered to boycott the Premier.

“I am not aware that anyone took orders from the Ministry (of Media, Information and Publicity),” Majonga said.

“We did not have the meeting because a number of commissioners were not present to attend. We asked for the meeting to be postponed.” However, Henry Muradzikwa, one of the three commissioners who attended, said all the commissioners had been advised by Majonga about Tsvangirai’s meeting.

“I went to the PM’s offices on Friday and found out that there were only three of us,” Muradzikwa said.

“I received a call from the ZMC secretariat advising me that the meeting had been cancelled. No explanation was given. One of us called the chairperson, but he was not picking calls. The PM then came in, only to realise that we were only three. He showed his displeasure and told us the meeting could no longer proceed.”

Sources told NewsDay that Media, Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu, who has been at loggerheads with the MDC-T leader for refusing to implement media reforms agreed by the three political parties in the inclusive government, was responsible for the collapse of the meeting.

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka described the snub as unfortunate.