IN an unprecedented move in the history of this country, leading mobile operator Econet Wireless yesterday pounced on a Zimbabwean news agency, The Source, and copied sensitive information and documents usually protected by the Constitution as part of freedom of the Press.
Econet, in which prominent businessman Strive Masiyiwa is a significant shareholder, was last week granted a High Court order compelling The Source to withdraw some of the stories it published on its website and conduct a search and seize operations at the agency.
But the news agency last Friday filed a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) application challenging the High Court order, arguing that the search and seizure violated freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution.
At around midday yesterday, over 10 Econet information technology experts, in the company of their legal representative Tinashe Zindi and deputy sheriff Roland Nyakudya, descended on the news agency brandishing the provisional court order.
For more than an hour, they painstakingly went through computers and drawers retrieving information that they deemed necessary for their case.
Staff at The Source, led by their lawyer Chris Mhike, tried in vain to stop the Econet team from searching even private emails, but the team was adamant.
Econet went to court seeking an order to have access to computers and scour for documents that were used in the two contentious stories published online this March.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Watch video below:
In one of the stories, Econet allegedly extended a $30 million loan to the government, while the other one claimed that businessman Phillip Chiyangwa had failed to pay a debt he owed to Econet-controlled Steward Bank and was now seeking to offset the amount with a couple of stands.
The company and its banking unit, Steward Bank, obtained an order last week to have the stories published by The Source withdrawn and also seize the “stolen documents” that were quoted and laptops of journalists who wrote the stories.
Part of the provisional order read: “The respondents (The Source staff) be and are jointly ordered to immediately delete and expunge the two articles from the online publication.”
The registrar also granted an Anton pillar order, authorising Econet, Steward Bank, practitioners and technology experts with the assistance of the sheriff, and the police to search the premises and computer systems of the news agency.
An Anton order is a court order allowing a party to litigation to enter the premises of another to search for and, if found, remove specified documents or items.
They were authorised to seize any information belonging to Econet that The Source had obtained without consent and place such information in the custody of the Registrar pending the return day.
The Source, however through its legal representative Mhike, last week raised some constitutional questions which they wished to be referred to the ConCourt and made an urgent chamber application seeking relief from the higher court.
Mhike argued that the search and seizure order violated the fundamental right of freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution.
However, High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa reserved judgment on the application after hearing both submissions.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said it was “appalled” by the raid.
“We strongly condemn this blatant violation of Press freedom. We are very shocked by this,” ZUJ secretary-general Foster Dongozi said.
