On Thursday evening, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa called a Press conference, as the factional fights in Zanu PF reached a tipping point.
Regrettably, Mnangagwa decided that only State media journalists should cover the Press conference, precipitating a bizarre sequence of events where private media, including NewsDay, were kicked out of the presser.
Why Mnangagwa should choose State media only is quite strange and kicking out reporters is even more outlandish, because literally as soon as he had finished his statement, it found its way to social media and NewsDay even reported on it.
If Mnangagwa wanted to speak to State media journalists only, then he should have sent the statement directly to them, rather than going out of his way to call what was supposed to be a Press conference.
It is quite ironic that the private media had Mnangagwa’s statement on the front page and his darlings, State media, could only afford him a corner in the inside pages, with page one reserved for his blasting by First Lady Grace Mugabe.
We have not taken a side in Zanu PF’s factional wars and have balanced our coverage and we find it offensive that a person with the stature of a Vice-President can choose to be petty to a point of wanting to speak to one set of journalists and leave out others.
Were we to do the same, and say we will not report on his stories, we would be accused of unfairness and being captured by a faction of Zanu PF, when that is not the case.
Mnangagwa is the Vice-President of Zimbabwe and his Press conferences ought to be open to every journalist, as long as they are accredited.
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As a Vice-President, he is a public official and should be accessible to everyone, even if he does not like them, it comes with the job and he should understand that.
Journalists at the Press conference were also reportedly “vetted”, another grossly unconventional way of doing things.
As per law, which Mnangagwa – as he is responsible for the Justice ministry and should know – journalists are required to be registered by the Zimbabwe Media Commission, making the vetting at his Press conference quite befuddling.
Mnangagwa is going through a trying time in Zanu PF and we are not joining the bandwagon calling for his firing and we will not kick a man when he is down.
However, his tribulations do not mean he should segregate journalists and he should be open to everyone.
