Public Relations Realities, Part 2

Zimbabwe has never been known for its free press. Even standing next to the rest of Africa the recent events have made it clear to those paying attention that the idea is a cruel joke and has been from the first of independence in 1980. One certainly hopes that it was with an intense and upsetting irony that Bob Marley, the first non-African to perform in Zimbabwe at the celebration for independence sang the lines: "Now we find out who is…the real revolutionary, because I don't want my people to be fooled by mercenaries."

Well, fooled or cajoled The Honorable, Humble, Brother, Reverend, Doctor Robert Mugabe took power on that day along with his unbeatable Zanu party, and began what, at the time, were a hopeful series of land reforms, and the now control of the government of former Rhodesia to create the nation of Zimbabwe.

Well, as is now well known, his agricultural reforms were a disaster. A country so fertile that it used to export food is now dependent on aid from the UN food relief program. All foreign journalists have been expelled, and in a desperate attempt to maintain his grip on power Mugabe has told the former freedom fighters, which fought to end Robert Smith's stranglehold on media and agriculture, have been told to reclaim whatever land they can find and forcefully remove the Afrikaners who live there. Without any kind of government program or even help from Zanu police department in maintaining the piece.

In the September 1996 issue of a newspaper called High Density Mirror, a reference to the intensity of the reflection of corruption that would be returned on the president and his men. The Editor, whose identity still remains a secret even though the paper was shut down years ago, was not afraid to print the story that K. Makamure brought to him. Remember this is back in 1996. This was a time when foreign journalists were afraid to reprint these kinds of stories, because they feared there status in the country. When I wrote stories about these kinds of abuses, I was censured, threatened, and eventually fired from my job at an NGO, Inter-Press Service.

The story starts with a cartoon, in which an elephant and a rhino are struggling to reach the top of the of a mountain. They represent the two opposing parties, and they are supported by the slogans hope verses experience. Just about the empty slogans are the accusations that either side has flung at the other. For Mugabe it is corruption, intimidation, and the classic big spender. Mr. Mugabe not only owned his own private jet, but his hat is the inspiration for Bob Dylan's "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat".

Of course, Mugabe had his own mud to sling: Liars, inexperienced, and worst of all, a danger to society. Above the dirt are the promises which just might lead to the promise land: "More housing, more jobs, better transport, and better facilities."

These promises have turned out to be empty, but even then rarely did people believe them. The Zanu-PF party used guerilla tactics and intimidation to keep Mugabe in power, but one man was willing to challenge the party. That was K. Makamure who ran for Mayor of Zimbabwe in spite of threats to his life and all kinds of slander that was readily reprinted in the state controlled newspaper. Only the Mirror was willing to engage in a real dialogue about the candidates and what was really going on, and there pressure allowed Makamure to make some slight headway into the corrupt world of Mugabe's Zanu party.

They were willing to publicize his candidacy when no other state controlled television or newspaper was even willing to mention his name. Unfortunately, the intimidation tactics worked and Makamure lost and subsequently disappeared. No one knows what happens, and without the journalistic integrity of a High Density Mirror, probably no one will know. Nor will they know the extent of the starvation that exists in Zimbabwe, as Mugabe has close all sources of information except the strictest censored ones form leaving the country, while allowing no independent journalists in. The State of Zimbabwe today would make Mugabe's hero, Joseph Stalin proud, but for one shining moment there were men who were willing to stand up to the lies and propaganda and try to publicize the truth.