The Herald now a public nuisance – Thomas Mapfumo
By Thomas Mapfumo
PRESS STATEMENT – With shock, I just gathered that the Herald Newspaper in Harare has, without verification, dragged my name into a purported coalition to unseat the government of Zimbabwe.
Various other names have been weaved on the same allegation. First of all, the conference that I attended at the Metropolitan University of Denver was to mark the black history month in the USA. In solidarity of the African cause, various black African celebrities were in attendance under a common theme to unite and develop Africa.
From such a noble agenda, the Herald emerges as a public nuisance to misinform, miseducate and brainwash people. This is uncalled for and inexcusable. A national paper should desist from malice and puerile conduct characteristic of primary school publications.
While I dissociate myself from the defamatory remarks, I must add here that I am not afraid to cry with the poor, the weak, the jobless and the exploited Zimbabwe masses. They deserve better lives and I feel I am one of them.
Recently, I protested against government – enabled piracy, the Herald kept quiet. Now the same paper is baying for a fight. I am not afraid. If I have anything to say, I say or sing it. The Herald must learn to verify facts and also read the social temperature.
People are hungry, poor and angry. The economy is sinking. Zimasset is now just a theory with no results. It’s best to focus on bread and butter issues than to torment people and tarnish their images.
The Herald newspaper has reduced itself to a public nuisance through such akward smear campaigns against the voices of the voiceless. I am a musician and will continue to sing for social justice and equality.
