By Nelson Sibanda
The Dumiso Dabengwa led Zimbabwe African People’s Union has expressed disappointment at statements made by Acting President, Joyce Mujuru, when she blamed the media for exposing salary scandals at parastatals.
Mujuru told the Zanu (PF) Mashonaland West Provincial Women’s Congress in Chinhoyi last Saturday: “The salary exposures should not be discussed in the media and are works of inside enemies bent on destroying the Zanu (PF) government and stall its programs.”
Zapu says Mujuru is an agent of deception for trying to gag the media. “Mujuru’s speech is irresponsible and in bad taste more so as it comes from someone who is supposed to uphold values of the constitution.
“The duty of the press is to report events in a fair and credible manner like what is happening in the salaries saga,” Zapu spokesperson, Mjobisa Noko, said in a statement.
Various heads and board members at State linked enterprises have in recent weeks reportedly been receiving lofty salaries against poor organizational performance, with some of them already on suspension or fired.
Noko said that the Zanu (PF) government had presided over the rot for the last 34 years and now “the chickens were coming home to roost”.
He said that Zanu (PF) could not just wish away issues that were of paramount importance to the citizenry, referring to the scandalous salaries and allowances parastatal heads have been getting.
According to Noko, Mujuru and her cronies have been siphoning state coffers for many years and it was time they got exposed.
Zapu warned Zanu (PF) to stay clear of the media “since it has the right to inform the people about events taking place around the country, whether good or bad’, saying Zimbabweans had the right to access public information.
“The nation needs answers on issues to do with diamond mining, corruption in the security sector, (parastatal salary scams), the land issue (and) farm implements among others,” said Noko.
Since the economy was saddled with massive company closures, the media had the role to inform the public “such a sad state of affairs”.
Given the prevailing economic situation, Zapu said it would encourage investigative journalism to expose corruption and other forms of irregularities. The Zimbabwean
