SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Moyo not up for this fight with the police
By Tichaona Sibanda SW Radio Africa 24 July 2014
Information minister Jonathan Moyo did not report to the Law and Order section of the police at 9am Thursday as instructed, allegedly to answer questions relating to the Baba Jukwa saga. On Wednesday the police had visited his offices to summon him to the CID headquarters.
There have been persistent accusations that Moyo is part of the Facebook character Baba Jukwa, leading to President Robert Mugabe in June calling him the ‘devil incarnate’.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us police may have summoned the minister to explain the alleged allegations linking him to the Baba Jukwa network. Muchemwa however believes there were behind the scenes negotiations that took place between the police and powerful ZANU PF ministers to stop Moyo visiting the police station.
‘Between the time he was notified of the police decision to present himself to the CID offices and this morning (Thursday), there must have been a flurry of negotiations to prevent that happening,’ Muchemwa said. He added: ‘Perhaps the police decided on another location to interview him, away from the public glare, or they may have done it in the evening (Wednesday).’
There was a concerted attempt by the authorities to stop journalists reporting on the issue, after several of the reporters who went to Moyo’s office to cover a different function were specifically asked not to say anything. The police had inadvertently told Moyo’s secretary that the minister was to report to the law and order section of the CID, in front of the journalists waiting at reception to cover his meeting with a delegation from China National Radio at his Munhumutapa Offices in Harare.
‘When they realized their blunder, that journalists were aware that Moyo was to present himself to the police, they individually contacted all the journalists who were at Moyo’s office instructing them to desist from writing the story,’ said Muchemwa.