Comments on: Suffering for profit

By: Amanda Atwood

Amanda Atwood — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:45:18 +0000

I’m disappointed that the comments about Upenyu’s blog so far have dwelt more on her comments about Mbanga’s character than they have on the substance of her article – which I believe raised some very important questions about The Zimbabwean’s Voice of the Voiceless campaign.

Having looked at pictures of some of the billboards and spent some time on the website of the campaign, I resonate with Upenyu’s concerns. It feels like a parallel to the tactic which sees pictures of half-naked women used to advertise cars, or alcohol. I am reminded of the outcry which the PSI “small house” billboards received, and I would welcome any statement from The Zimbabwean which clarifies the motivation behind their campaign.

I’m frustrated that we have become so polarised that questioning is viewed as attack – and that there are some actors which are acceptable targets, whilst others are meant to be protected. The parts of the comments I’ve read so far which clarify an issue or provide historical correction and context are invaluable and certainly help to expand the picture. But need they be couched in attack? How unevolved are our politics if we cannot be allowed differences of opinion, and if disagreements descend into personal attacks whereby I slander the object of my disagreement?

By: Roger Hawkins

Roger Hawkins — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:39:53 +0000

I’m not sure if Upenyu Makoni-Muchemwa is actually living on this planet, let alone in Zimbabwe. Did it escape your notice that Wilf Mbanga was arrested and imprisoned when he published the Daily News in Harare. Did you forget that the Daily News office was bombed and the publication banned? How you can accuse someone of abandoning the struggle when they have been told that they are an enemy of the government and will face trouble if they try to return? The Zimbabwean too has had it’s share of harassment and opposition, copies are regularly confiscated and burned and the newspapers truck was burned recently. To suggest that the Mbanga’s should return to Harare and “navigate the legal quagmire” and publish there is naive, but to suggest that the Zimbabwean is exploitative is outrageous.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:15:06 +0000

Dear Madam,
I find your analysis shallow to the point of being offensive. Your attack on the credibility of Mr Mbanga is ironically full of the lack of accurate information you falsely attribute to the Zimbabwean.

A few facts to undermine the very premise of your article.
1. The Zimbabwean does not make a profit. It receives a very small portion of what it needs to survive from sales, even less from advertising because its stance means that companies spend their lucrative advertising budgets elsewhere, and even less from subscriptions. It has to be supported by people who want the truth of what is going on in Zimbabwe to be made known.

To say that he uses pictures and stories to make himself wealthy is laughable. He is not wealthy, and has used most of his personal savings to build the newspaper. There is a warrant out for his arrest, for a story he did not write and did not publish. Sure it would be heroic to return to Zim and be thrown in jail – but what would that accomplish? He has chosen to fight in his own way and I salute him for it. The Zimbabwean has made an INVALUABLE contribution to the struggle for truth and justice in Zimbabwe.

2. Almost all the journalists of the Zimbabwean are based in Zimbabwe, reporting on the ground.

I will not argue beyond these facts.

This article of yours is offensive to the contribution of people like Mr Mbanga. Your arrogance combined with your lack of research means that your place in journalism would be assured at the Herald, where fact is superfluous and nation building secondary to personal gain.

By: Mpumi Sadza

Mpumi Sadza — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:15:43 +0000

I write with disgust at the absolute rubbish written in the article. The person who wrote it is nameless and gutless. Wilf Mbanga is man of integrity fully committed to doing just what he says – providing a voice for the voiceless. The warped logic in the above article is pathetic and unbelievably misguided to the point that I suspect the person who wrote it is a zanupf sympathiser. Of course he needs funds to survive and quite frankly, he and his family only just get by on what they get.
Mbanga is using his best endeavours to get the message out, to tell the world about the tragedy of Zimbabwe. How dare he be attacked from the shadows in such an underhand way. No doubt the zanupf cadre who wrote this despises the truth and would prefer Mbanga to shut down shop.
My message to the writer of this article is “Go hang!” – Mbanga will never capitulate.