|
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe on Thursday did what he should have done a long time ago: holding a no-holds barred meeting with editors at Zimbabwe House.
The roundtable meeting was refreshing and should be a constant feature on the presidential calendar.
Mugabe last held such a meeting well over a decade ago. I suppose then Mugabe was still popular and did not need to worry about being asked questions that could prompt him to wave his fist in anger.
But as his policies ruined a country once regarded as breadbasket in the region, Mugabe found it very convenient to stay away from “hostile” independent journalists.
He branded local and foreign journalists who dared criticise his rule agents of regime change.
Under his watch, journalists were harassed, beaten up, tortured and arrested. Many were thrown onto the streets as newspapers deemed critical were shut down.
Mugabe found solace in the state media which saw none of the hardships brought by his regime on hapless Zimbabweans.
He would call one or two bootlicking journalists from the state media for exclusive interviews.
Predictably these interviews turned out to be nothing more than propaganda opportunities where the “young old president” bragged about his body being full of muscles and not fat.
These interviews, however, did little to improve Mugabe’s image which continued to take a battering over the past 10 years.
It therefore came as surprise when officials from the Ministry of Information told editors from the private media late last year that Mugabe wanted to meet them face to face at Zimbabwe House.
The first such meeting was held last week with Mugabe spending over three hours in a conference room packed with journalists. This was the beginning of what could be Mugabe’s attempt to court the media he has bashed in the past.
Mugabe was not flanked by those menacing security details who make many of us sick. His usual hangers on who have shielded him in the past were reduced to spectators as a smiling Mugabe sat in a leather chair behind a banner inscribed with the words “Meet the Press”.
Mugabe started by telling editors that following the establishment of the inclusive environment, he would now convene meetings with journalists.
Mugabe pleaded with the scribes to promote the GNU. He took particular issue with a headline in last week’s edition of the The Standard: GNU cracks widen.
Don’t just see the cracks; see the cement on the GNU as well, he quipped.
He gave an interesting insight into his relationship with Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe disclosed how the PM was reluctant to share a meal with him when he invited him to lunch at the Rainbow Towers.
“He was hesitating,” said Mugabe, describing an incident that happened when the two were holding talks to form the GNU.
“I said to him, don’t worry, eat what I eat.”
However with time the mistrust between the two, who now have tea together on Mondays, was to die down.
Mugabe also spoke about the economy and the sanctions.
He also rumbled on about other things that did not add any value to his conversation with the editors.
Mugabe strayed into the past, talking for example, about how the Italian prisoners who built Kutama lacked morals and left children without fathers in his area.
To be honest, as he spoke I fought a strong urge to doze off. I began to think about those long Fidel Castro speeches.
However all this changed when it was the editors’ turn to field questions to Mugabe.
The 86-year-old President was full of life as he defended his rule. He took any question, even the silliest of them all, and injected some humour in his answers. At one time he probed a journalist who complained that he had been arrested for writing falsehoods until the scribe admitted that some of his articles were not factual.
On a serious note, Mugabe took the opportunity to reveal that he would not retire anytime soon.
However, the way he fidgeted in his seat betrayed that age has caught up with him. He could hardly sit straight frequently slouching in his seat.
Sometimes he appeared like a man lost in thought, his voice barely audible from the corner where I sat.
I left Zimbabwe House around 4:00 PM pleased that Mugabe had realised, albeit belatedly, how important it is for the occupant of the highest office in the land to constantly engage the media from time to time.
My wish is to see more of these meetings, with Mugabe dwelling more on policy issues rather than reflecting on his past battles with Tony Blair and the “unrepentant” Rhodesian whites.
BY WALTER MARWIZI
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
