HARARE - Something is certainly amiss with the way Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo is thumbing his nose at journalists who will be going about their duties.
Like a teaser bull seeking to frighten a more potent opponent, he belligerently kicks dust in all places at the sight of inconvenient questions from members of the Fourth Estate, and still managing to get away with it.
Having been Information minister for many years, Moyo should know better.
A nation gets better informed if journalists are allowed to function with minimal obstructions. But instead of leading by example, Moyo is developing this dangerous habit of posting questions e-mailed to him on his Tweeter account, without even bothering to respond to them or at least acknowledging receipt.
Recently, he did exactly that to one of the Daily News’ journalists, and went further to accuse the media house of being ‘‘Lacoste infiltrated’’, without even caring to substantiate his claims.
We can only presume Moyo was referring to the nonsensical Zanu PF factional fights he is so gripped with, wherefore he is seen leading one of the camps in the party. Not that we care about what Moyo thinks about us! We don’t think Moyo is competent enough to judge anyone given that he is neck-deep into this factional thing, himself. As far as Moyo is concerned, anyone who is not at his beck and call becomes part of his collateral damage.
As for us at the Daily News, what matters for us is our relationship with the broader citizenry, particularly our loyal readers and advertisers who value truth and our brand of journalism which respects fairness, objectivity and telling it like it is.
That Moyo has the audacity to take things from his e-mail straight to his twitter account, which we are made to understand boarders on the illegal, is a sure sign that Moyo hasn’t changed a thing since his second coming.
Given a longer rope, he might relapse into his excesses, which saw him concocting dangerous legislation such as the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which has caused so much suffering in the media industry.
Moyo’s approach now appears to be that of intimidating journalists to the level where they end up fearing to ask him anything. He often laces his pomposity with absolute vulgarity reminiscent of the misbegotten.
This is a terrible pattern which is developing, where a whole Cabinet minister who should otherwise conduct himself in a dignified manner behaves like a philistine, while avoiding accountability whenever he is asked to explain himself.
It is not surprising that the same minister has been fighting so hard to avoid answering corruption cases at the magistrates’ courts, rushing to the Constitutional Court where the bench has asked him to go back to the lower court. As a matter of fact and principle, the Daily News will never be cowed by Moyo’s antics. We will continue serving our constituency; asking tough questions whether or not they amuse Moyo and his colleagues and holding dear our professional values.