EDITOR — My right to be heard: Your false story captioned “Kereke drags in ministers, police” published on Sunday the 12th of January.
I write to demand as I hereby do, my right to be heard in setting the record straight on malicious falsehoods you printed and published as above captioned.
In your above story, which was typical work reflecting a hatchet job to set me up with certain sections of society, you printed and published the following falsehoods: “In affidavits filed at the Constitutional Court Kereke claims that Gono dished out millions of dollars to the police, CIO and army.
“These security structures are supposed to be funded from the Treasury.”
I do not need to remind you nor draw your attention to the fact that the above statement is a clear falsehood as I never said so anywhere in my submissions to the Constitutional Court.
For the record, please kindly take note that to my knowledge, a) The Zimbabwe Republic Police never engaged in any corrupt activity with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as all their transactions with the central bank were well above board and within the dictates of the law.
Section 8 of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act clearly allows State institutions to get direct support from the central bank. Further b.) the institutions of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, combining the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the army, as well as the CIO, never engaged in any corrupt or illegal transactions with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as stated in your mischievous publication.
All transactions they ever did with the central bank were above board and admissible by law.
Please, produce the page number and paragraph where I ever wrote/said the above lies you published.
You can never produce this as it is a clear lie which never exists in my affidavit.
There is, therefore no way I can aver in to Court to the contrary.
These institutions have absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing court proceedings which must be left to the courts.
It is very clear that your shameless act of publishing falsehoods was a project that was meant to set me up with State Security Arms of the country, as well as creating a general air of uneasiness among the Honourable ministers in Government who are not even cited as respondents nor accomplices in the matter before the courts.
The very slant in your editorial clearly betrayed your purpose being that of seeking to falsely gang people to fight me on behalf of known criminals who robbed the country its money.
In you paper’s gross miscalculation, you deliberately misinformed the public hoping that this would create more enemies and revulsions against me.
However, facts are there, and the Court will do its independent work and cannot be swayed by falsehoods published in your paper meant to divert attention on matters of importance for the country, which is the need for absolute resolve in fighting the scourge of corruption.
Is it not a shame for your paper that, instead of waiting for the courts to do their work, you are busy seeking to line up and fire under my chair yet I stand as the applicant in the fight against the scourge of corruption which is eroding the interests of the public you purport to stand for?
Where are your journalistic ethics when you wilfully publish lies?
I hereby demand that you publish this my letter of complaint so as to air my views to the public whom you have misinformed with very malicious intentions towards me.
The principles of journalism and our laws governing your industry do not allow the printing and publishing of clear falsehoods.
Also, kindly retract your lies and issue an unqualified apology to me in your next issue of the Daily News from the date of this letter.
Failure to do this will leave me with no option but to swiftly seek redress through various legal instruments as allowed by law. You have criminally infringed my rights.
Munyaradzi Kereke (MP)