Lie-O-Meter – Zimpapers
Posted by ZDN on November 6, 2009
Week Ending 6 November 2009
The lies just keep on coming! This week it’s the trusty state media journalists who take the cake for most outrageous fibs of the week. Take the gem from the Herald, which lauds Gideon Gono as an economic saviour. Or the lie, again from the Herald, that the Americans admire Zanu-PF! Fancy that. They just keep getting more creative!
So here we go – the lies, and the accompanying truth.
The Lie
The Herald: There are many things about [Zanu-PF] that must fascinate the Americans, our resilience and prowess.
The Reality
It’s not called resilience, it’s called a dictatorship. And the current state of Zimbabwe is hardly the result of political prowess. If anything fascinates the Americans, it’s how you constantly manage to bungle things up. As John Robertson remarked this week, USAid and other donors “…cannot help asking whether Zimbabwe is trying to add record-breaking stupidity to its list of achievements.”
The Lie
The Herald: [The Americans] had correctly identified that [Gideon Gono] was the man preventing the country’s economic collapse…[and] were fascinated by how he had, literally single-handed, managed to save the country from economic collapse
The Reality
Come again? Are we talking about the same Gideon Gono? The Gideon Gono who has headed the reserve bank since 2003 and presided over the world’s fastest shrinking economy, with world record inflation reaching a whopping 500bn%? The Gideon Gono who last year admitted that his economic turnaround project was a failure? It was Tendai Biti who made the (US) dollarisation of the economy official, which is what helped stabilize the economy.
The Lie
Zanu-PF secretary for finance David Karimanzira claimed that preparations for the elective congress were going smoothly and “are on course.”
The Reality
The Zimbabwe Independent has reported that Zanu-PF is in financial limbo and is struggling to raise US$5 million needed to finance its congress in December. The party is allegedly failing to raise the money and have no way of really generating the money for congress. Apart from trafficking some illegally mined diamonds, maybe.
The Lie
Obert Mpofu called NGOs and the Kimberley Process delegation “deranged and requiring psychological examination” regarding their claims of human rights abuses at the Marange diamond fields.
The Reality
Mpofu is “deranged” and requires “psychological examination” for being a liar of psychopathic proportions. The evidence of human rights violations at Marange is overwhelming, yet he continues to deny them, with a seeming total lack of conscience. If anyone is needing their head examined, it’s him.
The Lie
Jonathan Moyo: Roy Bennett is an ex-Rhodesian soldier and is therefore unfit to be a government official.
The Reality
Bennett is a former policeman, not a soldier. And Moyo conveniently forgets that Bennett was once a member of Zanu-PF and served on the Chimanimani local council. And if he was good enough for Zanu-PF then, he is good enough to be part of the inclusive government now.
The Lie
Mugabe: “[MDC] can never be true and genuine partners and they have proved to be dishonest.”
The Reality
Zanu-PF can never be true and genuine partners and they have proved to be dishonest and a helluva a lot of other undesirable things too.
The Lie
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on turning away UN torture expert Manfred Nowak:
“I am the minister responsible for human rights in this country. He should come at my invitation, because I am the minister responsible for that area in government.”
The Reality
Human WRONGS are Chinamasa’s responsibility, not human rights! He is a dismal failure at his job of protecting the Zimbabwean justice system. Human Rights Watch published a report in August this year stating that Zanu-PF continues to commit gross human rights abuses in the following ways:
Political violence against MDC activists and perceived Zanu-PF critics
Politically motivated prosecution of MDC legislators and activists
Harassment of the media
Persecution of lawyers and judicial officers
Targeting of commercial farmers
Ongoing human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields
Plus it’s obvious the reason he turned Nowak away was not about who issued the invitation – it was because he knew Nowak would uncover and expose shocking incidents of torture at the hands of Zanu-PF.
The Lie
Sunday Mail: Not surprisingly, in recent months, the Government has been promised millions of funds meant for farmers, including small-scale farmers in the rural areas. The idea is to buy the farmers in preparation for elections that the MDC-T is calling for.
The Reality
Have you been living under a rock? Nearly 50% of the population is at risk from malnutrition and starvation. The idea is to help poor farmers in Zimbabwe and try redress the food crisis. The $74 million will benefit 700,000 families, helping to buy seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural equipment for the coming harvest. Agriculture isn’t about keeping votes, it’s about growing FOOD.
The Lie
Sunday Mail: …even if the MDC-T pulls out of the inclusive Government, there is no provision anywhere that presidential elections should be held soon after because President Mugabe was not made the President by the Global Political Agreement. He was sworn into office on June 29 2008, after winning the June 27 presidential run-off. Only Prime Minister Tsvangirai, his deputies and Cabinet ministers were born out of the September 15 2008 GPA.
The Reality
Firstly, Mugabe didn’t win the June 27 presidential runoff – he was made president by default after Tsvangirai pulled out of the runoff, stating the outcome would not be free and fair and he didn’t wish to put any more of his supporters’ lives at risk. Secondly, Tsvangirai, his deputies and Cabinet minister were not born of the GPA, Mugabe and his cronies were. Without the GPA, Zanu-PF’s power is rendered illegitimate.
The Lie
Sunday Mail: Now the MDC is…being fed with all sorts of imperialist ideas from the US and the UK.
The Reality
The MDC is nobody’s puppet. If they are being fed any ideas from the West, they are ideas of peace and democracy, two things that Zanu-PF could do with lessons in.
This weeks champion fibbers are the Zimbabwe state media on behalf of Zanu-PF.
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11-09-2009
9:14 am
Angel watcher
Isn’t Old Mutual a major shareholder of Zimpapers?