Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Harare Bureau
THE Office of the President and Cabinet has criticised the privately owned newspaper, NewsDay, for apportioning to President Mnangagwa views being expressed by some citizens who want him to extend his tenure beyond 2028.
In a statement yesterday, Deputy Chief Secretary (Presidential Communications) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr George Charamba, said President Mnangagwa will not stand in the way of those expressing their views to have him extend his tenure because doing so would amount to undermining the very Constitution he swore to uphold, which provides for freedom of expression.
Mr Charamba was responding to a story carried in the NewsDay yesterday, headlined, “Churches trash ED2030 plan”, which the newspaper generated from what it claimed to be a statement written by the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations.
The NewsDay front-page story, said Mr Charamba, was deliberately intended to “wrongly impute, misinform, malign and incite”.
“While the NewsDay story purports to draw from a statement by the ecumenical Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), which is titled, ‘Statement on Presidential Constitutional Term Limits’, the paper’s article is patently at variance with the said source statement whose addressees are clearly spelt out, and which appreciates and accurately restates the position of His Excellency the President, Dr E.D. Mnangagwa, regarding Presidential term limits.
“Indeed, His Excellency the President has stated and restated his position and stance on the matter time and time again,” he said.
Mr Charamba added that it was thus mischievous for NewsDay to seek to apportion to the President viewpoints by, and calls from, some citizens who are exercising their constitutional rights by proffering their views on the same matter.
“Equally, it is wrong for NewsDay to seek to redirect the viewpoint of, and message from, ZHOCD away from its clearly identified main interlocutors in order to drag in or besmirch the person of His Excellency the President,” he said.
Mr Charamba reminded NewsDay that President Mnangagwa was not responsible for views held or wishes expressed by some Zimbabweans in the course of expressing or exercising their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.
“Indeed, inviting the President, whether directly or through editorial insinuations, to take a stand against the expression of such viewpoints, or any viewpoint for that matter, amounts to inviting and inciting him to overthrow the very Constitution he is sworn to uphold in its entirety.
“Democracy is about allowing the free contestation of ideas in the nation. To that end and in a genuine constitutional democracy such as our own, the media provide neutral platforms for such contestations which, at any rate threaten nobody and in fact validate and demonstrate our democracy in actual action,” he said.
Mr Charamba also said it was critical to avoid interfering with people expressing their views.
“The designated role of the President of Zimbabwe in such situations is not to tamper with expressions of viewpoints from the citizenry; rather, it is to allow those viewpoints free play for as long as they remain within the remit of our Constitution.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet hopes this role and position is fully appreciated and respected by all, including by the media which in democratic parlance is called the Fourth Estate,” he said.
Zanu PF, together with other citizens, have called on President Mnangagwa’s term to be extended to 2030, saying he has implemented several signature projects that warrant his continued stay in office until they come to fruition.
The ruling party adopted a resolution to have the President’s term extended during its Annual National People’s Conference held in Bulawayo last year.
