Blow For Zim Press Freedom As Journo Is Detained By Police

It is sad day for press freedom, a guarantee in the new constitution following reports that The Zimbabwe Mail’s photo journalis Angela Jimu was arrested and beaten up by the police on Monday.

This was while she was covering an MDC demonstration in Harare.

It is a huge blow for the move towards constitutionality, a damning indictment on ourselves as a nation and what we want to stand for.

While the circumstances around her detention are not clear, if it is because she was doing her job, then we are going down another dark alley in the narrative that is Zimbabwe. A journalist should never be arrested for doing their job. Without them, a lot of the narrative that is our country goes unspoken. Reporting the news should

The fact that the police have pretty much said nothing on the matter since it was reported leads to even more speculation about what is going on.

This is even more so given the fact that Zimbabwe is currently hosting the SADC Summit of which it has taken over the chair.

Does journalism have to be dangerous? Or is it that perhaps, we need the police to know what they can or cannot do to citizens.

In a statement, the Media Institute for Southern Africa- Zimbabwe said:

MISA-Zimbabwe urges the police to immediately release Jimu and calls upon the Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI), to convene an urgent meeting with the Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri.