Story by ZBC Reporter
THE Office of the President and Cabinet has warned the local media against sensationalism and misinforming the public.
This comes after a local daily newspaper, the News Day carried a front-page story this Wednesday headlined “Churches Trash ED2030 Plan.”
In a statement, Deputy Chief Secretary Presidential Communication in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr George Charamba said the publication deliberately intended to wrongly impute, misinform, malign and incite.
He said while the story purports to draw from a statement by the ecumenical Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), 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 President Emmerson Mnangagwa regarding Presidential term limits.
Mr Charamba further stated that it is mischievous for the News Day to seek to apportion to the President’s viewpoints by some citizens who are exercising their constitutional rights by proffering their views on the same matter, and maintaining that President Mnangagwa is not responsible for views held or wishes expressed by some Zimbabweans on issues relating to the matter.
The Deputy Chief Secretary further stated that the media should provide neutral platforms for such contestations which, at any rate, threaten nobody and in fact validate and demonstrate the country’s democracy in action.
