Zimbabwe: ZANU PF jingles out of tune with spirit of coalition

The outcry over ZANU PF jingles being played twice every hour on state radio and television continues to rumble on, with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) vowing it will continue running them. Last Tuesday Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai used a cabinet meeting to protest the continued airing of the jingles, describing them as offensive and against the ‘spirit’ of the inclusive government.

The matter seemed to have been resolved when it was announced that cabinet had instructed ZBC to stop airing the jingles but this was not to be. George Charamba, who doubles as Mugabe’s spokesman and Permanent Secretary in the Information and Publicity Ministry, claimed the directive from cabinet had not been delivered to the ministry, as Minister Webster Shamu was away.

It was left to ZBC Chief Executive Happison Muchetetere to make it blatantly clear the jingles were there to stay. He even sarcastically invited the MDC to produce their own material for broadcast, knowing very well the state broadcaster has a standing policy banning all campaign material from the MDC.

The excuses in the ZANU PF camp were varied. Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo claimed the songs were not jingles but rather music produced by the Mbare Chimurenga Choir celebrating ‘the rich legacy of the liberation struggle.’ One of the songs reiterates that Mugabe and his two deputies, John Nkomo and Joyce Mujuru, are the ones running the country and the MDC are junior partners. It’s not clear what that has to do with the liberation history.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa meanwhile scoffed at the remarks from Moyo saying the Tsholotsho MP was merely ‘splitting hairs.’ Chamisa said ‘call them any other name, the jingles, songs or albums are undesirable and unnecessary.’ He said the constant repetition of the songs, which are very short, made them jingles. Chamisa said listeners and viewers of the state broadcaster were paying licence fees only to be bombarded with poisonous messages.

Various commentators said the fiasco over the jingles made it clear once again that Mugabe and his ZANU PF party were not serious about the coalition government. Chamisa concurred with this assessment, saying ZANU PF was in the coalition government out of convenience, as a mechanism to buy time. He accused spin doctors like Moyo of ‘trying to put deodorant on the dead corpse of ZANU PF’, saying it would not work.

Responding to allegations from Moyo that the MDC should not have taken the matter over the jingles into cabinet Chamisa said, ‘Moyo thinks when he left government, he left with the government. The government is there without Moyo. We won’t allow the devil to run away with the gospel.’

-June 27, 2010 by Lance Guma

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Source: www.swradioafrica.com/News270710/ZPF270710.htm (accessed on 28.07.10)