Published by the government of Zimbabwe
8 September 2008
Harare — Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke has urged journalists to report truthfully on Zimbabwe to spruce up the national image that has been distorted by biased Western media reports.
Mr Kaseke, who was addressing local and foreign scribes in Harare yesterday, challenged journalists to highlight the devastating effects of the illegal Western sanctions on the economy.
The journalists invited from China, United Kingdom, Latvia, and Lietuva will tour and have an appreciation of Zimbabwe as part of the ZTA's post-election tourism strategy.
He said the visiting scribes should be professional and report what they see independent of the negative perceptions created by former colonisers.
"We have not invited you as solidarity messengers, but you should write the truth that you see here.
"If you see people being strangled to death in the streets of Harare, or some being thrown in a crocodile dam in Victoria Falls, please I beg you to report that without fear because we want the world to know the truth of the situation here in Zimbabwe.
"We do not want you to go back with solidarity messages, but you should report the true picture of the safety and situation of Zimbabwe to your countries.
"The British have peddled falsehoods in the press that Zimbabwe is not a safe place to stay to an extent that some of our previous visitors were made to sign wills before they travelled to Zimbabwe due to fear of the purported violence and political instability," said Mr Kaseke.
Mr Kaseke said the British and other Westerners have used their resources and influence to preach the false gospel about Zimbabwe and portrayed it as an unsafe tourism destination.
He added that the media, particularly the British Broadcasting Corporation and Cable News Network, had created confusion in the world to an extent that people now think the post-election period marked the beginning of the challenges faced by Zimbabwe.
"The former colonial masters managed to deceive the world that problems in Zimbabwe are political, while in actual fact they are economic.
"They have used the media as weapons of mass deception and Zimbabwe is now being wrongly perceived as a no-go area for tourists giving an impression that when you land in the country, you will be murdered right away.
"We have invited you to tour the country and carry reports to your countries and if you find any negative news, please write without fear and if you find positive news as well, do not hesitate, but write without reservations," he said.
He said Zimbabwe had no political challenges at the moment, but in fact had economic problems that were giving rise to political problems.
Mr Kaseke clarified the "false perceptions" that had been created by the foreign Press that the post-election period was characterised by political violence and instability saying these were tactics by the West to demonise the country and mobilising other nations to support their illegal sanctions.
He said the sanctions imposed by the West were the root cause of the problems faced by Zimbabweans and that there was no political crisis in the country.
"Zimbabwe is under sanctions and all sectors of the economy have been heavily affected, which is the cause of the problems we are facing.
"The sanctions are unjustified and they are now further destroying the economy of the country.
"Tourism is there for poverty alleviation and has nothing to do with politics as rightly pointed out by the United Nations, of which the British and the Americans are members.
"I see no reason why a mere head of tourism like me should be put on the sanctions list. This curtails my operations in promoting tourism worldwide.
"What is smart about those so-called smart sanctions when they are punishing the poor?"
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yeap.. if you say something enough times to yourself you start to believe it right? What makes sanctions illegal? surely a country should be able to choose who they want to trade with?
I totally agree with the CEO,that is if he means real truth,not truth according to Uncle Bob or Zanu PF.We do not want cooked reports because even if untrue reports are given,truth has a way of coming out...
The author is as rotten as the Mugabe system of government. Everybody knows that violence is targetted against MDC supporters. CIO agents and thugs visit homes of MDC supporters at night when every tourist or foreign journalists are sleeping. They kill, main and rape. Other MDC supporters linger in jail under terrible torture. While others just disappear! The world press has widely reported about the violence that preceded the run off elections. There are sufficient documentation against Mugabe and his thugs to prosecute them before a criminal court, whether in Zimbabwe or in another country under international legislation on crimes… [Read Full Text]
It's dishearten to see that a lot of people whose university tuition was paid by the Zim system are now condemning the same system for malpractice. In our critical analysis of the current Zim situation why don't we question both hypotheses (violence from MDC wearing ZANU (PF) uniforms and stupid ZANU (PF) supporters who commit atrocities wearing their party regalia then what ... hope they are not being seen). There are some white lady journalists who became emotional and started crying to SADC observers that "why are you doing this to us, Zimbabwe is our country", if that doesn't ring… [Read Full Text]
Firstly, good luck to the ZTA if they actually get the media to report 100% truthfully on just story let alone on a whole country. No matter where in the world you are, the media does a great job of annoying a whole lot of people (and politicians) a lot of the time. The truly laughable thing for me (apart from the Herald championing the concept of 'truth in journalism'): take this article back, oh, say 40 years (for Rhodesia) or 25 years (for South Africa) and Mr Kaseke's white counterparts of the day were saying much the same thing… [Read Full Text]
Karikoga Kaseke seems to be overwhelmed by these sanctions. It seems that he does not understand that rotten politics came make everything rot in a country. I agree with Kaseke that ordinary Zimbabweans and ordinary visitors will not have any problems in Zimbabwe. But isn't it also true that political Zimbabweans and political visitors in particular those with opposition inclinations are persecuted if they dare challenge the ZANU (PF) government? The whole country is being punished for that. I understand Kaseke to be a war veteran; during the liberation war didn't you destroy key infrastructure like bridges, roads, railway lines… [Read Full Text]
Its a bit rich for the Herald to be asking others to report truthfully isnt it?
See all comments (10).
Maricho says that "Kaseke is overwhelmed by sanctions" who wouldn't be? Anyone who believes or tells anyone else that the problems in Zimbabwe are political and that the economic hardships are a result of poor planning and detrimental policies is fooling himself and others. Our problems were tailor made by those who believed Africa and Africans should be manipulated so as to get what they want. How many countries in Africa have political problems and how many of those are being persecuted by the west? Zimbabwe's only crime "a cardinal one for that matter" is our wish to be authors… [Read Full Text]