The Herald (Harare)
25 June 2009
Harare — THE Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity yesterday said there was never any intention on its part to go against the provisional High Court order in the case in which four freelance journalists were challenging the legality of accrediting with the ministry to cover the recent Comesa Summit.
The ministry attributed the delay in publicly retracting, in the print and electronic media, the statement relating to issues of accreditation to financial constraints.
"We refer to the court order that was granted by way of interim relief in a provisional order on 5 June 2009 by his Lordship, Mr Justice Bharat Patel, in the case of Stanley Gama and 3 Others v Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and 3 Others, Case No. HC 2355/2009 . . .
"In compliance with the said court order, we unreservedly and unconditionally retract and withdraw the contents of the said statement.
"We also wish to apologise for the delay in issuing this statement, which was in itself caused by a delay in receiving appropriate legal advice.
"There was never any intention on our part not to comply with the court order," read the statement issued by Minister Webster Shamu and Permanent Secretary George Charamba.
A source in the ministry said they had partly complied with the court order by promptly dismantling their operations in Victoria Falls and were not responsible for what happened thereafter.
"The ministry, like all other ministries, is literally running on dry. Even our officers who went to Comesa did not even get stipends." said the source.
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