Jonathan Moyo

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Jonathan Moyo
Moyo campaigning.
Minister of Information
In office
July 2000 – February 2005
President Robert Mugabe
Member of Parliament for Tsholotsho
Incumbent
Assumed office
31 March 2005
Personal details
Born (1957-01-12) 12 January 1957
Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Political party Independent

Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo (born 12 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Information since 2013. He previously served as Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005, and he was elected to the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe as an independent candidate in 2005 and 2008. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA.

Background and early years

His father was an active ZAPU cadre and a community leader. Jonathan was raised by his mother, who was separated from his father early on. His mother was very close in the early sixties and mid-seventies to the family of Ndabaningi Sithole, who was at the time the President of ZANU. Through these links that he ended up in Zambia and later Tanzania between 1973 (age 16) and 1977 (age 20).

United States

His two scholarships from the United Nations and the Africa American Institute to the University of Southern California in June 1978 were through the ZANU office in New York then headed by Kangai Tirivafi. From November 1977 to December 1981, he was ZANU's Secretary for Commissariat for the Los Angeles branch in California.

He graduated from the University of Southern California in June 1982 with a Bachelor's (Bsc) degree in public policy, obtaining a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with same university in 1984 and a PhD in Public Policy at the same institution in 1988.

He was a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, before moving to Kenya.

Kenya

In 1993 he was program director for the Ford Foundation in Nairobi. He departed under a cloud after allegations that he had embezzled USD $88,000 from the organisation.[1]

South Africa

In January 1998 he moved to South Africa, to the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) to work on a project entitled The Future of the African Elite sponsored by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. WITS later claimed that he had absconded with part of a R100 million research grant for the project. In October 2006 Moeletsi Mbeki, younger brother of former South African President Thabo Mbeki, and Witwatersrand University separately applied for an order to have Jonathan Moyo jailed the next time he visits South Africa.[2]

Zimbabwe

Moyo came to the fore of the Zimbabwean political map during the drafting of the Draft Constitution. He was the spokesperson for the committee charged with putting the final draft constitution together before it was tabled for referendum in February 2000. Once the people of Zimbabwe had rejected the draft, Mugabe appointed the political science lecturer to his cabinet following the 2000 parliamentary election, making him the spokesperson of the government and Minister of Information in the President's office.

As ZANU-PF spokesman, he described the 2000 election, in which the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a large minority of seats, as a "wake up call" and a "reality check for us".[3]

Minister of Information (2000 to 2008)

During his 2000 to 2008 tenure, he crafted and defended, helped by Patrick Chinamasa, the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) (2001), the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Commercialisation) Act (2003),[4] the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) (2002), the Public Order and Security Act (2002), and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Commercialisation) Act (2003). This led to widespread criticism that he was attacking freedom of speech.

When Moyo brought the AIPPA to parliament, the chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Dr Eddison Zvobgo, said, "I can say without equivocation that this Bill, in its original form, was the most calculated and determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, in the 20 years I served as Cabinet minister."

Since being expelled from government, he has taken to deny and outrightly reject the common fact that he was the architect of these laws.

As Minister of Information, Moyo fought personal and government battles with the media from July 2000 until 2005, when he was expelled from ZANU-PF.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

He beamed with pleasure and satisfaction when Chief Justice Gubbay resigned after being threatened by Joseph Chinotimba and company. When the Daily News was shut down, he said "The Daily News is a victim of the rule of law which it had been preaching since 1999." Daily News[13]

In the mere space of seven years, Moyo went from being a fervent critic of the government of Robert Mugabe to being its fiercest defender and then again to being one of its foremost critics, a fact that renders him a mystery to many Zimbabweans. Analysts and observers and ordinary people have labelled him an opportunist because of this puzzling behaviour, including George Charamba, his former friend and allay. He has said: "I have always been a critic of government policy. I was in government for more than five years. Before that I was a critic."[5][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

He is among host of individuals not allowed to travel to the United States because the US government feels he has worked to undermine democracy in Zimbabwe.[22]

Tsholotsho

Much philanthropy, including scholarship programs and support for sport over many years, has earned Moyo a place in Tsholotsho, his family area. This philanthropy increased during the days leading up to the March 2005 parliamentary election, a fact that critics feel made his win for the parliamentary seat in the area inevitable.

In the leadup to the 2004 party meeting, he held an unofficial meeting in Tsholotsho, of Zanu-PF political heavyweights including six provincial party chairmen, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, and a militant war veterans' leader, Joseph Chinotimba. It was aimed at contesting one of the two vice-presidential seats after the recent death of Simon Muzenda on 20 September 2003, seen as a stepping stone to the presidency in light of Mugabe's presumed retirement in 2008.

He was heavily censured at the later Zanu-PF meeting, with other attendees. Joyce Mujuru won the vice-presidency at the party meeting.

The subsequent decision to set aside the Tsholotsho seat in the 2005 parliamentary election for female candidates was widely interpreted as punishing those who organised the unauthorised meeting, and in particular Moyo.

In February 2005 Moyo registered to run as an independent for the seat.[23] Doing so earned the wrath of Mugabe, who expelled him from the party and the cabinet. He won the seat in the elections, held on 31 March.[24]

Standing again as an independent, Moyo was re-elected to the House of Assembly from Tsholotsho North constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election. He received 3,532 votes, defeating MDC candidate Mgezelwa Ncube, who received 3,305 votes, as well as Zanu-PF candidate Alice Dube, who received 2,085 votes.[25] He was the first independent candidate in Zimbabwe to ever win re-election.[26] The mainstream MDC did not field a candidate in this constituency on the understanding that Moyo's victory would be good in the fight to remove Mugabe from power. However, no sooner had Moyo won did he start taking potshots at the MDC and openly defending and supporting Mugabe in newspaper articles. Some say he was angling for a cabinet position, something that did not happen.

Moyo was defeated in Tsholotsho North constituency by the MDC-T's Roselene Nkomo in elections which took place on 31 July 2013. Moyo tried to force through a recount of the votes but his attempt was blocked when Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha barred the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) from conducting a vote recount in the constituency without an order of such effect from the Electoral Court and finalisation of the application of review. Despite Moyo's defeat, Mugabe appointed him as Minister of Information on 10 September 2013.[27]

Appointments

  • Lecturer – Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Zimbabwe (1988–1993)
  • Programme Officer – Ford Foundation (1993–1997)
  • Visiting Professor – University of Witwatersrand (January 1998 – July 2000)
  • Spokesman – Constitutional Commission, Government of Zimbabwe (1999–2000)
  • General Election Campaign Manager – Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (2000)
  • Minister of Information – Government of Zimbabwe (July 2000 – February 2005)
  • Member – Central Committee, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (July 2000 – December 2004)
  • Currently MP for Tsholotsho after trouncing the ruling ZANU(PF) and the opposition MDC in the March parliamentary elections.
  • Member of ZANU PF, (2011 – present)
  • Minister of Information - Government of Zimbabwe (September 2013 - present)

Criticism

Moyo was criticised and ridiculed for his activities during the time he was Minister of Information and Publicity.

In 2005 Asher Tarivona Mutsengi, then a student leader at Solusi University, criticised Moyo saying "..he will go down in the annals of history as a minister who lacked foresight and for pouring vitriol against his perceived opponents, his shopping spree in South Africa of scarce food stuffs, causing unemployment to a multitude of journalists and a penchant for uncivilized propaganda."

..."my final analysis is that he is heading for the precipice and his political prospects even if he wins the Tsholotsho seat that he is vying for as an independent are drab. He might be a spin-doctor and intelligent as some claim, but I don't subscribe to that myself."[28]

Innocent Madawo, a Zimbabwean journalist and columnist for the Toronto Sun newspaper said in an interview about Moyo, "If it were not for Jonathan Moyo I would not be here and I am sure I am not the only one who feels like this. Even those who may have been showered with favours by the good professor, I know for certain that they too were burdened by his attentions and demands and right now, a lot are embarrassed that they ever knew him."

Columnist

In recent times since parting ways with Mugabe, Jonathan Moyo has written for some online news publications critical of Mugabe's government. Ironically, most of the editors of these publications are victims of media laws supported or sponsored by Moyo during his days as information minister. He seems to have been embraced and given a platform to express his anger at the government of Mugabe.[29]

He has been readmitted in Zanu PF.

Wikileaks

In May 2011, Moyo sued the Daily News for $60,000 for reprinting former articles about his expulsion from Zanu-PF in 2005. He rejoined later. In September he sued the paper again, this time for a 6 September report which cited a 2007 US diplomatic cable in which Moyo voiced support for sanctions against President Robert Mugabe. In a follow-up article the next day it reported that Moyo had suggested which senior members of the party should be targeted by sanctions.[30]

Quotes

General

"Perennial wisdom from divine revelation and human experience dictates that all earthly things great or small, beautiful or ugly, good or bad, sad or happy, foolish or wise must finally come to an end. It is from this sobering reality that the end of executive rule has finally come for Robert Mugabe who has had his better days after a quarter of a century in power."

War with the Media

"The Daily News is a victim of the rule of law which it had been preaching since 1999." He said, celebrating and beaming at the demise of the popular Daily News.[13]

War at Home

"If good governance means that black people should forever live as servants and poor and as inferior citizens to white people, we don't accept it" Defending the land reform program.

"Good Riddance" he said after Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, 68, signed an agreement to go on leave immediately and to retire formally on 1 July 2001 following threats from war veterans led by Joseph Chinotimba.

"We have to secure the gains of the Third Chimurenga in legal terms and Government is considering a number of options. The so-called successful white farmers were made by successive colonial governments. But given the level of the support they enjoyed and the vast tracts of land they commanded, an inescapable conclusion is that they were an inefficient lot. Much of commercial farmland was under-utilised. Moving forward means crafting legislation that consolidates and puts a final seal of legality to the gains we have made through the fast-track programme. We are aware that white commercial farmers who used to be on the land have refused to surrender title deeds to Government."[31]

War with Foreigners

"Our problem with Britain and Australia is over the land we took over from their white kith and kin to redistribute to the indigenous black people of this country. ..." Explaining why relations with Britain had become strained.

"We were under pressure from foreigners who claimed that they were Zimbabweans, when they were actually enemies," Defending the government's decision not to award broadcasting licenses to foreign companies.[32]

"I have always had a nagging feeling that for all their propensity for liberal values and civilised norms, these people (South Africans) are dirty. In fact they are filthy and recklessly uncouth. Now the evidence is there for any decent person to see" Justifying his shopping spree in South Africa, when people in Zimbabwe were starving.[33]

"He needs to be told that Zimbabwe will never be a colony again, never" Telling Tony Blair not to interfere in Zimbabwe during the days leading up to the 2002 presidential elections.[34]

References

  1. ↑ Information minister fails to gag weekly paper Committee to protect Journalists
  2. ↑ "Jail awaits Jono", The Zimbabwean, 19 October 2006
  3. ↑ Rachel L. Swarns, "Vote in Zimbabwe Shows Opposition Making Big Gains", The New York Times, 27 June 2000.
  4. ↑ "Moyo blows Charamba's cover", The Financial Gazette, 28 July 2005 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Former Harare Information Tsar Jonathan Moyo Has Day In Court", Voice of America, 28 November 2006 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  6. ↑ "Mugabe's rule close to a 'nasty, short and brutish' end, says former right-hand man", The Guardian, 28 March 2007 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  7. ↑ "Why Give Jonathan Moyo Time and Space", Association of Zimbabwe Journalists, 20 September 2006 (accessed 07/02/2008)
  8. ↑ "Moyo – Was It Perostroika or a Palace Coup in Tsholotsho", Africanewsflash
  9. ↑ "Propaganda chief who turned Zimbabwe into 'Planet Moyo'", The Telegraph, 23 January 2003 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  10. ↑ "Moyo eyes Tsholotsho", The Insider, 2003 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  11. ↑ "Jonathan Moyo sued for $25 mln", The Financial Gazette, 17 June 2004
  12. ↑ "We have forgiven Moyo but have not forgotten", The Zimbabwe Times
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Victim of the law", AllAfrica archive (subscription required)
  14. ↑ "Professorial folly", The Herald, 8 July 2006 (accessed 07/02/2008)
  15. ↑ "Zimbabwe's Spokesperson", BBC News (accessed 02/07/2008)
  16. ↑ "Mugabe Fires Information Minister Jonathan Moyo", Voice of America, 20 February 2005 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  17. ↑ "The rise and fall of Jonathan Moyo", Mail & Guardian, 22 February 2005 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  18. ↑ "Jonathan Moyo’s terrible legacy", The Financial Gazette, 3 March 2005 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  19. ↑ "MDC, Watch Jonathan Moyo", The Zimbabwean, 31 January 2008 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  20. ↑ The Minister, AllAfrica archive (subscription required) (accessed 02/07/2008)
  21. ↑ "Forgiving Jonathan Moyo", zimgreats.com, 20 October 2007 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  22. ↑ Recent OFAC Actions, US Dept. of Treasury, 23 November 2005 (accessed 02/07/2008)
  23. ↑ "Mugabe's spin doctor to go solo", BBC News, 19 February 2005
  24. ↑ "Mugabe 'can change constitution'", BBC News, 2 April 2005
  25. ↑ "Zimbabwe election results 2008", newzimbabwe.com, 2 April 2008.
  26. ↑ Lindie Whiz, "Outright Tsvangirai or Mugabe victory unlikely – Moyo", newzimbabwe.com, 1 April 2008.
  27. ↑ "President Mugabe Appoints New Cabinet", The Herald, 10 September 2013.
  28. ↑ -Student Leader says Moyo the worst politician in Zimbabwe
  29. ↑ "Why Mugabe should go now", Zimbabwe Independent, 29 November 2006
  30. ↑ Zimbabwe politician sues paper over WikiLeaks revelations Guardian
  31. ↑ "Gains", AllAfrica archive (subscription required)
  32. ↑ "AIPPA Amendment", AllAfrica archive (subscription required)
  33. ↑ "Moyo's bizarre attack on SA", Cape Times, 14 January 2003
  34. ↑ "Zimbabwe attacks UK 'colonialism'", BBC News, 3 March 2002

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