Mugabe In DRC As State Media Puts On Another Shameful Display

Robert "The Solution" Mugabe poses with other presidents earlier today in the DRC at the start of the SADC Heads of State Summit. Meantime, the state media back home is making as if Tsvangirai does not exist at all. Mugabe is at the far right as you look at the picture, standing next to the Mozambican president.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 September 2009

Robert "The Solution" Mugabe is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he arrived yesterday.

Meanwhile, back here in Harare, the state media is putting on what I consider a shameful display around the trip.

Zimbabwe Television reported on the president's departure but failed to mention that Morgan Tsvangirai has also gone to the DRC at the head of an MDC delegation to press home his case.

Even more shameful, the report also gratuitously went on about the fact that Mugabe was going to "speak out against the continued illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and how they are threatening the Global Political Agreement."

No mention is made of the issues Tsvangirai is also putting on the table, his and his party's own outstanding issues.

In other words, Tsvangirai is completely ignored and anyone listening to the news here in Zimbabwe would walk away thinking that Mugabe alone has gone to the DRC and Tsvangirai is back here, where Joice Mujuru is Acting President once more.

I wonder what they hope to achieve with this.

It is quite clear that they can not keep this quiet. There are too many sources of news for Zimbabweans these days. Those still employed will access the internet at their offices here in Zimbabwe.

Those who can not go online do have satellite television and can watch SABC, France 24, CNBC and other channels which are beamed free via the widespread satellite network in Zimbabwe, which is free apart from the cost of the hardware.

The vast majority of urban dwellers now have this access.

So the news will come out in the end and the state media will only serve to discredit itself even further.

Making out as if only sanctions will be under discussion is dishonest. Tsvangirai's issues will also be put on the table. That the SADC Heads of State will nothing to help the Prime Minister is a fact that will emerge, but at least the state media could be honest enough to admit that their president's fight not to have Zimbabwe on the agenda is now lost.

Tsvangirai won that round and they should live with it.

As I said before, nothing will come of this summit, but the display locally now confirms that the state media is on a warpath with the Prime Minister.

After Tsvangirai castigated them last week on Thursday for their "hate speech", they have now dropped all pretence and are going for the jugular.

It is, like I said, shameful.