Wisdom Mdzungairi
| Wisdom Mdzungairi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Wisdom Mdzungairi |
| Residence | Zimbabwe |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Citizenship | Zimbabwean |
| Education | Journalist, Media & Society Studies Midlands State University |
| Alma mater | Journalism, Media & Society Studies |
| Occupation |
|
| Employer | Alpha Media Holdings |
| Known for | Being NewsDay editor. |
Wisdom Mdzungairi is a Zimbabwean journalist and the current chief editor for NewsDay. He has been arrested a number of times by the Zimbabwe Republic Police over stories published in the newspaper.
Career
On March 3, 2017, he was arrested together with a senior reporter Richard Chidza on charges of undermining, insulting or ridiculing President Robert Mugabe.
They were arrested for publishing a story titled “Mugabe in fresh health scare”. The story stated that Mugabe had reportedly gone out of the country early on Wednesday 1 March in the morning for a medical check-up in the South East Asian city-state of Singapore. His family had already left on Monday 27 February 2017.
Although the Secretary for Media, Information and Broadcasting Services and Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, did not respond to questions sent to him by NewsDay, he, however, confirmed to State media that Mugabe had indeed left the country for a “scheduled” medical review in Singapore.
NewsDay wrote that while officials claim that Mugabe frequently travels to Singapore to have eye check-ups, there were reports that he was afflicted by old age and prostate cancer. Mdzungairi, Chidza and Alpha Media Holdings legal assistant Sifikile Thabete handed themselves at Harare Central Police Station where they had been summoned to report to the Law and Order department.
They were charged with breaching section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, undermining, insulting or ridiculing the President. However, the trio were released around 1600 hours into the custody of their lawyer, Obey Shava of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.[1]
On June 20, 2017, Mdzungairi and chief reporter Everson Mushava were summoned by the CID Law and Order section at Harare Central Police Station for questioning over a story in which former Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central youth chair Godfrey Tsenengamu urged President Robert Mugabe to resign. In the story published on February 21, 2017 titled "Mnangagwa ally savages Grace", Tsenengamu called on President Mugabe to step down in favour of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Police details from CID Law and Order section swooped on NewsDay on June 19, 2017, demanding a statement from Mushava, who was away on an assignment regarding the story.
Mdzungairi and Mushava were accompanied by their lawyer Belinda Chinowawa of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Alpha Media Holdings legal counsel Sifikile Tabethe.[2]
Arrest
Wisdom Mdzungairi, Desmond Chingarande (NewsDay senior reporter), and the company’s legal officer, Tatenda Chikohora were arrested on the 3rd of August 2022 by the police at Harare Central Police Station on allegations of violating the Data Protection Act. They were accused of publishing a story involving disputes between shareholders of Glen Forest Memorial Park. Some shareholders allege that NewsDay wrote a story suggesting they were operating without proper documentation. The three were released into the custody of their lawyer, Jeremiah Bhamu. [3]
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References
- ↑ NewsDay staffers arrested, NewsDay, published: March 4, 2017, retrieved: June 20, 2017
- ↑ Police summon NewsDay staffers, NewsDay, published: June 20, 2017, retrieved: June 20, 2017
- ↑ NewsDay Editor, Reporter Arrested, Pindula News, published: August 3, 2022, Retrieved: August 3, 2022
