Nature of Complaint
Mr Mupeti, a teacher based in Binga, in Matabeleland North, lodged a complaint with the VMCZ Media Complaints Committee over an article carried by Twasumpuka News Platform headlined: “Two teachers alleged to have committed cases of improper association at Samende Secondary School”. Mr Mupeti complains the whole story is false and that paragraph four of the story is inaccurate as he did not propose and fell in love with one girl aged below 16 at the school. Mr Mupeti says the whole article is malicious and is meant to tarnish and soil his reputation and wants Twasumpuka to retract the story and apologise to him.
Procedure: Full Adjudication of the Matter
The matter went to full adjudication before the committte. Mr Mupeti at the adjudication meeting outlined inaccurate issues identified in the story. Mr Mupeti indicated that he did not propose and fell in love with a girl aged below 16 at the school. He also denied visiting the girl at her homestead, spending weekends at local ball games tournaments sessions, and also giving her money. He indicated that there was need for a balanced story as the news platform failed to get comment from the headmaster at the school after Mr Mupeti denied them a right of reply as he was not legally allowed to talk to the media according to the Education Ministry protocols. Twasumpuka News Platform, represented at the meeting by its editor Mr. Babbiton Ndlovu, said as a media house they had a watchdog role to play in society and in publishing the story they were fulfilling their societal obligation. The publication however conceded there was need to get a comment from the headmaster before publication. The Media Complaints Committee argued that with the seriousness of allegations raised and lack of strong and compelling evidence against Mr Mupeti it was incumbent on Twasumpuka News Platform to have held onto their story until they had got a comment and a response from Mr Mupeti and all parties in the Ministry of Education hierarchy.
Status: Partly Resolved
After a full sitting and receiving representations from both parties the committee noted grey areas in the news report and noted that with serious allegations raised against Mr Mupeti it was important for Twasumpuka to withhold the story until there were comments from the authorities. After the committees’ concerns Twasumpuka News Platform agreed to publish a retraction and an apology to Mr Mupeti in their next edition. Twasumpuka News Platform also agreed to demands by Mr Mupeti that he be furnished with a draft of the retraction before publication. However almost two weeks after the resolution, Twasumpuka has not met its commitments and communications to the editor is not being responded to while the Editor does not answer calls and messages sent to his communication platforms. The MCC will continue to engage Twasumpuka to do the right thing and ensure accountability. VMCZ will escalate the matter to the Zimbabwe Association for Community Radio Stations (Zacras) and to Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (Zinef) to help in ensuring that Twasumpuka meets its professional commitments.
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