Parties: Ms Mukwereza V/s Zimlive (February 2021)

Nature of Complaint

Ms Mukwereza brought to the attention of the VMCZ Media Complaints Committee a complaint over her picture that was used by ZimLive in a story alleging that she was the alleged girlfriend of former Vice President Kembo Mohadi. The story on the Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s alleged sexual relations with a named woman carried the picture of Ms Mukwereza implying that she was the alleged girlfriend.

Ms Mukwereza in her complaint states that the picture used in the story was her picture but indicates that she had nothing to do with the story nor did she know Vice President Mohadi on a personal level. Ms Mukwereza in the complaint says the publication of her picture alongside the story has caused her anguish and has strained her relations with her family as she is not in any relationship with Vice President Mohadi. She further indicates that when she contacted ZimLive on the matter, the publication responded by sending her a picture of a lady she does not know claiming that it was her.

Ms Mukwereza says she wants ZimLive to set the record straight that she is not involved in any affair with Vice President Mohadi. She says ZimLive went on to use a different picture alleging that the same lady (different from herself is involved in the alleged sexual affair with Vice President Mohadi. Ms Mukwereza wants ZimLive to clarify that she is not the person referred to in the story and ZimLive should publish and offer an apology to her.

Status: Resolved

The Media Complaints Committee of the VMCZ wrote to ZimLive on the matter and on Monday 22 February 2021, ZimLive published an apology on the publication of Ms Mukwereza’s picture. Further to that, the online publication published the two pictures they had used on Vice President Mohadi story and clarified that Ms Mukwereza is not the person mentioned in their story. The online publication admitted that they had used a wrong picture and used the two pictures to show the correct picture to the story against the wrong picture that they had initial used.