ZIMBABWE — The acting chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) Happison Muchechetere has reportedly been moonlighting in South Africa where he is allegedly baying for a hide-out following the dilution of the systems of governance that has roped in Morgan Richard Tsvangirai as Prime Minister designate with Nelson Chamisa the firebrand MDC spokeman featuring as possible heir-apparent to the Information Ministerial position, ZimDaily has heard.

 

It is also the possible emergence of Nelson Chamisa as Minister for Media and Information that has allegedly sent jitters to Muchechetere and has prompted his unceremonious departure from Pockets Hill.

 

 

In an interview, Nelson Chamisa said that once he gets appointed he will serve his country with humility as he surely fought for innocence in the socio-economic and political fabric of the nation.

 

“If Muchechetere has surely decided to call it quits, it is a clear sign of self-introspection and any dodgy characters have no place in the new Zimbabwe if we are to move forward.

 

It is necessary for the new leadership of this country to create democratic media space by sweeping away any dead wood from the rank and file of the information sector,” he said. 

 

A source close to the environment of jitters that has gripped the national broadcaster says Muchechetere sneaked into South Africa immediately after the announcement of the SA President Thabo Mbeki’s breakthrough of forming a government of national unity between ZANU PF and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) with Tsvangirai priming the limelight more than the opportunist Arthur Mutambara of the little known MDC splinter faction.

 

During a live televised episode of the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the viewing public saw for themselves the glaring blips and blunders of the national broadcaster that was ultimately saved by foreign television stations for clearer clips.

 

“Whether the blunders were deliberate or not, the fact still holds that ZBH needs to be cleaned of dead wood and it is surely the right decision for Muchechetere to escape the gravy train before it collides. He has no professional attributes,” said one commentator on grounds of anonymity. 

 

At the twilight stage of the formation of the MDC in the late 1990s, when Happison Muchechetere was an anchor of a programme Insight, he once took Tsvangirai to the cleaners mistaking his entrance into the political ring as a mark of serious opportunism that was bent on backfiring as in his eyes ZANU PF was an everyday wonder.

 

Cde Tanganeropa, as Muchechetere is known in ZANU PF circles has reportedly indicated that the blast from that past insight programme as well as a sequel of his ravings against Tsvangirai and his party, especially before and just after the 29 March 2008 elections are a clear sign that Tsvangirai will wage a war of retribution against his person hence the earlier he leaves the frying pan the better for his health.       

 

A confidante of Muchechetere has told Zimdaily that at any given time, Cde Tanga moves around with more than one gun and has killer instincts once any unsuspecting foe crosses his path.

 

Meanwhile, it has emerged that most senior editors and reporters also fear for their future as they reportedly played a critical role of barring the MDC Tsvangirai electronic adverts prior to the June 27 Run-Off elections on flimsy grounds.

 

“The MDC electronic adverts prior to the June 27 election rerun were too good and were expertly done. It was clear that ZANU PF was not going to stand any ground and Happison was controversially brought in against Henry Muradzikwa to do his known dirty media theatrics of denying ZANU PF’s close rival any airtime the work that he did well to please his now decapitated master,” said a dejected journo that has equated working for ZBH to a parole in a mine field.

 

“You see no one can stop the wind of change when it starts blowing. When Simba Makoni had announced his “triumphant” entry into the political fray, almost all the newsroom personnel at Pockets Hill had a file of Makoni’s inaugural address displayed on the screen savers of their computers. I am one of them.”* 

 

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