James Maridadi

Published: 06 May 2018

Mabvuku-Tafara MP James Maridadi yesterday challenged journalists who participated in the recent Zanu-PF primary elections to resign to preserve the integrity of the profession.

Speaking at belated World Press Freedom Day commemorations hosted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe, Harare advocacy committee, Maridadi said the concerned journalists were Zanu-PF "functionaries".

"For me, if you participate in primary elections for a ruling party and you work for the public media, then you must resign," he said.

"I do not see how somebody who works for ZBC today and who participated in Zanu-PF primaries to be a Zanu-PF Member of parliament can go back to ZBC and claim that they are impartial.

"What it means is that they are Zanu-PF functionaries, deployed in those organisations by Zanu-PF."

At least three journalists working for the Sunday Mail and ZBC lost in their bids to represent Zanu-PF in the forthcoming elections after they were defeated in recent primary elections.
- the standard