MEDIA REPORT REPORTER ARRESTED UNDER AIPPA; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001591 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KPAO ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT REPORTER ARRESTED UNDER AIPPA; HARARE Independent "Daily News" reporter, Chris Gande, was on July 4 charged under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) for allegedly writing a false story. Gande becomes the 13th reporter to be charged under the Act, enacted in March this year. Last week the "Daily News" carried an article by Gande in which he reported that the government had "snubbed" the family of the late vice-president Joshua Nkomo by "neither inviting nor informing them" of the preparations for a state-funded commemorative gala in his honor. Gande is standing by his story as a true reflection of what Nkomo's eldest daughter, Thandi, told him in an interview on the eve of the memorial revelry held in Mutare. Johanna MaFuyana, Nkomo's widow, attended the gala that was televised live on June 29. She was, however, flown to Mutare on a military helicopter on the day the "Daily News" story was published (June 28). SULLIVAN