Univers, the weekly paper of Tilburg University - Persecuted journalist Wilf Mbanga: 'Thinking about Zimbabwe makes my blood boil'

Published: 18 december 2003

Persecuted journalist Wilf Mbanga: 'Thinking about Zimbabwe makes my blood boil'

For 34 years Zimbabwean journalist Wilf Mbanga has been fighting for human rights and press freedom. First under British colonial rule, later under the corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe. "My newspaper was a true mirror of Zimbabwean society, with all its ugly warts. When the government looked in it, they didn't like what they saw. But instead of doing something about themselves, they smashed the mirror." The Foundation Tilburg City of Asylum have helped him 'take a break' from harassment.

Ingrid Ramaan

Suddenly, he feels free. "All day, every day, I'm able to talk over the phone or in a caf� without fearing someone is listening. I can walk down the street without looking over my shoulder." Wilf Mbanga (56) had grown used to the ever-present stress caused by the harassment by the authorities. "I thought I was strong and didn't give a damn, but since coming to Tilburg, I've realized how it's affected me. A weight has lifted from my shoulders."

Tilburg, after Amsterdam, is the second Dutch city to host a writer for a certain period of time who has been victimized by persecution. In 1995, the International Parliament of Writers called cities in Europe to create a network of 'Cities of Asylum'.

Former Tilburg PhD student and refugee from Iran Afshin Elian contacted executive director of Globus Paul van Seters amongst others from Tilburg University, and together they asked the Tilburg local council to declare itself 'City of Asylum', which it did in August 2002. With a subsidy of ten thousand euros, money from sponsors and efforts by many local people, all was set to welcome the first persecuted writer.

Mbanga's name was put forward by the Prins Claus Fund. The journalist jumped at the opportunity to take a one-year break from the harassment he has suffered since founding the country's only newspaper that 'told the story as it is' in 1998, the Daily News. Stories of corruption and the lack of tolerance for any views which did not conform to the government's stories of people being arrested, beaten by police and army. Of people disappearing, never to be seen again. Killed because they didn't support the government or had raised human rights issues. Critical articles on the 'land redistribution campaign' which Mugabe begun in 2000, encouraging peasants and veterans to chase white farmers off their properties. Exposure of electoral fraud. "The Daily News was a true mirror of Zimbabwean society, with all its ugly warts. And when the government looked in it, they didn't like what they saw. But instead of doing something about themselves they smashed the mirror." Newspaper vendors and reporters were arrested and sometimes beaten up. In 2001 Mbanga too was arrested on false charges of fraud, but luckily released quickly.

The intimidation however, continued. "They tapped my telephone, I was being followed by men in dark glasses." He laughs. He can, still. Mbanga is not one to give in to fear. "I'm a defiant person. When someone harasses me, I try to fight back." He built a wall around his house. People would climb over it at night and walk around in his garden. "They were not thieves, nothing was stolen." He hired security guards. They kept coming. "The guards would chase the intruders off, who managed to jump the 2,5 metre fence! "You do become paranoid. I couldn't sleep; every night I'd hear footsteps outside. During the day I was so exhausted, right up to the day I came here."

Mbanga had to be defiant for a long time. He grew up in Rhodesia - as Zimbabwe was called under British rule -, where a 'milder form of South African Apartheid' existed, as Mbanga calls it. Laws affected one's rights on the basis of one's skin colour. Society was divided into black and white schools, hospitals and neighbourhoods. Many jobs were reserved for whites only. Becoming a journalist however, was possible for Mbanga, and in his early twenties, he started writing features and political stories. "I was always politically aware. Some of my friends were in politics and I supported their activities against the British regime." He became a correspondent for the biggest newspaper group in Africa, covering wars and political issues in many different countries. He suffered intimidation in Rhodesia as well. "The police would come at night every few months, looking for weapons. They would tear up the place and walk out carrying bags of papers - in those days I used the typewriter."

It was 1974 when Mbanga first met Robert Mugabe, who had just been released from jail for his opposition against British colonialism. The young journalist introduced Mugabe to the world. He published Mugabe's first biography in the newspapers and set him up with a befriended British journalist who interviewed him on British television. "Mugabe led the opposition, he was fantastic." In return, Mugabe was grateful for Mbanga's support and they became friends.

UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979. On the night of independence in 1980, Mbanga and his wife witnessed Prince Charles lowering the English flag and putting up the Zimbabwean flag. They were in tears; there was going to be genuine democracy, respect for human rights.

The following year, Mugabe's government asked him to start the country's first national news agency, and in 1984 he was asked to start a whole group of regional newspapers, whose edition-in-chief- he was right up to 1997. By then, his faith in Mugabe had faded away. "But I was one of the last people to stop believing in him." Mbanga used to make excuses for him, saying 'everybody's corrupt except Mugabe'. "It took time to accept the fish rots from the head - as the saying goes. Initially, he was above it. He truly believed in democracy and human rights." Mugabe and his party ZANU-PF had won the first few elections fairly, according to Mbanga. Only in 1995, when Mugabe met his first serious challenge, 'did he panick' - not wanting to lose power. "He changed electoral laws to suit himself."

Looking back, Mbanga realizes the seeds of corruption were sown as early as 1981. The Minister of Information would phone sometimes to ask about a certain story that had been published. "But you could put up with it because you were still enthusiastic about the independence. We had such high hopes."

As the years passed, newspapers were reduced to government propaganda sheets and the opposition was denied access to the media. Critical journalists were sacked or transferred. Mbanga could no longer tell himself Mugabe was 'above it'. "I was in a better position than most journalists to do something about it." He found investors and the Daily News hit the streets in 1999. It was openly critical of the government. "We knew we had the people behind us. Sales shot from zero to 100,000 overnight."

In September this year, the government finally shut the paper down. Mbanga grieves at the loss, but will use this year in Tilburg to recuperate before returning home. He and his wife Trish fully enjoy the taste of an ordinary life. In a small house in Tilburg centre, amidst donated second-hand furniture, they have created their new home. For forty years Mbanga didn't ride a bicycle; he's been riding it every day. The couple spend their days working together at a book about a cross-cultural marriage of Seretse Khama in the 1940's. "A love story." They can empathize; for theirs too is a mixed marriage. And suddenly there's lots of time to simply explore Tilburg's cultural life. "We can listen to a lecture at Tilburg University in the afternoon and dance to rock music in 013 the same evening."

Zimbabwe seems far away at such times. "But thinking about it makes my blood boil." There is no doubt in Mbanga's mind: he will 'refuel' and return. "I did my bit in Rhodesia, and I will continue to do my bit in Zimbabwe. The people are fantastic, they just have a lousy government."

[In Zimbabwe, the living conditions continue to deteriorate. Since Mugabe rigged the 2002 presidential elections to stay in power, opposition and labour groups have launched general strikes to pressure Mugabe to retire early. Security forces carry on their brutal repression of regime opponents. Only last month hundreds of people have been arrested. Unemployment stands at 70 per cent, 80 per cent of the people live beneath the poverty level and inflation is running at 700 per cent.]

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