Now Daily
- U.S. Embassy officials visit Hwengwere’s YaFM
Munyaradzi Hwengwere, a prominent Zanu PF activist and former head of its propaganda outfit Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has approached the United States government for money to run his Ya FM radio station.
The move could put Hwengwere in conflict with president Robert Mugabe’s government, which gave him a broadcast licence on condition he pushed the regime’s anti-Western line.
The station has gone for months without paying workers after failing to raise money from the corporate sector because of Ya FM’s rabidly pro-Zanu PF stance and the decision to hire amateur presenters.
Ya FM was officially opened by vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2015 and has become a strong voice for his Lacoste faction of Zanu PF.
Insiders said Hwengwere had failed to strike viable commercial deals with multinationals like Mimosa Mining Company after officials expressed reservations about his support for brutal Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, who has banned all broadcasting by independent journalists.
The recently published U.S. government human rights report says the station is not democratic and confirms that Hwengwere is an agent of the regime.
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