Publisher addresses fresh threat

Journalists at Trevor Ncube's newspapers fear the publisher's plan to sell a stake in his company to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's son-in-law will silence Zimbabwe's last independent media voices. The Sunday Times reports that Ncube and Gerald Mlotshwa – who married Mnangagwa's daughter in 2016 – are at an advanced stage of negotiations that will see Ncube sell 40% of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), publisher of the Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard and NewsDay. AMH group CEO Kenias Mafukidze reportedly told the Sunday Times that Ncube was in discussions with an investor whom he was not at liberty to name. ‘It's a shareholder arrangement. I can't be naming them for ethical reasons since we are a private limited company. We are in need of capital injection and investors will bring that to the table,’ he said. Journalists at AMH titles said Mlotshwa’s presence could force them to tone down critical reporting of the President. ‘They maintain it won't change, but we know because we have seen the signs,’ said one reporter.