US embassy cable - 04HARARE315

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000315 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR SDELISI, LAROIAN, MRAYNOR 
AF/PD FOR DFOLEY, CDALTON 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER, DTEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
PARIS FOR CNEARY 
NAIROBI FOR TPFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2009 
TAGS: KPAO, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, ZI, Media and Communications 
SUBJECT: DAILY NEWS FIRES STAFF 
 
REF: HARARE 302 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton under Section 1.5(b)(d) 
 
1.  (C) The Daily News (TDN) editor Sam Nkomo and assistant 
editor Bill Saidi told the Ambassador over lunch on February 
22 that the paper had fired 250 reporters and staff after 
they barricaded Nkomo in his office on February 19 to address 
various work-related issues (reftel).  According to Nkomo, 
the paper retained an unspecified number of section heads and 
would allow the return of 40 of the 250 fired employees. 
TDN's South African-based Zimbabwean publisher Strive 
Masiyiwa had approved the measures.  Nkomo confided that he 
had a list of an unspecified number of TDN staff who had been 
"on the payroll" of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo -- 
many of whom were from the paper's editorial staff. 
 
2.  (SBU) Nkomo advised that TDN would take its time in 
reinforcing its staff prior to publishing again, assuming the 
government permitted it to publish.  He said the court's slow 
pace in deciding the consolidated appeals of its various 
legal cases would give it some time, during which it would 
retain a core group to continue its internet publishing and 
to prepare a reconsolidated work force. 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT: A difficult recruiting challenge now 
supplants a problematic labor situation at the embattled TDN, 
much to the delight of Moyo and many in the GOZ.  Masiyiwa, a 
multi-millionaire who controls a highly successful 
international cellular telephone company among other things, 
had continued to pay full salary to the entire TDN staff 
during the five months the paper was shuttered by the GOZ. 
The staff, likely spurred by co-optees among them, chose to 
push for huge salary increases, nonetheless.  The 
complexities of putting TDN back together have grown, just as 
Jonathan Moyo and his minions wish. 
SULLIVAN