The Zimbabwe Independent Review

The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper is one of the few remaining privately owned and controlled newspapers in Zimbabwe. It is a weekly publication that operates from Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. It is owned by Mr Trevor Ncube a South African based Zimbabwean who is also the publisher of the Mail and Guardian newspaper in South Africa.

The history of the Independent goes back as far as Britain. In fact in the UK today there is a newspaper called The Independent with the same logo as the local Independent in Zimbabwe. This has to do with Zimbabwe's history were Britian was generally mirrored across Zimbabwean life.

The newspaper's editor in Zimbabwe is Mr Vincent Kahiya. The Zimbabwe Independent has a sister paper in The Standard published on Sundays. The Independent is published every Friday in Harare and circulates in most cities in Zimbabwe. The newspaper was not spared by the economic problems in Zimbabwe which saw its advertiser base dwindle and circulation sharply reduced to as little as 2000 copies per week.

Mr Trevor Ncube is known for his non-interference in the editorial policy of his newspapers. He also confirmed this in a CNN interview under the African Voices program in 2009. The paper's editorial policy has been sharply critical of government exposing government inadequacies, corruption and human rights abuses.

For this reason, the paper has largely been an enemy of the state during the 10 years of Zimbabwe's political problems.

The Zimbabwe Independent has also survived the Zimbabwe government's media hangman's noose which saw the demise of the Daily News, the Tribune and others. At the time that the Daily News was closed  never to reopen for refusing to register with government even though the law was unconstitutional, the Independent chose to register anyway and challenge the law after registering. This saw it survive a blitz on private newspapers by government.

The paper is viewed "favourably" by government in two main ways. It's existence is often used by government to prove media plurality in Zimbabwe. Secondly, the paper comes out only on Fridays, (one a week) which makes it easy to counter whatever it reports by using government controlled daily newspapers such as the Zimbabwe Herald and The Chronicle based in Bulawayo. On numerous occassions state owned daily newspapers have carried headlines directly challenging The Independent assertions leaving no opportunity for the paper to immediately respond.

[Pictured in dark jacket is Vincent Kahiya Editor of the Independent]

In recent months the Group that owns the paper has announced the arrival of an independent daily called News Day. However, this has failed to take off and is still awaiting government license to operate.

The critics of the paper have accused it of peddling foreign interests by constantly attacking government policy. However, the paper argues moral responsibility to expose government corruption.

The Zimbabwe Independent journalists have won numerous awards for outstanding journalism. Many of them also write for other international publications and newspapers. Mr Vincent Kahiya, the editor, has himself participated in numerous human rights seminars, conferences and workshops as an expert resource person.

The contribution of the Zimbabwe Independent to Zimbabwe's democratic struggle has been immense. It's absence (or of a similar publication) could have admittedly caused a different landscape in Zimbabwe.

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