| Hat tip Captain Ed, who has helpful commentary. |
Yesterday an outspoken opponent, Lovemore Madhuku, accused the police of failing to investigate a fire at his home, which he said was arson. "It is very clear that the government is trying to silence all critical voices, including Trevor Ncube and his newspapers, and me. We are all opposed to Mugabe's attempts to extend his rule to 2010," said Madhuku, a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
Senior government officials said Mr Ncube, the publisher of two weeklies, the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard, was not entitled to Zimbabwean citizenship because his father was Zambian. Zimbabwe's strict media laws require newspapers to be owned by Zimbabwean citizens. If the Mugabe government succeeds in withdrawing Mr Ncube's citizenship, it is expected to swiftly close his two papers, which are staunch critics of Mr Mugabe's policies.
Mr Ncube told the Guardian yesterday that he would go to court to retain his citizenship: "I am a Zimbabwean. I was born and bred in Zimbabwe and I have no other citizenship."
"I am confident the courts will uphold my rights," he said. He publishes Zimbabwe's last remaining privately owned newspapers. The government has closed down the Daily News and three other papers since 2003.
Mr Ncube's father was from Zambia but held Zimbabwean citizenship by the time his son was born, according to court papers. A year ago the government seized Mr Ncube's passport but the courts ordered that it be returned to him.
Despite numerous arrests and threats of violence, the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard have continued to expose corruption and human rights abuses. Most recently Mr Ncube's newspapers were the only publications to reveal that Mr Mugabe's efforts to extend his rule until 2010 were rejected at the Zanu-PF party conference in mid-December.
