Zimbabwe is mourning veteran journalist and human rights activist, Geoffrey Nyarota, who died on Saturday of colon cancer.
The 74-year-old was best known for exposing government corruption and launching what became the country’s most popular and critical independent newspaper.
Nyarota had trained as a teacher, one of the few jobs open to educated Blacks during white minority rule in what was then known as Rhodesia, before branching into journalism.
He rose to prominence in the late 1980s when, as editor The Chronicle, he exposed a vehicle scandal involving cabinet ministers and top government officials.
They were jumping the line to buy cars from a local assembly firm and then reselling them for a profit at a time when the country was facing a vehicle shortage.
A commission of inquiry was established and five ministers resigned, one of them eventually taking his own life, but Nyarota lost his job and left the country.
In 1999, Nyarota helped launch The Daily News, an independent newspaper that challenged the state hegemony on the media.
It gave space to dissenting voices while poking at government corruption and excesses. Soon, the paper was outselling the government-controlled daily Herald newspaper.
Nyarota and journalists from the Daily News were arrested multiple times. The paper’s printing press was bombed in 2001, before it was closed over licensing issues in 2003.
He had resigned from the newspaper earlier in 2002 due to differences with its new management.
In 2003, he moved to the United States as a fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, and also ran an online publication, The Zimbabwe Times.
He later returned to Zimbabwe and in 2014 chaired a government-supported panel of inquiry into media ethics.
Members of the media fraternity have described him as a fearless journalist who dedicated his life to informing and educating the public.
Chronicle Editor, Lawson Mabhena, said he was a legendary figure who was always willing to share his knowledge.
“Nyarota slept, dreamt, breathed, and lived journalism,” said the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional media freedom group.
He was a recipient of several international awards, including the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award in 2001.
As he battled with cancer, members of the media fraternity launched an initiative to raise funds to cover his ongoing treatment.
Nyarota is survived by his wife, Ursula, and three children.
His was due to be buried on Wednesday.
Source: Africanews
