The Sunday News
Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Correspondent
THE Medecins Sans Frontiers’ (Doctors without borders) Zimbabwe mission is reported to be planning a media onslaught on the Zimbabwean government following the closure of a Beitbridge project after authorities discovered that some of its employees were meddling in the country’s domestic politics.
Four employees were asked to leave Beitbridge district last year towards elections after their plan to assist opposition political parties using medical assistance was exposed by Zimbabwean authorities.
According to leaked documents titled: Zimbabwe, Beitbridge Departure Strategy, purportedly prepared by MSF head of mission in Zimbabwe, Victor Garcia Leonor, programme manager Luis Encinas and his deputy Jonathan Caplan, the media onslaught was expected to start on 3 July.
The document also indicates that the organisation’s intersectional communications officer Mr Stambuli Kim would be co-ordinating the project from Johannesburg in South Africa and paint a gloomy picture about Government’s capacity to deal with anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
“Kim (Field comms officer Zimbabwe) will be working from South Africa mid-June to mid-July. To check if he can deal with Zimbabwean media and do a correct media monitoring from Joburg.
“Possible data: Thursday 3 July. We would like to go public at the end of June, beginning of July six months after the departure. There is a media visit planned to Tsholotsho and to not jeopardise the outcomes of this visit, we think it is important to wait one week, 10 days between these two communication initiatives.
“During the visit to Tsholotsho, we need to inform the journalists that there is an institutional communication about Beitbridge that will come out in the coming weeks,” the document reads.
MSF Zimbabwe spokesperson Mr Stambuli Kim could neither deny nor confirm the allegations yesterday.
It is also understood that MSF is expected to leave the country at the end of this year after handing over a project in Tsholotsho where they are assisting people living with HIV.
The organisation claims that there are close to 6 700 people in need of anti-retroviral therapy in Beitbridge though official figures indicated that they are 5 400 people and that they have enough drugs.
The strategy will also see Press releases being sent to international media and others on the MSF network.
“How . . . press release and briefing paper will be sent to MSF network, asking the press officer to pitch it to their media. As there isn’t a strong message from a comms point of view, no press conference will be organised,” reads part of the document.
