ALPHA MEDIA Holdings (AMH) chairman, Trevor Ncube says Zimbabwe has a lot of pressing issues to worry about, including a troubled economy, job losses and the disappearance of a human rights activist to focus on, refusing to be drawn into discussing the killing of the famed Cecil the lion.
BY STAFF REPORTER
In a Twitter exchange with American news channel, CNN producer’s Emily Smith on Sunday, Ncube declined to grant an interview on the killing of the lion, insisting Zimbabwe had more urgent issues to discuss than the killing of the lion.
The discussion started when Smith asked Ncube for an interview about Cecil the lion to which he responded: “I have nothing to say about Cecil the Lion. Lots to say about Zimbabwe’s economic situation”.
Smith insisted that what Ncube had said was exactly what they wanted him to say, but he remained adamant, reiterating that he would not talk about the lion.
“On condition you agree I will put the phone down the moment CNN mentions any animal which is not human being,” Ncube shot back. Ncube said it was important for Africans to tell their own stories. “Please don’t talk to me about Cecil the lion,” he said.
“Talk to me about how we find Itai Dzamara and how we help vendors.”
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Activist Dzamara has been missing for close to 150 days amid suspicion he may have been abducted by state agents.
AMH, publishers of NewsDay, The Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, are leading a campaign for the return of Dzamara.
With Zimbabwe’s economic growth prospects revised downwards, many believe the media coverage of the death of the lion is an unnecessary sideshow and diverts from the country’s more pressing issues.
Cecil the lion was killed early last month by an American dentist, who lured the beast out of Hwange National park before killing it and triggering a global backlash.
Most Zimbabweans response to the killing has been of indifference.
