HARARE – Zimbabwe’s Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu says Harare will not accredit journalists from “hostile” Western nations to cover next March’s presidential and parliamentary elections. 

Speaking at the Bulawayo Press Club on Friday night, Ndlovu said journalists from Western media groups were continuing to violate Zimbabwe’s media laws by illegally sneaking into the country. 

“The government would limit the accreditation of foreign media houses to only those with friendly ties with the government,” said Ndlovu. 

“Journalists from the likes of BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) who continue to sneak into the country illegally and report illegally would not be accredited to cover the elections,” added Ndlovu.   

Last month, the BBC’s John Simpson defied the ban on the organization and spent a week in Zimbabwe covering political developments on the ground as well as in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party. 

The clandestine visit riled as well as embarrassed state security agents who keen to maintain a tight lid on political developments in Zimbabwe. 

Zimbabweans go to the polls on 29 March with Mugabe, who has maintained a tight grip on information flow over the past five years, seeking a fresh five-year presidential term that could take his rule to 33 years. 

Harare has banned international media organisations such as the BBC and the United States’ based Cable News Network (CNN) from operating in Zimbabwe as the government continued its fierce propaganda war against critics. 

Harare has also since 2003 banned four independent newspapers, including the biggest selling Daily News, that were deemed critical of the government. 

The government last week said it would only invite election observers from “friendly nations” to observe the elections that come amid a worsening economic crisis that has manifested itself in rampant inflation of over 26 000 percent, shortages of food and foreign currency.