1000 journalists to benefit from government housing scheme

LOWER GWERU – In a bid to empower journalists in Zimbabwe, the government will soon roll out a
housing scheme that will benefit 1 000 journalists across the country.
The announcement was made by the Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting
Services, Kindness Paradza during the burial of New Ziana editorial consultant and veteran journalist
Fanwell Sibanda in Insukamini, Lower Gweru on Tuesday.
Sibanda died last Saturday in Harare due to a suspected lung infection. He was 58.
Deputy Minister Paradza said the government had partnered with an estate agent to issue out
houses to journalists throughout the country as a way of improving their welfare.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to do a ground breaking ceremony for the housing
scheme before the harmonised elections set for August 23.
"We are worried about the welfare of our journalists. As government we have partnered with a local
estate agent to have 1 000 apartments constructed for journalists.
“We will start with Harare and go to other provinces. We will offer the apartments to journalist and
they will pay on a rent to buy arrangement.
“We have seen that because of their meagre salaries, a lot of our journalists are not able to but
houses and banks are also not able to provide that to them,” the deputy Information Minister said.
Paradza said the paperwork for the commencement of the joint project which has Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development, Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities and
Information was already underway and the project would be rolled out soon.
“We want to uplift the journalism profession to another level, where they do not die as destitutes,”
he said.
The deputy minister said since journalists do not have a National Employment Council, the ministry
will bring media owners together so that they set up a council which would standardise salaries for
the industry.
New Ziana Chief Executive Officer Ray Mungoshi said Sibanda passed on at a time they were working
on rebranding New Ziana’s Community Newspapers Group, which has eight provincial newspapers