‘Blacklisted’ journalist Violet Gonda denied Zimbabwe passport by Mnangagwa govt

We are not open for business: Zimbabwean journalist Violet Gonda refused passport

HARARE:  Veteran reporter Violet Gonda has been refused a Zimbabwean passport by authorities because she was apparently blacklisted by the government.

She is believed to be one of many Zimbabweans on Tobaiwa Mudede’s so-called ‘stop list’.

Gonda was born, raised and worked in Zimbabwe until she left for the United Kingdom to further her tertiary education.

She has been in Zimbabwe most of this year covering the lead-up to the July 30 vote and post-election events.

Her lawyers have since dragged Mudede’s department to the High Court challenging the decision.

Her lawyer said “She tried to apply for a three-day passport by she realized that the Registrar General’s office had blacklisted her and placed her on the stop list.”

She worked for radio stations which were condemned by the then Robert Mugabe regime as pirate broadcasters used by western governments to force regime change in Zimbabwe.

Her lawyer said Gonda is a Zimbabwean citizen and, like any other Zimbabwean, has the right to a Zimbabwean passport.

She only returned home in January 2018 after the coming into office of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s so-called ‘new dispensation’ which ousted Mugabe in a military coup last November.

new zimbabwe