A number of journalists in Zimbabwe have taken a swipe at their colleague, Costa Nkomo for going away without informing even a close relative or friend.
Nkomo went away last week, and was reported missing, with a search mission being rolled into motion, fliers were printed and public notices issued.
Nkomo re-surfaced and said he had gone to Bindura for prayer sessions.
However, fellow colleagues said he should have informed someone, and some suggested that he should apologise for being ‘reckless.’
Their fear were not unfounded as Zimbabwe has a history of abducting journalists and human rights activists.
Meanwhile the Young Journalists Association (YOJA) has expressed concern over Nkomo’s ‘carelessness’ of going away just like that.
Read statement below:
The Young Journalists Association (YOJA) would like to express its gratitude for the love shown and efforts of everyone who was involved in the search for Costa Nkomo.
We regret the recklessness of his actions and hope this incident serves as a lesson to everyone else within the media industry and in other circles that no matter the challenge, communication is key.
Nkomo chose to travel all the way to Bindura for a prayer session without notifying anyone.
He switched off all his phones and assumed no one will look for him as he was on leave.
It is saddening that he did not imagine the noise that might arise once we all realised he was not reachable.
YOJA would like to thank everyone of you for not turning his “Missing Person Alert” into a political narrative.
We applaud your unity and humanity for having felt the pain we felt at the time and sharing his flier and the information everywhere.
May you not lose heart next time and dismiss similar reports based on this mistake.
Thank you.
Leopold Munhende
YOJA Spokesperson
-zwnews
