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The Financial Gazette Website hacked
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They have pounced again,hackers descended on the weekly The Financial Gazette website. Replacing some of its content with ‘Mugabe must go’ and ‘free Zim’.
It becomes the second website to be violated following the attack on fiercely pro ZANU PF government The Herald website,which has been offline for four days. It appears the same hacker who calls himself ‘ r4b00f ‘ and who broke into The Herald is responsible for this same violation.
Some of the pages in the website redirected to protest website:sokwanele.com
Although purportedly owned independently by Zimbabwean investors, past press reports suggest that the paper is now controlled by the government of in particular wealthy Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.
In 2005,Central Intelligence Agency (CIO) director general Happyton Bonyongwe is said to have been the chief engineer of the media take over project with current Minister of Security Nicholas Goche.
The plan included taking over private papers and popular websites through shelf companies and control their content.
The CIO was instrumental in the closure in 2003 of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe’s (ANZ) Daily News and Daily News on Sunday.
The intelligence service allegedly influenced the recent decision by the Media and Information Commission (MIC), led by government media columnist Tafataona Mahoso, to refuse to reopen the ANZ, whose flagship Daily News was twice bombed during its short life between 1999 and 2003.
The Financial Gazette take over
The CIO is understood to have staged a boardroom coup in 2002 against the Octadew consortium, which was headed by former Financial Gazette editor-in-chief Francis Mdlongwa.
Octadew comprised Mdlongwa along with Harare-based medical doctors and businessmen Sylvester Saburi and Solomon Mthethwa. The group initially bought the paper from Elias Rusike’s Hamba Investments Holdings.
The agreement of sale was signed on October 1 2002 after both parties had agreed on an evaluation of $200-million by the Financial Gazette’s financial advisers as the price tag.
Rusike had sold the paper to Octadew on the strict understanding that the new owners would maintain an “editorial policy that is independent of any government, political party, and/or big business”.
The editorial charter was incorporated in the agreement of sale. However, differences later emerged between Octadew and the Jewel Bank chief executive Gideon Gono, who was said to have secured equity by putting the consortium under financial pressure.
Gono had financial leverage because Octadew had borrowed the $200-million from his bank to finance the deal. In 2002, Gono said he did not own the Financial Gazette because he had only been a “financial adviser” in the deal.
Gono then forced the Financial Gazette to create the position of financial director to accommodate his appointee, Blazio Tafireyi - even though there was a financial manager, Albert Mushonga, already in place.
It is widely thought this was done to ensure the real owners of the paper got to know the financial state of affairs at their new company.
In a statement issued on November 6 2002, Octadew said the deal had broken down due to “differences centring on the implementation of the newspapers’ broad vision and operation issues”.
After the deal failed, Octadew’s owners went to South Africa in a last-ditch effort to secure funds from exiled tycoon Strive Masiyiwa, who owns cellphone company Econet. Octadew had failed to find alternative funding in Zimbabwe due to the credit crunch in the market.
Masiyiwa refused to help out.
“Masiyiwa asked what was in the deal for him,” a source said. “He was also surprised how Octadew wanted him to fund a closed deal which could not be opened by any amount of capital outlay. He told Octadew he couldn’t give them money because, in any case, he wasn’t a bank.”
When options ran out for Octadew, Rusike - who wanted the paper bought by independent owners — could not find a white knight to salvage the Financial Gazette or sufficient shark repellent to deal with the CIO, which was circling behind the scenes.
*Report Contains additional reporting from the Mail and Guardian
Contact the writer of this story Robert Tshuma at: finance@zimbabwemetro.com
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I LOVE THIS HACKER -HE IS A CELEBRITY. GO! GO! r4b00f GO!
JOB WELL DONE r400bf. ALUNTA CONTINUA, HACK ALL OF THEM, EVEN KWAYEDZA. REMEMBER THE PEOPLE BEHIND THESE PAPERS CLOSED OUR BELOVED DAILY NEWS. FORWARD WITH HACKING, WE SUPPORT YOU.
IF POSSIBLE PLEASE HIJACK THE ZIMBABWE BROADCASTING HOLDINGS’ AIR WAVES LIKE THEY DID TO STUDIO 7 VOICE OF AMERICA.
HAKE THEM ALL
[...] the Financial Gazette was hacked last night. What’s more, Zimbabwe Metro report that some of the links - which were changed to read ‘Mugabe must go!’ - redirected [...]
Zimbabweans are suffering
One of my Zim work colleague went to the train station here in Francistown this morning and he came back very low saying “Shamwari vanhu vekumusha vari kutambura”,claiming that the Botswana authorities are maltreating them.
He got emotional when i was trying to make him see that the blame lies with us Zimbabweans,we are overstretching our neighbours and expecting too much out of them.
Almost more than 70% of Zimbabweans in SADC did not cross to vote,let alone the millions in the West.
How different the situation would have been if only 500 000 diasporans had cast their votes?
May i again plea to people in diaspora to start saving so that at least we be there during the runoff,whether registered or not.
It will make a big difference,cursing Mugabe everyday behind keyboards is not going to be a solution
Hacking websites should only be left to Zanu pf which we want to remove from power because of bad media laws.
But if the we go on to practice the same way as Zanu pf;then we have been defeated.
I discourage any negative ways of opposing Zanu pf.That`s only showing we will never at all be able to achieve what are calling Democratic Change.Lets achieve it through fair means to shame the hook or by crook ways by which Zanu pf stays in power.
So guys do not celebrate when one of your brothers/sisters is releaving him/herself in our cooking pot.
Those people in the diaspora are the real people who are stopping change much aheard of Mugabe.Over at least one million MDC voters are in the diaspora winning and dinning.They boast they will only come home after Mugabe has gone.Who is going to vote him out?
My understanding is that Mugabe would have never wanted to reject a 2 000 000 to 1 000 000 loss.
I want to tell you guys Politics Isinjonjo Tamba Wakachenjera.MDC will never come near Zanu pf on the run-off, if those people in the diaspora have not come home to vote.I say this because speaking right now,more than about 500 000 rural people who helped the urban MDC vote are not going to vote in the run-off and Zanu pf will just have to maintain it`s present numbers.The history of run-offs in other countries shows voter apathy.
MAY DIASPORA PROVE ME WRONG.
NOW BEFORE YOU EVEN GO ON ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THE DIASBORA -THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF MDC HAD RE-UNITED BEFORE THE ELECTIONS?
THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD NOT CALLED SIMBA OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE?
THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU DID NOT HAVE THOSE RHODIES IN YOUR PARTY?
THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU WERE A PARTY THAT IS NOT CONTROLLED BY OUTSIDERS WITH THEIR OWN AGENDA?
THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD CONVINCED ZANU PF SUPPORTERS THAT YOU WOULD NOT REVERSE THE LAND GIVEN BY THE GOD FARTHER R.G.M.
THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED…..
NOW THE PEOPLE IN THE DIASPORA HAVE BEEN USED AS PAWNS TO MAKE MUGABE LOOK BAD JUST LIKE THE INFLATION FIGURES WE KEEP HEARING EVERY DAY.
WHEN MOST OF THESE PEOPLE LEFT THE COUNTRY THERE WAS NOT MUCH HAPPENING IT WAS JUST A WELL CORDINATED MOVE TO ACCEPT ASSYLUM SEEKERS SO MUGABE LOOKS BAD AND THEN SEND THEM BACK…YOU ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST TWO MONTHS..FAILED ASSYLUM SEEKERS WERE HANDED LETTERS INFORMING THEM IT WAS TIME TO HIT THE HIGHWAY BECAUSE WE HAVE FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN ZIMBABWE-IS THIS NOT TRUE GENTLEMEN AND LADIES?
AS MUCH AS WE ALL WANT CHANGE WHETHER ITS ZANU PF CHANGE OR MDC CHANGE WE MUST CONFRONT THE TRUTH OR TOMORROW WILL BE PROBLEMATIC.
DIASPORA HAS HELPED SUPPORT THE PEOPLE BACK HOME SUFFERING FROM SANCTIONS —AMONG OTHER ISSUES.WITHOUT THIS COMMUNITY WE WOULD BE ALL DEAD BY NOW.WE HAVE TO CONFRONT ISSUES SEZVAZVIRI.
WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THAT MOST PEOPLE IN THE DIASPORA ARE MDC SUPPORTERS? PEOPLE HAD TO CLAIM MDC AS IT WAS THE ONLY TICKET OUT OF ZIMBABWE.SOME DONT EVEN LIKE POLITICS.THIS ASSYLUM SITUATION WAS EXAGERATED TO MAKE MUGABE LOOK EVIL OR A MONSTER.THIS WAS OR HAS BEEN THE STRATEGY OF THE WEST SINCE THOSE FARM INVASIONS IN 2000.
WITH OR WITHOUT THE DIASPORA IT IS QUITE EVIDENT THAT ZANU STILL HAS A LOT OF SUPPORT-HAD IT NOT BE FOR THE SIMBA PROJECT WHICH BY THE WAY MORGAN SAID WAS A ZANU PLOY-ZANU MIGHT HAVE WALKED AWAY WITH THE ELECTION.AT THE TIME SIMBA ENTERED THE RACE MDC HAD FAILED TO UNITE FOR REASONS ONLY MORGAN KNOWS AND THE WHOLE NATION HAD LOST INTEREST IN THE ELECTIONS.DONT FORGET TO THANK HIM FOR HELPING YOU OUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.THAT OTHER 7% PRESIDENTIAL COULD HAVE GONE TO ZANU PF…TRUE ZANU PF SUPPORTERS WILL NEVER EVER VOTE FOR MORGAN…(MY OPINION) SO THEY WOULD HAVE GONE FOR MUGABE.ITS THE OTHER WAY IN MATEBELELAND..MUGABE WILL ALWAYS LOSE VOTES THERE.
THAT BRINGS US TO THE RUN OFF-THE 7% SIMBA GOT MIGHT NOW TILT TORWARDS ZANU SINCE SIMBA IS NOT THERE…SO THIS TIME DIASPORA MDC NEEDS TO CROSS THE BORDER TO VOTE OR ELSE IT WILL BE THE SAME OLD STORY -GAME OVER!!!
ECONOMIC SABOTAGE IS NO DIFFERENT FROM TERRORISM-IF A MUSLIM DID THAT IN THE UK -HACK INTO THE BBC WEBSITE THEY WOULD BE BANGED UP OR SENT TO GUANTANAMO BAY..THE SAME GUY DOING THIS TO THE HERALD AND FINANCIAL GAZETTE SHOULD TRY IT IN THE UK IF HE IS DOING FOR LAUGHS…THIS JUST PROVES THAT THE MDC IS NOT INTERESTED IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ZIMBABWE NEITHER DO THEY CARE FOR THE ZIMBABWEANS…THEY JUST WANT TO BE IN POWER AT ALL COSTS.THIS PARTY HAS MADE PEOPLE SUFFER TO EFFECT REGIME CHANGE…
PEOPLE ARE NOT FOOLISH-IF YOU SHOULD HAPPEN TO GET IN AND RULE THE COUNTRY DO YOU EXPECT ZANU PF TO PLAY FAIR GAME? YOU WILL BE MADE TO LOOK LIKE LEMONS.JUST THINK WHO IS IN CONTROL OF THE LAND? IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO GET INTO POWER WHAT ABOUT ZANU PF IF THEY ARE NO LONGER IN POWER?
DO NOT DESTROY OUR OWN SOURCE OF FINANCIAL NEWS-UNLESS IF YOU ARE A LOSER WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO.
MDC IS CRYING FOR THE RUN OFF TO BE HELD WITHIN THE 21 DAYS -JUST LAST WEEK IT WAS- WE HAVE NO MORE BUDGET FOR THE RUN OFF…WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?
GOD HELP ZIMBABWE
SCARFACE - “GOD FARTHER R.G.M.” - fart is rarely a term of endearment but could be fitting in this case…
be warned even in diaspora political violence is now common mabrinyonyo anongoti urayanai maZimba. vamwe baba vaisapota bob vakazobva kubhawa angova mavanga vagadziriswa neimwe shasha yeMDC munomu Leicester ku UK
lEST WE FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHINESE CARGO SHIP ANY LATEST ABOUT ITS WHEREABOUTS AND ITS THE CARGO! FILL US UP
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When proper democracy is installed in Zimbabwe certain purported editors and journalists at the Herald and the Fingaz will be looking for legitimate employment.
Some may also appear before the Truth Commission, or indeed in a Court of Law for not less than aiding and abetting tyranny.
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Apawo SCARFACE wambonyorawo zvimwe zvinoverengeka.Asi watosvikirwa ne Demon-cracy kanhi?
SCARFACE, yuo are a true Zimbabwean man, no one will rule this country thru back door(support from vangezi) Mr Tsvangirai please hands off Zimbabwe if yr Varungu are after our Land and Minerals, zvetoyi toyi again NO! Lets respect what people suffered and died for during the armed struggle.