Political Reporter
Modus Media executives, including Daily News Editor Guthrie Munyuki, met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House to apologize for a grave mistake.
On September 19, The Financial Gazette published a birthday congratulatory message from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, but it ended with the phrase, “May his soul rest in eternal peace”. This error sparked widespread shock and confusion.
Munyuki explained that the mistake was due to a production error and issued a formal apology.
“We apologise profusely to President Mnangagwa, his family, his office, the government, and to the ZDF for the anguish and inconvenience that this inadvertent mistake caused,” he stated .
President Mnangagwa accepted the apology and even joked, “Where are the flowers for the dead man?” according to George Charamba, Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications.
The Incident
The mistake occurred when advertising staff reused an old template, forgetting to replace the condolence phrase with celebratory messages. This error is not uncommon in Zimbabwean newspapers, often due to minor adjustments to existing templates.
Aftermath
The meeting at State House followed an unsettling incident where unidentified gunmen raided Munyuki’s home, confiscating his family’s phones and searching through their messages.
Munyuki assured that internal measures are being taken to prevent such errors in the future. “We have taken action to strengthen our internal systems to ensure that this kind of error never occurs again,” he stated.
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