EDITOR —I was horrified to read the letter entitled "Kereke's planned clinic: Politics or racism at play?" written by someone hiding behind the pseudonym "Doug", that you published in The Financial Gazette of January 28 2010.
The letter is clearly intended to cause harm to me and my wife’s reputation, as its content is almost entirely untrue. I am astonished that you should have published such a defamatory letter without attempting to verify the serious allegations contained.
The Financial Gazette states that it subscribes to the Code of Conduct of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe. I believe that you are in breach of Sections 4(b) and (d). I therefore expect you to publish an apology to both me and my wife in your next issue in accordance with Section 5(b) of the VMCZ Code, giving it appropriate prominence in relation to the offending letter that comprises over 1 250 words and occupies over 80 column centimetres.
For the writer to have ascribed to me the composition of letters of objection submitted by other residents is unfounded and malicious. They were not "done by one author and slightly changed to ramp up the number of objections", as alleged by the writer. I wrote only ours. I am attaching herewith a copy of that letter, whose veracity you may confirm with the city council's director of urban planning services. It contains no reference whatsoever to any politicians or employees of the Reserve Bank and cannot possibly be considered to have had the objective "to fan political hatred and disgust among the white community and very senior MDC-T officials and supporters in our neighbourhood", as alleged by the writer.
The attempt by "Doug" to further Dr Kereke's project through malicious lies and unfounded allegations in your newspaper makes one wonder if he is who he says he is.
"Doug" seems to be unaware, for instance, that the name of his "good friend Mr Cavanah", to whom he says he was "very close", is correctly spelled "Kavanagh" and that he did not work for Atherstone and Cook but for Honey and Blanckenberg.
My wife and I have submitted our legitimate objections, as invited by a notice in the Herald, to Dr Kereke's application to change the use of his residential property to a 24-hour emergency medical centre. I understand that the applicant has been given the opportunity to respond to the objections raised — to the council, not through the press. It is now up to council to evaluate the merits of the application and objections of the residents.
Roger Stringer
Mount Pleasant, Harare
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
