Tafataona Mahoso
| Tafataona Mahoso | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 12, 1957 |
Tafataona P. Mahoso is a Zimbabwean academic and poet. He was the chairman of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), a columnist in the Sunday Mail and co-host of the ZBC show Zvavanhu. He also lectured at Harare Polytechnic College.
Personal life
Mahoso's personal life is not widely known although it is alleged that during his stay in the United States of America he cohabited with a woman known as Ruth Laughlin.[1]
Family
Mahoso said his first grandson was born in 2016 the year that his friend Vimbai Chivaura passed away.[2]
Education
Mahoso said he was in the same at St Augustine's with Dambudzo Marechera. Tafataona Mahoso said he crossed paths again with Marechera at Oxford in the 1970s but they never met again.[3]
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Literature and History from Roberts Wesleyan College, Chili, New York. He was award a Masters of Arts (MA) degree in Literature from Ohio University. In 1971, he got a PhD in African Studies and History from Temple University.
Chairman of the Media and Information Commission
Mahoso was appointed as chairman of the Media and Information Commission by Jonathan Moyo.
Dismisal
Tafataona was dismissed as the chairman of the Media commission in early 2008 after a judge had ruled that he was not fit to hold the chairman's post because he was biased. After his dismissal, he was replaced by Chinondidyachii Mararike.
Reappointment
He was controversially reappointed as the chairman of the Media commission in October 2009 despite Parliament being opposed to his come back.
War with the Media
AIPPA gave him unlimited and complete powers to oversee the media in Zimbabwe, especially the print media.
Closing the Tribune
He closed down The Tribune and its sister newspaper The Weekend Tribune, on the ground that they did not inform him of a change of ownership.[4]
ANZ
He fought to deny a license to ANZ, publishers of the Daily News. He was dragged to court where he defended provisions of AIPPA that gave the power to shut down newspapers.
Career
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC)
In 2020, during the time Tafataona Mahoso was chairman, the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) was taken to court by the Zimbabwe Online Content Creators (ZOCC) over the commission's media accreditation criteria.
The new regulations would see accreditation criteria altered and split into different categories.
Basing on past experiences in which private media journalists were blocked from covering some state events, ZOCC felt the new accreditation regime would disadvantage its membership.[5]
On 5 April 2021, The Chronicle reported that the Zimbabwe Media Commission Board of Commissioners had retired Tafataona Mahoso because he had reached pensionable age. The resolution to retire Mahoso was reached in December 2021.[6]
Columnist
Mahoso wrote a weekly column in the Sunday Mail, which he regularly used to support government policies on one hand and to attack perceived enemies of the state on the other. At one time he attacked Gideon Gono on the cash shortages in Zimbabwe.
Attack by Robbers
Dr Tafataona Mahoso was attacked and left for dead by thugs in the Avenues area after attending a State banquet hosted for parliamentarians. He sustained fractures on the left leg and was admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
Publications
- Footprints About the Bantustan (1989)
- Rupise: Poetry of Love, separation and reunion — 1977-2016 (2017).
References
- ↑ [1] SDRC Error 404], retrieved: 22 Oct 2018
- ↑ Elliot Ziwira, Mahoso makes literary comeback, The Herald, Published: January 21, 2019, Retrieved: July 10, 2021
- ↑ Tafataona Mahoso: A man of many hats, Bulawayo24, Published: February 17, 2019, Retrieved: july 10, 2021
- ↑ Zimbabwe: Commission threatens one of the last independent newspapers with closure - Zimbabwe, ReliefWeb, retrieved: 22 Oct 2018
- ↑ Online media group drags ZMC to court over new accreditation regime, NewZimbabwe.com, Published: May 26, 2020, Retrieved: July 10, 2021
- ↑ ZMC appoints acting secretary, as Mahoso bows out, The Chronicle, Published: April 5, 2022, Retrieved: April 5, 2022
