Maria Nyanyiwa Mataruse

2012

Maria Nyanyiwa Mataruse is a Radio Editor with Zimbabwe’s Radio Voice of the People (VOP), a broadcasting house that is currently operating from exile owing to the restrictive media laws in the country. She joined Radio VOP in 2002 as a producer for the popular program “The People Are Talking.” In the same year the organization’s offices were bombed. In 2005 she was arrested together with two other producers and board members for allegedly broadcasting without a license. After a lengthy trial the case against her and the other employees and board members was thrown out by the courts. To ensure consistency on air, Radio VOP the organization was forced to relocate to South Africa.