• The Herald, which is one of Zimbabwe's leading daily newspapers, is also a State-controlled newspaper. It has never had kind words for the opposition. Its bias towards the ruling party ZANU-PF has been there for everyone to see, and the contemptous way they view Western countries who go against the interests of the ruling is there for everyone to see again.

    One will find it hard to recall when The Herald last produced an article in favour of the opposition. In essence, it is like a mouthpiece for the ruling party.

    In an editorial comment published on 28 March, there are hints that the United States is colluding with the opposition in Zimbabwe to sway the vote, and that the country "deserves better".

    The US made some demands for re-engagement with Zimbabwe addressed to the government and well, the state media has to defend the state. In the article, the paper says that historically Zimbabwe fought hard for its "electoral democracy" while the US "circumvented UN sanctions to buy Rhodesian [the former name for Zimbabwe] chrome."

    "We are a proud people with a revered history of stolid, defiant protest to all forms of domination which is why even after close to two decades of an illegal economic sanctions regime, our people have not carved in and continue giving Westerners and their surrogates in opposition politics, the cold shoulder at the polls."

    The article said that it is from this perspective that any process of engagement should be addressed from. Commendations were made to France for calling the lifting of sanctions by the European Union.

    The Herald says that demands made by the US as a precondition for re-engagement mirror those made by Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change - implying that the US is siding with the opposition, which the paper calls a "puppet".

    It is true that America meddles in the internal affairs of countries. The way in which this is tackled by the state media however shows a one-sided narrative. "Now that Chamisa (the new leader for the opposition party MDC-T) and the MDC Alliance are reading from the US script, Zanu-PF must make the removal of sanctions a pre-condition for any perceived reforms," the paper said.

    As the country is gearing for elections in 2018, could the US be colluding with the opposition in Zimbabwe, or this is mere rhetoric from a state-controlled newspaper filled with paranoia for any change of government?