Zimbabwe's government controlled newspaper publisher Zimpapers has sacked the editors of its flagship daily Herald and a Sunday paper seven months after their appointments.
A Herald report quoted Zimpapers acting chief executive, Mr George Capon, as saying Ray Mungoshi of the Herald and Funny Mushava of the Sun- day Mail had been asked to take days off "pending arrangements for their future".
The Herald did not give reasons for their replacement but private newspapers have been speculating that President Robert Mugabe's government, on a drive to tighten its grip on state media, was unhappy with the papers' editorial content. The government was said to be worried about a declining circulation of state newspapers while those of private media rose.
Earlier this month the government replaced Zimpapers' board chairman, Mr Tommy Sithole, with Mr Enock Kamushinda, a stalwart of Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
Mungoshi replaced Bornwell Chakaodza, who was ditched last August after the Herald's circulation plunged almost 50 per cent in the run-up to June parliamentary elections.