Work on media reforms to start in a fortnight
By Tichaona Sibanda
7 April 2009

Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, said on Tuesday that consultations to ease media restrictions in accordance with the power-sharing deal will start in two weeks’ time.

A three day ministerial retreat that ended on Sunday in Victoria Falls unanimously agreed to review the media policy so as to create a political climate where divergent voices will be heard.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who is in the ministerial group tasked with reviewing media policy and laws, said the new inclusive government wanted ‘to see a multiplicity of media houses.’

During the retreat government gave itself a timeline of three months to restore human rights and ease the strict restrictions on the media, although analysts remain skeptical that such ambitious targets can be met in such a short space of time.

‘It’s going to be a race against time to meet these challenges. Day one started on Monday after the retreat, today (Tuesday) is day number two and so people will need to move fast to meet the deadline. I must stress however that the highlight of the gathering was the need to reform the media and restore the rule of law,’ Moyo said.

A parliamentary portfolio committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology, chaired by MDC legislator Gift Chimanikire, was set up last week. This committee will work closely with the media sub committee of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC).

These working groups will try to undo some of the country’s stringent laws, enacted in 2002, which allowed the ZANU PF led government to ban foreign reporters, privately-owned daily newspapers and viciously clamp down on any form of free media.

Moyo said he was hopeful that once the working groups get together they will form a new media commission which will oversee serious steps towards freeing the airwaves, in terms of licensing TV and radio stations and allowing other players from outside to come and broadcast within the country.

Frank Chamunorwa, a senior member of the MDC (Mutambara) who sits on the JOMIC media sub-committee, also told us that time was of the essence in reforming the media as quickly as possible. Other members of the sub-committee are Tabitha Khumalo an MDC (Tsvangirai) MP in Bulawayo, and Oppah Muchinguri, a former ZANU PF MP in Manicaland.

Although Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 its constitutional claims of being a democracy have been dented by the regime's failure to facilitate the licensing of private media players, including radio and television
stations.

In 2000, Capital Radio won the right in the Supreme Court to open the country's first independent radio station. But this was shut down at gunpoint after just six days. In response to this legal challenge to its broadcasting monopoly, the regime enacted the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), which brought about the establishment of the regulatory board, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which has not licensed a single private station.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation remains the sole broadcaster in the country, despite calls from all sectors of the media to free the airwaves.
The country still lags behind most of its neighbours. South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Botswana opened up their airwaves long ago and have witnessed huge strides in the broadcasting industry.

But for 29 years ZANU PF has controlled the media with an iron fist and many observers are concerned that with a ZANU PF minister still in control of such an important ministry, it will be extremely difficult to enforce real change.