The discussion which drew participants from political parties, civic society and media professionals focused on a draft report on broadcasting in Zimbabwe produced by AfriMap. The Zimbabwean meeting was part of an 11-member country research project which is aimed at influencing  policy and legal reforms.

Participants discussed and validated the research findings of the Zimbabwe broadcast media report which was conducted by Dr Sarah Chiumbu, a lecturer at Witwatersrand University in South Africa  and former National Director of MISA-Zimbabwe.   The other countries included in the research are:  Benin; Cameroon; Kenya; Mali; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; South Africa; Uganda; and Zambia.

It is hoped that the research will positively impact on public broadcast media reforms through collection, collation and writing up of information on regulation, ownership, access and performance as well as enhance prospects for reforms.

In his welcome remarks MISA-Zimbabwe’s Acting Chairperson Njabulo Ncube noted that Under Article 19 of the Global Political Agreement which deals with Freedom of Expression, Zimbabwe’s inclusive government pledged to free the media environment to allow citizens to enjoy the right to freedom of expression.  

“In tandem with MISA-Zimbabwe’s mission and vision, we will therefore continue to constructively engage with key media stakeholders towards that objective. It is therefore our hope that this Roundtable Discussion will complement and reinforce the inclusive government ‘s commitment to ensuring that media freedom, access to information and free flow of information prolifers in Zimbabwe as pledged under the Agreement,” said Ncube.

AfriMap Executive Director, Ozias Tungwarara assured delegates that the team of researchers would incorporate their inputs into the report. He said the final report would be officially launched in Zimbabwe and eventually used as a lobby and advocacy tool to encourage the government to institute democratic media reforms in compliance with regional and international instruments such as that the Banjul Declaration, African Charter on Broadcasting and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
E mail: reagan@misa.org

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