Acting Information Minister promises more players in the broadcasting industry

Acting Minister of Information and Publicity, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana has promised that the government would ‘make provisions under the law’ that would allow more interested individuals or companies in the broadcasting sector. This is regardless of the fact that there has been no re-constitution of the regulatory authority, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in terms of amendments made to the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) in January of 2008.

The amendments stipulate that the BAZ must now be reconstituted by the Parliament of Zimbabwe Standing Orders and Rules Committee in collaboration with the President.

According to a report by the state-controlled daily The Herald, Mangwana met with the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in Harare yesterday; and noted that many applications made to the authority had failed to meet the requirements stated in the Broadcast Services Act (BSA).

He stated that there was a need to improve the broadcasting standards in the country so that people do not opt for alternative radio stations that broadcast from outside the country. The Zimbabwean government regards these radio stations as illegal pirate radio stations bent on a threat.

Currently, only the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts on four radio channels and one television channel. However, the populace turn to alternative broadcasts available on short-wave radio such as Short Wave Radio Africa, Radio Voice of the People and the Voice of America’s Studio 7

It is MISA Zimbabwe’s view that there must be an independent regulatory authority for broadcasting and telecommunications in Zimbabwe as opposed to a government controlled one, as is the current case. Further, and due to the transitional nature of Zimbabwean politics, MISA Zimbabwe urges the Parliament of Zimbabwe to urgently reconvene and ensure the re-constitution of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in line with the amendments made to the BSA. This will prevent incumbent ministers acting outside of the ambit of the law.

Background

In 2007, BAZ, informed the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication, then chaired by Leo Mugabe, that it has not licensed new radio and television stations because applicants failed to meet the ‘stringent criteria’ in the BSA. BAZ cited several inconsistencies and barriers which included the shareholding structure required as well as prohibition of foreign funding and donations.

Rashweat Mukundu
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring
MISA Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: + 264 61 232 975
Fax:+264 61 248016
Mobile: 00 264 813 675 362
E mail rashweat@misa.org, misaalerts@gmail.com

Back

This site is not compatible with
Safari browser
© 2009 Media Institute of Southern Africa : promoting media diversity . pluralism . self-sufficiency . independence.
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: The newspapers' contents on the links and all other related materials hosted on our site are products and sole responsibility of respective publishers and do not necessarily represent the views of MISA nor its employees.