Her concerns she said, were in line with her mandate to “analyse national media legislation, policies and practice within member states, monitor their compliance with freedom of expression and access to information standards in general and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa in particular and advice member states accordingly.”
 
Further to her concerns, she said that she had gone ahead to express these concerns in writing to the government of Zimbabwe in a letter in which she says she; “....expressed her concern that neither the Act nor the Constitutional Amendment 19 provides specific measures guaranteeing the provisions of Principle VII (1) of the Declaration which requires that any public authority involved in broadcast or telecommunications regulation is independent and adequately protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature..”
 
Her concerns on the need for independent media bodies were also echoed by MMPZ through Ms Fadzai December, in their statement to the ACHPR on the 14th of November 2009 in which they called on the commission to urge the government of Zimbabwe to “complete reform of the public service broadcaster and its re-establishment under an independent representative body that will safeguard its editorial independence and ensure that it fulfils its public mandate.....”. MMPZ also expressed their concern on the delay in the  constitution  of  the  ZMC  and  the  lack  of  implementation  by  the government of Zimbabwe, of the 4 June decision by the commission for section 79 and 80 of AIPPA to be repealed.
 
Following her concerns on the appointment process of the media bodies, the commissioner made another important call to state parties to create an environment where the media can exercise their right to freedom of expression without political interference or fear, a call that was also expressed by Misa-Zimbabwe in their statement to the 46th ordinary session of the ACHPR, wherein it raised concern over the effects of threats to the media by public officials. Commissioner Tlakula also stated that media regulatory bodies should without question have independence and autonomy from government. To this, she said her call was “…on States Parties to allow the media to be free from political control in order to serve public interest. Furthermore, she also recommends that bodies with regulatory authority over the media should be fully independent from the government.”
 
In concluding her remarks on Zimbabwe, Commissioner Tlakula went on to urge the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe,”... to take necessary steps to address her concerns, in order to ensure that the establishment of the Zimbabwe Media Commission complies fully with applicable regional standards on Freedom of Expression.”
 
Aside  from  the  analysis  of  media  legislation  and  policies  across  the continent, the commissioner was also involved in writing letters of appeals to different countries such as Gambia, Kenya, Niger and Sierra Leone amongst others, following reports of violations to the right to freedom of Expression and access to information. Regarding upcoming events, she also stated that the African Commission on Human and People’s rights is set to introduce an annual award to commemorate World Press Freedom Day on 3 May of each year which  she  said  “...  seeks  to  recognize  journalists  and  media practitioners who have made outstanding contribution to the advancement of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information on the continent, “
 
She further made a call on States Parties that have received her appeal on the situation of Freedom of Expression in their respective countries to provide responses and clarifications to the concerns raised as this will go a long way to show their commitment in promoting human and peoples’ rights in general, and freedom of expression and access to information in Africa.

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

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