HARARE
Revised laws allow media free rein to cover March elections, but it seems – in practice – reporting will be as restricted as ever.
Recent legislative changes easing the strict restrictions on the media in Zimbabwe have yet to make any real impact as the country heads for next month’s elections.
In mid-January, amendments to the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, known as AIPPA, came into effect, in what was seen as a major concession achieved in the ongoing talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Together with changes to other restrictive laws – the Public Order and Security Act and the Broadcasting Services Act – and amendments to electoral legislation, the bill was approved by President Robert Mugabe after being rushed through Parliament in December with the assent of both the MDC and the ruling Zanu (PF).
AIPPA was introduced in 2001, when the authorities accused the private media of demonising the regime and of working as an extension of opposition political parties.
Under the amended AIPPA, foreign journalists will be allowed into the country and will have the right to accreditation for up to 60 days. Local journalists, meanwhile, will be able to work without first registering with the official Media and Information Commission (MIC), soon to be reconstituted as the Zimbabwe Media Commission as part of the changes to the law.
Foreign media
If the authorities stick to the spirit and letter of these legislative changes, foreign media will be able to cover the March presidential, parliamentary and local elections to an extent unprecedented in recent years. Â
However, it is already looking doubtful that the authorities will abide by their own rules.
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu recently confounded the hopes of Bulawayo journalists by telling them that those media organisations deemed “hostile” would still not be allowed to cover the polls.
The BBC, in particular, has been singled out for exclusion from Zimbabwe on the grounds that its long-standing mission is to “peddle falsehoods” about the Mugabe regime.
Ndlovu’s remarks came after BBC journalist John Simpson entered the country covertly last month to file reports on the Zimbabwean crisis, resulting in an acerbic reaction from the Information and Publicity Ministry.
Newspapers outlawed
No information has been forthcoming on the number, identity or countries of origin of foreign journalists who might be allowed in as part of the legislative change, but for now it is looking highly unlikely that the regime will permit western reporters to cover the March ballot.
Zimbabwean journalists have said a media blackout would merely feed accusations that the elections lack all credibility, and that the authorities are pre-empting the possibility of critical reporting in the event of the kind of political violence and electoral irregularities that have marred past ballots.
The Daily News, once the country’s biggest selling daily, has been closed since September 2003, following its allegations that Zanu (PF) supporters committed human rights abuses during the run-up to elections in 2000 and 2002. Â
At the height of the campaign against it, the paper’s printing press was bombed. The newspaper bounced back, but was finally banned when it refused to register with the MIC.
The Daily News and its Sunday sister-paper have now been asked to apply for a licence, and their publisher, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, submitted a formal application to the MIC on February 14.
MIC official Godfrey Chinondidyachii Mararike has said the outcome of the application will only come in 30 days’ time – which would mean The Daily News could at best acquire the right to publish just two weeks before the March 29 vote.
Former Daily News Editor Geoff Nyarota wrote on his news website that “those who believe that Mugabe will allow the resurrection of The Daily News in time to play a meaningful role ahead of the March elections simply do not understand the dynamics of dictatorship.” – IWPR
“…those who believe that Mugabe will allow the resurrection of The Daily
News in time to play a meaningful role ahead of the March elections simply do not understand the dynamics of dictatorship.”
Post published in: News