BULAWAYO - The government moved closer to meeting targets set under the global political agreement (GPA) when a special parliamentary committee invited last Friday invited interested people to submit applications to be appointed to four key commissions to be set up in terms a constitutional amendment earlier this year.Parliament said the application process would close in two weeks time. Speaker of Parliament, Lovemore Moyo, in an interview last week indicated that interviews will be conducted immediately after applications have been invited and said the names of those that applied will be made public while those that are ultimately recommended to President Robert Mugabe will also be made public.
The setting up of the commissions will be starting point towards the democratisation of state institutions that have been under the control of Mugabe and Zanu (PF). ZMC will replace the Tafataona Mahoso led Media and Information Commission (MIC) which during its tenure shut down four independent newspapers and issued stringent conditions for registration of foreign journalists.
Four freelance journalists have applied to the High Court challenging the legality of the MIC. The Independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is set to replace the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) accused by the opposition MDC of backing and supporting Mugabe and Zanu (PF) in the last polls.
The Anti Corruption Commission is expected to deal with worsening corruption in the country while the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission is expected to start work in reviewing the human rights situation in the country.