The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the Post and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe in the company of the police besieged Afro Television offices in September and confiscated broadcasting equipment, for “broadcasting without a licence.”
A-TV, a news agency based in Belgravia, Harare, stopped operations and faces a possible charge of contravening the Broadcasting Services Act for allegedly operating without a licence.
Viewers whose dishes were confiscated said police details descended on their homes and confiscated the gadgets “as part of investigations”, without elaborating.
“Several police officers from Harare Central Police Station came and told us that they had a list of all the beneficiaries of the satellite gadgets and they were taking the gadgets to their headquarters pending investigations,” revealed one source from Chitungwiza.
While The Zimbabwean got testimonies from residents of Chitungwiza, it is not yet clear if the police raids are being carried in other suburbs.
The source said the police told them that their clampdown would continue until all those that had benefited had surrendered the gadgets.
“We were told to report to Harare Central police station for questioning because the news agency had been broadcasting illegally,” said one source.
She said they were told that failure to surrender the gadgets would result in arrests as ‘’we would be obstructing investigations and the course of justice.”
Sifelani Tsiko, A-TV Director in Zimbabwe, said he was not aware of the developments and referred all questions to his lawyer, Farai Mushoriwa of Mawere and Sibanda Legal Practitioners.
Mushoriwa confirmed that their client had donated the satellite decoders as part of promoting their station but were not aware that those donations were being confiscated.
“We are aware that our client donated the gadgets but it is news that the police are taking that equipment away. We have been concentrating on getting back the equipment confiscated from our client when their offices were raided in September,” he said.
In relation to progress on confiscated equipment, Mushoriwa said the law enforcements agents were not co- operating and had not responded to their communication thereby stalling progress for the news agency to get back its equipment.
“They (police) have said that they are waiting for an affidavit from the local regulatory body on the issue, but to date, nothing has materialised,” he said.
Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba could not comment on the issue as she indicated that she had travelled to Mutare, referring all questions to Spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri, who could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print.
Post published in: News