In his report to MISA-Zimbabwe’s 2013 Annual General Meeting in Bulawayo on 29 June 2013, MISA-Zimbabwe Chairperson Njabulo Ncube said this position was further buttressed by the fact that Zimbabwe is also a state party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the Banjul Declaration which provides for citizens’ right to access to information, freedom of expression and media freedom.
Said Ncube: “This is what drives us to continue demanding for comprehensive media legislative reforms in order to realise full enjoyment of the right to freedom expression, access to information, media freedom, and indeed, other socio-economic rights that are key to Zimbabwe’s development.
“Our demands are just and legitimate.”
He said the urgency for these reforms is of significant importance ahead of the harmonised elections and necessitates increased impetus towards the realignment and streamlining of the country’s laws, media regulatory bodies and the public media.
Existing laws such as AIPPA, Public Order and Security Act (POSA), Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act, Interception of Communications Act, Official Secrets Act and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Act, among others, immediately stick out as some of the laws crying for wholesale repeal or amendment of some of their provisions.
He expressed dismay with the increase in number of cases involving the assault and harassment of journalists ahead of Zimbabwe’s general elections saying these wanton acts of lawlessness assumed new shocking levels following the assault and hospitalisation of Chinhoyi-based journalist Paul Pindani on 14 June 2013.
Pindani was abducted from his home, severely assaulted, and left for dead by unknown assailants who were wearing masks.
Commending the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity Webster Shamu for his timely intervention following the detention and interrogation of private media journalists Wendy Muperi and Wonai Masvingise by security personnel at the Zanu PF Headquarters in Harare on 21 June 2013, he said:
“Supporters of political parties should be educated that their actions constitute serious violation of journalists’ constitutional right to media freedom and citizens’ right to freedom of expression and access to information.
“On the other hand, political leaders should guard against making inflammatory statements that incite and excite their supporters to take the law into their own hands thus tarnishing the images of their respective parties and that of Zimbabwe.”
In that vein, he urged Zimbabwean journalists to acquaint themselves with the profession’s safety and security manuals adding that no story or politician is worth dying for.
“Your life comes first. I therefore urge and implore you to seriously weigh the consequences before going on dangerous assignments and venturing into hostile political hotbeds.
“As we cover the election story, let us try as much as possible to hunt in packs, mindful that, the impala which separates itself from the herd is the one that often gets attacked,” he said.
Post published in: News