Twenty seven people, among them practicing and retired journalists, were on Monday interviewed by a Parliamentary select committee to sit on the newly constituted Zimbabwe Media Commission.MDCs Masvingo Urban MP Tongai Matutu, Chairman of the Standing Rules and Orders Committee, confirmed that the interviews were held from morning to late afternoon.
Parliament last month invited interested candidates to submit applications to be considered for appointment to the Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, four bodies that are being set up in terms of a constitutional amendment, enacted earlier this year.
Over 600 people applied to sit on the four commissions. Matutu said those applying to be commissioners must be chosen for their knowledge and experience in the relevant field applied for.
The prospective candidates were each asked if they were chosen, what would they contribute to the Commission to make it effective, what are two key ethical issues in their profession, and how have they lived up to them.
They were also asked what are the three best practices they would bring, and their strategy for the development and use of indigenous languages in the media, as well as how they would see the relationship between the Commission and civil society.
126 people applied to sit on the ZMC but only 27 were short listed. Among those interviewed on Monday was former ZBC news anchor Godfrey Majonga, former Radio 3 disc jockey Millicent Buzuzi Mombeshora, veteran journalist and politician Kindness Paradza, and prominent lawyer and newspaper columnist Chris Mhike.
Of the 24 applicants, eight are women, three of whom are still practicing journalists, namely Miriam Madziwa, Ropafadzo Mapimhidze and Nqobile Nyathi. Others interviewed included former Chronicle reporter and now Church Pastor, Useni Sibanda, as well as media studies lecturers Clemence Mabaso, Rino Zhuwarara and Lawton Hikwa.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga, ZANU-PF Chief Whip Joram Gumbo, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, MDC deputy Secretary-General and Hatfield MP Tapiwa Mashakada, ZANU PF Chivi Central MP Paul Mangwana were in attendance together with a four-member panel of human resources experts.
The new media commission is set to replace the Media and Information Commission, which introduced stringent conditions for the registration of both Zimbabwean and foreign journalists as well as for the registration of media organisations.
Matutu told us the Standing Rules and Orders Committee will also shortlist six applicants out of the 24 who will sit on the Broadcasting Services Authority, set to regulate the airwaves.
The setting up of the media commission is seen as a starting point in the planned democratisation of the media that has been under the fierce control of Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.
Last week, the Information Ministry allowed the BBC and CNN to resume work in the country after their correspondents were kicked out of Zimbabwe eight years ago. The government has also lifted punitive import duty on newspapers and declared free duty on foreign newspapers.
Last week, a committee set up to address the long-standing face-off between the Daily News and the government said the newspapers publishers had in their application satisfied all requirements, and the company was now free to approach the licencing authority for a licence. It appears that the first major assignment for the ZMC, once it is fully constituted, will be to issue the Daily News its license.
Post published in: News