New feud over media appointments

Shamu said the only board he had no authority to appoint was the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) that is expected to open up the airwaves by licencing new broadcasters to rival the governments Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH).

It is us (Ministry of Information) who administer the Acts for (the state media companies). As the minister I am following the laws governing the parastatals, Shamu told a Zimbabwean news website last week.

The new boards appointed by Shamu to oversee the governments newspaper empire and the ZBH are packed with former military men and allies of President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) party, raising fears they will work to undermine media reforms proposed under a power-sharing agreement that gave birth to Zimbabwes unity government.

Tsvangirai told journalists in Harare last Tuesday that the appointments announced by Shamu, especially the BAZ, were irregular and would have to be revised.

That issue is being revisited and appointments of board members of BAZ is the business of the President and the Prime Minister, said Tsvangirai, who is locked up in another dispute with Mugabe over senior appointments after the latter unilaterally named two of his top allies to head the central bank and the Attorney General (AG)s office.

While Shamu insisted on his right to appoint boards to parastatals falling under his ministry he however conceded he was wrong to appoint the BAZ because the law only allows him to recommend names to Mugabe who appoints.

Shamu has also withdrawn the board he had appointed to Zimpapers, the giant newspaper company that is majority owned by the government. The government can only recommend names for appointment to the Zimpapers board at the companys annual general meeting.