In an interview with The Zimbabwean soon after addressing journalists recently, Chamisa accused the Zanu (PF) government of lacking clarity on the way forward towards ensuring media freedom and the preservation of journalistic freedoms.
“Public enquiries are a good thing and they are necessary in any democratic system, but the current Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) is a waste of resources and time. It is finding excuses for not acting. We have done enough enquiries and there is enough information in the national archives to give direction to what should be done to reform the media and strengthen the communication industry,” he said.
Chamisa questioned the composition of the inquiry, its constitution, independence and context. “We have a crisis of implementation and execution not a crisis of coming up with policies. The prescription is already there. What we need is a curative approach,” he said.
Chamisa said Zanu (PF) was not clear on how to preserve the sanctity of media and journalistic freedoms, saying “There is need for fundamental reforms to free the airwaves and deregulate the media. The country needs to move with speed and ensure that we help Zimbabweans invest in the media.”
No harm
Contrary to government’s assertion that the establishment of community radio stations and television stations would advance the regime change agenda, the licensing of more media houses was critical in promoting the country’s developmental agenda.
“Community radio stations mean no harm to government,” said Chamisa. “They are an articulation of certain society-centric issues and they are beneficial to the developmental agenda. The challenge with our government is that they want to control people’s minds. They do not want to free the airwaves.”
Chamisa urged government to enact policies that ensured the provision of cyber security for Zimbabweans.
“Citizens are not protected from cyber bullying. During the tenure of the inclusive government, Bills were developed and were ready for passage in Parliament. We urge government to enact the legislation that guarantees cyber security,” he said.
The MDC shadow minister lamented recent developments which saw the law enforcement agents barring members of the press from commemorating World Press Freedom Day.
Regressing
“We are slowly regressing back to the pre-GNU era where the government set the tone of its true repressive characteristic. It is surprising that the same police force that indicated shortage of manpower deployed an equal number of police officers to disperse media practitioners as the ones that were needed to escort them,” he said.
Chamisa urged government to stop its continued harassment and arrests of journalists, saying “The media in Zimbabwe operates at the mercy of government and it is regarded as a threat by those in power and authority.”
He called on government to combine media legislation and entities under one umbrella body considering that they were too many media bodies mandated with the same functions.
“The MDC is worried that by dint of the constitution, not necessarily the composition, the independence of the IMPI is questionable. The body is a creature of unilateralism as opposed to sector-wide consultation,” he said.
He also urged government to enact supportive legislation that entrenched freedom of expression, saying criminal defamation laws had no place in the modern age. “Government should align all media laws to the new Constitution and ensure that all communication entities are harmonised under the convergence framework,” he said.
Post published in: News