Tendai Ruben Mbofana
When ZBC Board Chairperson Ms Helliate Rushwaya recently proclaimed that a public institution is judged not only by its policies, she set up a classic defense.
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But by adding that true quality depends on how effectively, consistently, and humanely they are implemented, she delivered a masterclass in official deflection.
Her remarks may sound reasonable, noble, and polished on the surface.
However, they conveniently bypass the single non-negotiable standard that gives any public entity its legitimacy: absolute submission to the supreme law of the land.
In a constitutional democracy, no amount of operational efficiency, administrative talk, or corporate jargon can ever substitute for strict constitutional compliance.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation does not belong to a ruling party or political elites.
It is funded directly by the citizens of Zimbabwe through mandatory broadcast licensing fees and national tax revenues.
Because it is sustained by public money, its operational mandate is strictly governed by Section 61(4)(b) and (c) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
This binding provision explicitly obligates state-owned media to remain strictly impartial and to afford a fair, equal opportunity for the presentation of divergent views and dissenting opinions.
Yet, for decades, ZBC and its state media counterparts have treated these clear directives as optional suggestions.
Instead of serving as a neutral national platform, the broadcaster functions as a partisan extension of the ruling ZANU-PF party.
It displays blind loyalty to those in power while ignoring the looting of national resources by well-connected elites.
At the same time, it refuses to interrogate flawed government policies and systematically masks the daily hardships of ordinary citizens.
This systemic bias is far from a mere grievance; it is a documented fact recognized internationally.
Following the 2023 harmonized elections, the SADC Election Observer Mission specifically named ZBC for failing to provide fair and balanced coverage to the main opposition.
What little airtime the opposition received was routinely biased, hostile, or laced with outright deception.
This conduct directly violated Section 155(1)(d) of the Constitution, which explicitly guarantees all political parties and candidates contesting an election fair and equal access to public electronic and print media.
If the political establishment genuinely believes that divergent views and dissenting opinions are unpatriotic or counter-developmental, why continue with the sham of sections 61(4) and155(1)?
Why drag out this deception of a free press and democracy in Zimbabwe?
Why not come out in the open and repeal the provision entirely?
After all, this is an administration that has shown no hesitation in modifying the supreme law at a whim for its own self-serving political agenda.
This was demonstrated when it pushed through constitutional amendments to extend presidential terms without putting such structural changes to a national referendum as legally required.
Furthermore, it is time to end the prolonged deception that ZBC functions as a genuine public broadcaster in the mold of international benchmark institutions like the BBC or SABC.
While those broadcasters face their own fair share of criticism, viewers tuning into their news reports and current affairs programs routinely witness fierce debates.
There are direct interrogations of state policies, open platforms for opposition views, and bold exposures of government corruption without fear or favor.
They report honestly on the suffering of ordinary people because they recognize that a true public media platform acts as the voice of the voiceless rather than the voice of the powerful.
Imagine turning on the BBC or SABC and being greeted by Labour or ANC cadres singing and dancing in praise of Andy Burnham or Cyril Ramaphosa!
That would be the shock of the millennium.
In fact, had ZBC and its state media counterparts played their constitutional part faithfully, writers like myself would have become totally irrelevant.
The public would already find a genuine voice in state media.
Yet here we are, having effectively taken over the public media role.
No wonder ordinary citizens suffering under the yoke of oppression, now follow our work more than they follow ZBC or The Herald.
They do so because we speak for them, hold those in power to account, and speak out against injustice and the looting of our national resources.
We expose the broken hospitals, the crumbling schools, and the stolen public funds.
We give voice to families struggling to afford basic food while elites flaunt unearned wealth.
We tell the uncomfortable truths ZBC is instructed to hide.
Yet that is precisely the duty of a true public broadcaster.
That is real patriotism.
By choosing to abandon the people in support of the oppressor, ZBC has forfeited its constitutional legitimacy.
It has betrayed its public mandate, and left citizens with no choice but to seek truth elsewhere.
A true public broadcaster serves the nation, not the rulers.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com