Pressure for broadcasting authority to be constituted

STATEMENT ON THE BROADCASTING REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations calls upon the President of Zimbabwe, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders to expedite the process of appointing a properly constituted Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).

A properly constituted BAZ will ensure that there is multiplicity in the broadcasting sector, by way of licensing independent broadcasters, amongst them community radios.

In recent media reports, the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity Webster Shamu stated that the government was committed to opening up the airwaves by licensing new independent radio and television stations.

Nevertheless, this might not be immediately achievable taking into cognizance that the composition of the current BAZ board which is mandated with receiving and evaluating applications for the issue of broadcasting licenses, is widely contested

It is the Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Station’s (ZACRAS) hope that unlike the erstwhile Ministers of Information, the incumbent is not exploiting such statements for cheap politicking in a bid to gain political mileage. Such statements have to be supported by a visible political will which seeks to advance the cause of the media.

Barely  a fortnight after Minister Shamu’s statement, the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa was  reported as having tabled a new Bill in the House of Assembly seeking to amend a number of laws amongst them the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).

The proposed law, the Criminal Laws Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure) would amend the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act(Chapter 9:07),the Postal and Communications Act(Chapter 12:05) and the Broadcasting Services Act(BSA)(Chapter 12:06),among others.

However, it is saddening to note that in amending the BSA in Clause 4,the proposed Bill only provides for the arrest of persons tampering with broadcasting equipment, and in no way strives to liberalise the airwaves.

While ZACRAS recognizes the importance of safe guarding broadcasting equipment, it nevertheless believes that there is need for the complete overhaul of stringent media laws, amongst them the BSA, instead of making piecemeal amendments.

Though strides have been made to diversify the print media, the broadcasting environment remains stagnant. This is despite the existence of Article 19.1(a) of the Global Political Agreement which highlights the need for “the immediate processing by the appropriate authorities of all applications for registration and reregistration in terms of both the Broadcasting Services Act as well as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act”.

Presently, Zimbabwe has no community radio station in operation. This is despite the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s failure to adequately cover all regions in Zimbabwe.

The existence of community radios will go a long way in ensuring that various communities are able to participate in the governance process thereby enabling them to be their own agenda setters and not  mere information consumers.

Section 20 of the Zimbabwe Constitution acknowledges the significance of the right to freedom of expression, which also entails freedom of the media.

However; there is need for a section which unambiguously recognizes the right to media freedom. This should be done without the inclusion of drawback clauses which unnecessarily hinder media operations and ultimately result in the media failing to exercise its watchdog role.

ZACRAS reiterates that the Constitutional right to media freedom has to be bolstered by the promulgation of media laws which seek to advance the free operations of the media as is permissible within any democratic society.

The current restrictive laws impacting on the operations of the media, namely, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (CLCRA) are an encumbrance in the quest for the realization of a free and fair operating environment for the media.

However, it goes without saying that the enactment of these media laws would have to be done after proper consultation with all relevant stakeholders.

A diverse and plural broadcasting environment will result in the creation of a three tier broadcasting environment comprising of public, commercial and community radio stations as envisaged in the African Charter on Broadcasting.

The existence of various broadcasting media will in turn enable citizens to freely enjoy their right to access information from a wide range of information sources.