The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has announced plans to set up a statutory media council to “curb excesses” by the media.
An offshoot of the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa), the media council’s mandate includes drafting a code of conduct for journalists and receiving complaints against the media by the public, civil society and government.
Godfrey Majonga, the ZMC chairperson, said this week that the council would comprise representatives of media houses, editors, publishers and lawyers. “Its decisions will be binding and enforceable in law and we believe it is a necessary establishment to improve media standards in the country,” Majonga said.
Until now tough media laws enacted by President Robert Mugabe’s government, rather than a statutory media tribunal, have been the government’s chosen legal tool for keeping the news media in line.
Aippa defines what information journalists have access to and what is in the “public interest”. Journalists found in breach of the law and causing “fear, alarm and despondency” to the public face lengthy prison terms.
The self-regulating Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe exists, but has been shunned by many state media outlets. Takura Zhangazha, the council’s executive secretary, said he hoped the state media “will work with us, even when a statutory media council is in place”.
Opening up the media
The retention of Aippa under the two-year-old unity government has come under the spotlight, given that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai promised a year ago to repeal the law and “open up” the media.
Political observers say this underscores Zanu-PF’s continuing desire to exercise a tight grip over the media and to stonewall reform. However, Majonga downplayed the possibility of political parties pushing their own agendas in the media council, saying that “consultations with various stakeholders have been widely done and left no room at all for politicking”.
Nelson Chamisa, the spokesperson for Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, said: “The MDC remains undeterred by the lack of commitment shown by our partners in government to remove the obnoxious and poisonous Aippa law and will continue to pursue a policy of media freedom in Zimbabwe.”
Meanwhile, an official who spoke anonymously said a lack of funding was likely to pose a major obstacle to the media council. “The council needs to operate as a separate entity from the commission, as stipulated by the law, but there is a lack of funding for this,” said the source.
The signs are that the council will rely heavily on state funding and registration fees paid by journalists and media organisations.
Earlier this year, registration fees for journalists and media houses were increased by up to 400%. International news outlets must pay US$6 000 for permission to operate a bureau in Zimbabwe, sharply up from the previous rate of US$2 000.