05 March 2025
Bill falls short of meeting democratic standards of broadcasting regulation
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe) and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) are dismayed at the missed opportunity to holistically reform the broadcasting regulatory framework following the passage with cosmetic changes in the National Assembly of the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill.
The Bill sailed through the National Assembly on 4 March 2025 and will now be considered by the Senate before it is sent to the President to be assented into law.
MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ are particularly disappointed by how the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Honourable Jenfan Muswere, who is sponsoring the Bill in Parliament, seemingly disregarded the input of the people as obtained in the report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services.
The Committee in terms of Section 141 of the Constitution sought the input of the public through public hearings conducted in at least seven provinces from the 16th to the 21st of December 2024.
MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ shadowed this process, which drew the participation of 485 citizens according to parliamentary records. The two media support bodies also made written and oral submissions on the Bill.
It is regrettable the Minister did not consider the views of the hundreds that participated in this public process, nor did he take into cognisance the views of the media stakeholders whose interests MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ represent.
Worse still, the Minister ignored the debates of legislators from across the political divide, who to their credit echoed the views widely expressed by media stakeholders and the public.
In that regard, MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ expected significant changes in the long-awaited reforms to the broadcasting regulatory framework through the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill.
The passage of the Bill without addressing the critical questions on the independence of the broadcasting regulatory authority, enhancing public participation in the licensing process and strengthening parliamentary oversight, makes a mockery of the reform process.
The Bill passed by the National Assembly sets a bad precedent of allowing opaque processes in the transfer of licences and does not provide safeguards limiting the number of licences that one can hold thereby defeating the constitutional obligation to media diversity.
MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ were equally taken aback by the Minister’s reversal of the 40 percent foreign shareholding in the broadcasting sector to attract the much-needed foreign direct investment in a capital-intensive sector and in line with the government’s open for business policy.
On funding of the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) through tying of vehicle radio licences to the issuance of vehicle insurance, the Minister again went against the grain despite compelling submissions by media stakeholders and legislators across the political divide.
For instance, Zanu PF Nyanga South legislator, and veteran broadcaster, Honourable Supa Mandiwanzira, said there should be no connection between ZBC and privately owned insurance companies.
Honourable Mandiwanzira, who is a founder of AB Communications, whose flagship brand is ZiFM Stereo, argued that while he supports the funding of the state broadcaster, there could be loopholes in the collection of taxes resulting in non-compliance by members of the public not paying both insurance companies and the road administration authority, Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA).
Clause 15 of the Bill proposes to compel motorists to buy vehicle radio licences first before they buy their vehicle insurance and licence.
Minister Muswere, who in the last debates of the Bill was joined by the leader of government business in Parliament, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Honourable Ziyambi Ziyambi, ignored other broader submissions on the need to narrow the definitions of political content for community broadcasters, the need for transitional clauses in preparing for convergence and broadcast regulation in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
It is our well-considered view that if the Senate and President give the greenlight to this proposed law, Zimbabwe will be stuck in the stone age with a restrictive law that is non-responsive to technological advancements.
This casts doubt on the sincerity of government in implementing comprehensive media reforms in line with regional, continental and international instruments such as the African Charter on Broadcasting.
MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ urges the Senate and President Emmerson Mnangagwa to reject the Bill and return it to the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services so that it reflects the true aspirations of key media stakeholders, and the citizens as captured in the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services.
