AudiencScapes

Tawanda Karombo parses myth from fact in Mugabe’s latest address on media in Zimbabwe.

by Tawanda Karombo (Harare, Zimbabwe)

President Robert Mugabe has dashed hopes that the country’s repressive and draconian media law, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, could be repealed.

In remarks made by Mugabe during the opening of the third session of Zimbabwe’s seventh parliament earlier this month, Mugabe announced that a “Media Practitioners’ Bill” will be the first item on the legislative agenda. Although Mugabe asserted that the bill would “repeal the part of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which deals with the registration of journalists and privacy issues,” it appears that AIPPA will remain on the radar, at least for now.

The Media Practitioners’ Bill stems from a media stakeholders’ indaba (meeting) held last year in Victoria Falls, which recommended that the accreditation of journalists should be voluntary rather than mandatory (as is currently the case). Under the new dispensation being sought, journalists will instead be required to register with the government.

Despite the president’s statement that the proposed bill will repeal registration procedures for journalists, the Media Practitioners’ Bill is expected to, among other things, merely change registration procedures. Media stakeholders hope the final version of the bill, after it makes its way through parliament, will factor in their concerns, many of which were identified at the Victoria Falls’ indaba. These include the repeal of several AIPPA provisions that infringe on freedom of information and citizens’ right to access to information.

AIPPA, which was enacted in 2002 to regulate media activity in the country, has largely been condemned by media freedom activists and practitioners. They contend that Mugabe’s previous administration used it to force the closure of newspapers and unfairly arrest and persecute journalists. AIPPA makes it difficult for journalists to obtain information from the government, as the legislation allows government institution more than a month before they are required to release information sought by journalists.

Media stakeholders also had hoped that the Media Practitioners’ Bill would override provisions in AIPPA that criminalize the publication of "falsehoods." However, the new piece of legislation promoted by Mugabe does not address this issue in its current form.

Media practitioners and freedom of information advocates want AIPPA to be entirely repealed and replaced with the Media Practitioners’ Bill, as well as the Freedom of Information Bill, which Mugabe left out of his list of 23 laws that will be brought before parliament.

The Zimbabwe chapter of the watchdog group Media Institute of Southern Africa sees little to cheer in Mugabe’s address and in how the government intends to pursue media development in the country. "What is clear from his (Mugabe’s) address is the government’s reluctance to repeal AIPPA in its entirety as well as a raft of other repressive laws that continue to inhibit media freedom and Zimbabweans’ right to freedom of expression and access to information," said MISA in a statement.

The industry organization believes the government is reluctant to loosen its hold over the media sector. Said MISA in another statement: "[Mugabe's] address also betrays the authorities’ desire to maintain controls and restrictions on media activity, which have been widely condemned as inimical to media freedom."

Sources

Mugabe parliament opening speech
MISA Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights



Tawanda Karombo is a journalist living in Zimbabwe.