…As MISA Zimbabwe beckons President Mnangagwa to rebuke the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill

Ngoni Dapira

ZIMBABWE’s independent media freedom lobby group, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe has castigated the current archaic and restrictive operating environment in the country’s media sector to be chasing away investment.

This was said recently during the membership based organisation’s elective annual general meeting held in Harare.

MISA Zimbabwe director Tabani Moyo said the country’s media sector is in dire need of capital injection, especially during the incumbent global covid-19 pandemic period, where a lot of conventional media organizations cut back on operational costs which led to many job losses.

Tabani Moyo

“We have held many meetings with the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) commissioners and they are not at the same level as we try to reach common ground, but what we see is that it is more about power retention. The thinking that if you open the media up you would have opened the gates of hell to its citizens is still dominant. Our thinking is that this failure to understand where we want to go seems to be empowered from elsewhere, but we remain hopeful,” said Moyo.

He said limited investment in the broadcasting sector limits how citizens express and share information in the whole country given the widespread following that the broadcasting sector commands throughout the country. Moyo said the Broadcasting Service Act (BSA) does not allow for more than 20 percent foreign investment in broadcasting enterprises, yet it is a very capital intensive industry.

“If you outlaw foreign capital investment and limit it to 20 percent then what you are saying is the voices of the ruling elite is protected by the law and you push prospective investors, but then, on the contrary, the mantra by Government is ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’. The current archaic and restrictive operating environment is chasing away investment in the media industry which is in dire need of capital injection, especially during the incumbent global covid-19 pandemic period,” said the MISA Zimbabwe director.

Moyo said MISA Zimbabwe acknowledges how the new dispensation Government in the Second Republic has made milestone reforms by repealing draconian legislature on freedom of expression and access to information, such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), but further implored Government that the quality of reforms should be holistic and comprehensive.

He said though there is a strong case of presentation that AIPPA has been repealed, there remains a void in the regulation of the media which they hoped by now, with the new approach on law reforms, there was going to be a new way of doing things. Moyo added that the main problem is the fragility of the law reform process which is prone to narrow political interests that are hijacking a very noble cause that is supposed to be holistic in terms of promoting freedom of expression rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Members present at the MISA Zimbabwe annual general meeting affirmed a resolution in support of co-regulation of the media as well as democratic internet governance. Co-regulation entails that the media self regulates. Moyo said co-regulation will see the media industry self-regulating while the ZMC plays an oversight role. He said co-regulation will decriminalise the profession and allow the media industry to control its professional standards.

“However, sadly we are again at that moment of a gridlock where the government prefers statutory regulation against the interests of the industry which pushes for self-regulation.  Zimbabwe has taken too long to embark on media reforms for the media to be democratically governed. MISA Zimbabwe will continue to take advantage of the multi-stakeholder approach to change the circumstances in Zimbabwe. Let’s move from archaic laws that erode the fabric established in the Constitution. The benchmarks are The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, African Charter on Broadcasting to mention a few,” he said.

Golden Maunganidze

During the MISA Zimbabwe National Governing Council (NGC) elections, the Masvingo based media entrepreneur who is the director of the Masvingo-based TellZim newspaper, Golden Maunganidze was re-elected as chairperson for another three-year term. Maunganidze was contending with former vice-chairperson, Rutendo Mawere. The Herald managing editor Ruth Butaumocho, who served as a committee member during the previous term, was elected unopposed as vice-chairperson. Bulawayo based veteran journalist Pamenus Tuso and Mutare based seasoned journalist Kenneth Matimaire, were elected into the NGC as committee members.

Maunganidze who is also currently serving as the MISA Regional Governing Council chairperson while Moyo was recently also appointed as the substantive MISA regional director said it is a historic moment for Zimbabwe to be at the driving seat of the regional institution at all levels.

“Lets become an organization that is able to continuously take the lead in all issues that have to do with media sustainability, survival, safety and security for journalists, media regulation and all those values that we stand for. We should be able to look at milestones that we will make and build on them,” said Maunganidze.

Maunganidze also applauded Government milestones such as the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and the licensing of the first-ever community radio stations and commercial television stations, but expressed reservations over the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill that now awaits to be signed into law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“We acknowledge the Freedom of Information Act but we however have reservations over the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill that awaits to be signed into law by the President. We have written to the President appealing to him to decline signing the Bill into law by referring it to Parliament. Our fingers remain crossed that the President will reject the Bill.”

Adding, “It is MISA Zimbabwe’s strong conviction that any form of regulation of the internet should be aimed at creating safe online spaces for the exercise and enjoyment of rights as opposed to the criminalisation of online communication under the guise of dealing with internet abuse,” said Maunganidze in his speech as chairman.

MISA Zimbabwe was registered as a Trust on 27 August 1995 and established a fully-fledged Secretariat in August 1997. It is one of 11 chapters of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, which promotes and defends media freedom and freedom of expression across the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. It is an independent membership-based organisation comprising our Board of Trustees, National Governing Council (NGC), Advocacy Committees and Secretariat. A five-member NGC is elected by members every three years, and its role is to give policy direction to the Secretariat. MISA Zimbabwe membership comprises of journalists and other media professionals including media houses, online content creators, freedom of expression activists, bloggers and media students.