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Statement on the recent appointment of the Media and Information Commission
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
June 06, 2002

The Media Monitoring Project views with grave concern the recent appointment of commissioners to the Media and Information Commission as provided for in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

MMPZ notes that:

Firstly, the Commission itself is not an independent body since it is appointed by a government minister and is directly accountable to him.

Secondly, that while the Commission purports to encourage and enforce ethical and professional journalistic practice; the functions of the Commission serve to restrict the public's constitutional rights
to freedom of expression and limits those wishing to exercise these rights.

Thirdly, the composition of the Commission is not representative of Zimbabwean society.

And finally, the Commission has been constituted within an Act that is in fact designed to restrict the free flow of information and opinion, and the people's rights to these fundamental freedoms.

In the words of the former Minister of Justice, Zanu PF MP Eddison Zvobgo, the law in its original form, is the "the most calculated and determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by the Constitution..."
The substance of the Act has changed very little since then.

Freedom of expression and the free flow of information in the public interest are the cornerstones of any democracy and should be subject to minimal and specific restrictions.

This Act does precisely the opposite and its constitutionality should be subjected to legal challenge. The commission set up to enforce this anti-democratic legislation therefore represents a tool by which government intends to curb access to information and the practice of gathering and disseminating it for the benefit of the nation. The arrest and harassment of journalists from the private Press under this Act and the Public Order and Security Act is clear evidence of this agenda.

As a result, MMPZ believes that the commission in its present form commands no credibility.

MMPZ therefore calls on government to repeal this prohibitive law and recognize the public's rights to freedom of expression and the essential role that the free flow of information plays in promoting
national social, economic and political development. MMPZ believes that the establishment of a statutory commission to encourage ethical journalistic practice is unnecessary and restrictive and calls on government to support existing efforts to establish the formation of a voluntary media council representative of media and civic interests.

For more information, please contact:

The Project Coordinator,
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702,
E-mail: monitors@mweb.co.zw
Web: http://www.mmpz.org.zw

Visit the MMPZ fact sheet

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