Back to Index

Catholics call on Mugabe to uphold media freedom
MISA-Zimbabwe
October 06, 2004

Catholic Bishops in Zimbabwe have urged the Zimbabwean government to uphold media freedom ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for March next year by ensuring that all political parties receive equitable coverage.

In a pastoral letter signed by the Bishops Conference of Zimbabwe, titled: A Credible Electoral Process for a Responsible and Accountable Leadership, the bishops condemned the government’s stranglehold on the state media.

"It is important that all political parties have access to media coverage so that they can inform citizens about how they intend to govern if they are elected into power," they said. "

A political system that operates in such a way that only one party has access to a proper coverage by media cannot claim to be democratic."

The Independent Catholic News reports that the bishops sent a pastoral letter to churches on 3 October 2004 demanding a "credible electoral process" and peaceful campaigning ahead of the March elections.

Ecumenical groups also called for "outright" defiance of the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill scheduled to be tabled before parliament on 6 October 2004.

The bill seeks to ban NGOs that focus on issues of human rights and good governance from receiving foreign funding.

If passed into law, the Bill will effectively lead to the closure of several non-governmental organisations which rely on foreign funding for their activities.

Visit the MISA -Zimbabwe fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP