|
Back to Index
Government
and Broadcasting Authority not sincere on opening the airwaves
MISA-Zimbabwe
December 03, 2004
MISA-Zimbabwe,
which continues to campaign for broadcasting diversity under its
Open the Airwaves Campaign, welcomes as a step in the right direction
announcements by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) that
it is ready to receive applications for licenses for 15 private
radio stations and one television station.
Of concern to
MISA-Zimbabwe is the fact that while the BAZ is calling for the
applications it is not the licensing authority as was defined by
the Broadcasting Services Act, (BSA).
The Supreme
Court in the Capital Radio judgment struck down Section 6 of the
BSA which made the minister the licensing authority, while the BAZ
processes the applications for a broadcaster’s licence.
This means that
while BAZ is calling for interested parties to apply for licenses
there is no legal instrument to facilitate the registration of licenses
in Zimbabwe. So far the concerned Ministry has not come up with
any new set of regulations or amendments to the law that would facilitate
the granting of licenses.
In other words
there is a legal vacuum that is yet to be filled following the Supreme
Court ruling.
The call by
BAZ in the Government Gazette of 5 September 2004 providing the
requisite application and licence fees for the respective classes
of broadcasting licensees will amount to nothing in the absence
of the enabling legal instruments.
We not that
in March 2004, the same BAZ made another call for applications and
the results of such a call have not been made public. MISA-Zimbabwe
is concerned with the setting up of deadlines for application licensees
a matter which we believe must be determined by the frequencies
available.
MISA-Zimbabwe,
which continues to campaign for broadcasting diversity under its
Open the Airwaves Campaign, welcomes as a step in the right direction
announcements by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) that
it is ready to receive applications for licenses for 15 private
radio stations and one television station.
Of concern to
MISA-Zimbabwe is the fact that while the BAZ is calling for the
applications it is not the licensing authority as was defined by
the Broadcasting Services Act, (BSA).
The Supreme
Court in the Capital Radio judgment struck down Section 6 of the
BSA which made the minister the licensing authority, while the BAZ
processes the applications for a broadcaster’s licence.
This means that
while BAZ is calling for interested parties to apply for licenses
there is no legal instrument to facilitate the registration of licenses
in Zimbabwe. So far the concerned Ministry has not come up with
any new set of regulations or amendments to the law that would facilitate
the granting of licenses.
In other words
there is a legal vacuum that is yet to be filled following the Supreme
Court ruling.
The call by
BAZ in the Government Gazette of 5 September 2004 providing the
requisite application and licence fees for the respective classes
of broadcasting licensees will amount to nothing in the absence
of the enabling legal instruments.
We note that
in March 2004, the same BAZ made another call for applications and
the results of such a call have not been made public. MISA-Zimbabwe
is concerned with the setting up of deadlines for application licensees
a matter which we believe must be determined by the frequencies
available.
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
|
