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Parliament to quiz broadcasting licensing authority
MISA-Zimbabwe
November 01, 2005

The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) will soon be summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain why it has not invited applications for community radio stations three years after the enabling legislation came into force.

Leo Mugabe, the chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications, is on record saying the BAZ would be asked to explain "why they have not invited applications for community radio stations three years down the line and also on the need to open the airwaves".

"They need to be more serious," said Mugabe.

The state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) enjoys monopoly of the country’s airwaves as no private players have been licensed to enter the broadcasting sector since the enactment of the Broadcasting Services Act in 2001.

Mugabe made the comments after Professor Jonathan Moyo, the former Minister of Information and Publicity, failed to appear before the committee to appraise it on several issues pertaining to the operations of media institutions during his tenure as a government minister.

He, however, said the committee also intends to probe Moyo on the operations of ZBH and the Media and Information Commission during his tenure.

The committee said it would give Moyo a final chance to appear before it, failure of which parliamentary procedures would be instituted against the former minister.

Ironically, Moyo who is an Independent Member of Parliament for Tsholotsho, is also a member of the committee.

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