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MISA-Zimbabwe raises concerns with Speaker
MISA-Zimbabwe
August 05, 2009

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MISA-Zimbabwe's Chairperson Loughty Dube on 5 August 2009 wrote to the Speaker of the House Assembly Honorable Lovemore Moyo expressing concern with parliament's decision to conduct interviews with candidates that will be short listed for appointment on the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) board.

In his letter, Dube drew the Speaker's attention to an advertisement placed in The Herald of 5 June 2009 by the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC) in terms of Section 100N of the Constitution of Zimbabwe as amended through Constitutional Amendment No 19.

The advertisement in question called for applications to the Zimbabwe Media Commission and three other separate commission namely, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

However, on 3 August 2009 a five-member panel of members of SROC proceeded to interview a total of 27 potential candidates to be short listed for appointment to the ZMC as well as the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) contrary to the contents of the advertisement in question.

'Nothing in the wording of the advertisement suggested that this would in any way include interviews for prospective candidates to the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe. Our reasonable assumption was that the call for applications was largely for constitutionally established Commissions and not necessarily statutory boards," reads part of the letter.

"If this is truly the case, we respectfully would like to point out to your good office that the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe is not a constitutionally established Commission neither is it defined as a Commission in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act. In terms of Section 4 of the enabling act (the Broadcasting Services Act as amended in 2008); the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe is a board to be established in terms of the Act and not in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe."

Dube said parliament should therefore ensure that the interviewing process for BAZ is undertaken in terms of the enabling act as well as through broader public participation given the national importance of Zimbabwe's airwaves.

"This letter was written in the spirit and letter of ensuring that if the Parliament of Zimbabwe is to play its democratically assigned role in reforming Zimbabwe's media landscape, it must do so in a participatory, transparent and accountable manner," said Dube.

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