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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Statement on the 2013 harmonized elections
Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS)
August 09, 2013
The Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) wishes
to commend the people of Zimbabwe for conducting themselves in a
peaceful
manner during the just ended election period.
ZACRAS believes
that as debates are being held around the process and final; results
of the elections, there are many Zimbabweans whose voices are suffocated
somewhere in Gumbonzvandam Gundura, Dombodema, Dotito, Chirumanzi,
Chiyadzwa to name a few. Whereas mainstream media outlets have tried
to solicit for views and comments on the elections, we believe that
this would have been more representative and holistic had there
been community radios to enable communities to articulate these
issues at a local level. Ordinary Zimbabweans have a stake to this
topical issue of elections and if we really want to build a nation,
their voices cannot be left out or ignored.
ZACRAS therefore expresses disappointment once again on the continued
lack of effective and reliable community based communication platforms
where citizens, especially in marginalized communities, can access
critical information, get informed, and participate in both local
and national discourse. We believe that in democratic societies,
it is important that citizens are allowed unfettered access to information
and are able to express themselves freely without let or hindrance.
The continued denial of this important inalienable right to free
expression by deliberate frustration of community broadcasting is
a serious violation of human and people’s rights.
Any democratic dispensation must be underpinned by participation
of all, of which community radio has a fundamental role to play
in this regard.
Visit the ZACRAS
fact
sheet
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