By Tabani Moyo
In the Sunday Mail of January 22 – 28, 2012, the Chairperson of the disputed Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Dr Tafataona Mahoso was going in circles trying to redeem the bettered image of the illegally constituted board. He jumped from one point to another in a bid to mislead the nation that everything was done above board pertaining to the millennium charade of awarding licenses to ZANU PF sympathizers.
This article tries to highlight the major defects pertaining to the status of the BAZ and the subsequent awarding of three commercial licenses to AB Communication and the Zimbabwe Newspaper (ZIMPAPERS) by the same. The controversial move has been branded as a millennium charade in the media circles and fraud elsewhere.
In trying to dispel the ruse of impartiality and objectivity painted by Dr Tafataona Mahoso the article shall attempt to zoom on the following critical issues:
· Which advert did the current board members responded to when they applied for the positions they are holding, that is if ever they applied?
· Is it out of coincidence that only the allegedly ZANU PF aliened companies were granted the licenses to broadcast?
· Is the current BAZ as is, ever going to discharge its duties without putting on its political spectacles and/or probably party regalia?
· What is the way forward under such circumstances?
where was the advert flighted?
In the lengthy and tedious interview in the weekly state owed Sunday Mail, Dr. Mahoso painted a picture of normalcy on the status of the BAZ. This is sad because as he is fully aware, he never responded to any advert in the press for board members. The parliament of Zimbabwe advertised for commissioners’ posts for the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC). Mahoso and others applied for such placements but failed, and dismally in that regard, in the public’s full glare. How the doctor and others of like mind, who by the way failed to make it into the ZMC ended up at the BAZ remains a millennium mystery.
As members of the public we are therefore calling on the Parliament of Zimbabwe to follow the laws of the land. Through the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC), it should dissolve the current politicized outfit and advertise vacancies for board members in the press for prospective board members to apply. This is what it should have done in the first place.
the day ZANU PF awarded itself licenses.
In early 2010, the ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, was quoted by the Zimbabwe Independent as saying both Tafataona Mahoso and Professor Jonathan Moyo were doing voluntary work for his party. This is sequentially confirmed by the contents of his long, meandering and some yester year century articles in the state media where he is always trying to spruce up the disintegrating party image.
The Manica Post (7 – 13 October 2011) carried a apt headline titled Journalist Supa Mandiwanzira joins politics. The headline was supported with a picture of Supa Mandiwanzira flanked by two senior Zanu PF members. The picture had the following caption: Zanu-PF national secretary for administration, Cde Didymus Mutasa (left), cde Moses Gutu (centre) present Nyanga South constituency aspirant Supa Mandiwanzira to party supporters during the constituency coordination meeting held at Sedze Business Centre last Saturday. If the need be for purposes of evidence and transparency I can still produce this newspaper cutting.
Dr Paul Chimedza, the chairperson of ZIMPAPERS is gunning for the Gutu South constituency on the ZANU PF ticket.
Due to the space constrains I will not hazard going into detail on the obvious party lineage of the likes of Dr Vimbai Chivaura, Colonel Reuben Mqwayi (Rtd), Ms Charity Moyo and Brig-Gen Elasto Madzingira (Rtd) among others.
This smacks of a ZANU PF ploy to beef up its tools as the party prepares for elections sometime in 2013. It is upon us as the peoples of Zimbabwe, the region, continent and the international community to note that a BAZ chaired by a ZANU PF “voluntary worker” set and issued two licenses to two commercial radio stations whose heads are contesting in the forthcoming elections under the ZANU PF ticket. This can only be defined as fraud.
a void in broadcasting regulation.
Given the aforesaid situation, there is a void in our broadcasting sector for there is no legitimate and credible regulator to call for licenses for the people of Zimbabwe to start broadcasting. Therefore, there is no way under the current circumstances that the current board can claim to be registering ‘authentic broadcasters’ in essence what is happening is a clear situation were by ZANU PF is building a paper trail to the establishment of its manifesto.
Zimbabweans should refuse to be subjected to such a toy-story of political grandstanding rather than national development.
where do we go from here?
In conclusion we need sanity in the broadcasting industry through firstly ensuring that the current BAZ board needs to be dissolved by parliament; legal challenges and/or political parties coming back to their senses and disbanding the creature which is causing chaos in the industry.
There after the long term solution has to safeguard against the recurrence of such mischief through ensuring the establishment of an Independent Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (IBAZ) that is done in sync with the regulation of telecommunications and ICTs. These two arms will be responsible of managing our frequency spectrum.
With such measures in place, as a nation we would move towards much progressive issues like digital migration rather than being stuck with Stone Age laws like the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Interception of Communications Act (ICA) and the Criminal law Codification and Reform Act (CODE) among others
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