Uncertainty shrouds fate of MIC

On Thursday last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said both local and foreign journalists, as well as media houses, had no legal obligation to apply for registration to the Tafataona Mahoso-led Commission until a new body, the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), is constituted.
“The direction which we are going as the inclusive government is for more media space rather than a repressive environment,” the premier said. “MIC and Mahoso were dissolved long back. We are not looking back, we are looking forward. There is no reason for journalists to register with Mahoso and the MIC.”
The status of the MIC has been questionable since January 11 2008 when President Robert Mugabe signed into law amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
Legal experts argue that the amendments rendered the Commission defunct, insisting that anything done by the MIC after January 11 was of no legal force and should be declared null and void.
Sentiments by the Prime Minister last week vindicated this view.
But while the premier said last year’s amendments to AIPPA rendered the statutory MIC defunct the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu had more work for the MIC to do this week.
Shamu has ordered foreign and local journalists wishing to cover the forthcoming 13th Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit in the resort town of Victoria Falls, to register with the MIC.
Analysts said the contradictory statements showed that there was confusion in the inclusive government and that the parties involved — ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change formations — were pulling in different directions.
“They are issuing confusing and conflicting signals,” said Takura Zhangazha, the national director of the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe Chapter. “This indicates lack of commitment to media freedom,” he said.
Zhangazha said the parties to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) should be reminded that media freedom does not rely on political will.
Signed on September 15 2008 the GPA binds ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations to institute media reforms during the lifespan of the inclusive government.
Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has wasted no time in setting the stage for the establishment of the ZMC to facilitate the opening up of airwaves and ensuring the operation of as many media houses as possible.
According to the proposed media laws, the ZMC shall have a chairperson and eight other members appointed by the President from a list of not less than 12 nominees.
“If journalists and media houses are still required to approach Mahoso, it shows there is still serious uncertainty over the fate of the MIC. As the Prime Minister put it, Mahoso and the MIC do not exist at law.
“Our position as media stakeholders is that we believe in self-regulation. Government has no business in accrediting and licensing media houses and journalists,” added Zhangazha.
Ernest Mudzengi, a media expert and lecturer with the Zimbabwe Open University, concurred with Zhangazha that the conflicting views pointed to confusion in the inclusive government.
“We are supposed to be in a new political dispensation where the MIC has been outlawed but we have people who want to go back to the old system,” said Mudzengi.
“My reading of the situation confirms fears by the Prime Minister of residual elements determined to maintain the status quo. They are people who want to turn back the clock. How else can you explain the relevance of the MIC in today’s dispensation?” he asked.
The confusing signals come after Zimbabwe media editors and publishers wrote a letter to Shamu calling for the lifting of the remaining restrictions on journalists seeking to return home in line with the GPA.
As part of the GPA, the main political parties agreed to encourage “Zimbabweans running or working for external radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe to return to Zimbabwe…and that steps are taken to ensure that the public media coverage provides balanced and fair coverage to all political parties for their legitimate political activities.”
In the letter, the editors and the publishers also appealed for a moratorium on the process of licensing of newspapers and lifting of high taxes on imported newspapers. The letter was signed by representatives of The Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, The Worker, the Community Newspapers Association in Zimbabwe, The Zimbabwean, the Zimbabwe Times and ZimOnline.
One of the tools being used by the government to stifle the media has been the exorbitant accreditation fees charged by the MIC.
In January, the government raised application and registration fees forcing foreign based media houses to fork out more than US$30 000 in application and operation fees.
Local journalists working for foreign media organisations were required to pay US$1 000 and US$3 000 as individual application and accreditation fees respectively.
Temporary accreditation for foreign journalists was fixed at a total cost of US$1 500, contrasting sharply with the complimentary accreditation and administration fees for journalists from within the Southern African Development Community which is pegged at US$150 and US$200 respectively.
At the time journalists working for local organisations were to pay Z$1 million and Z$3 million in application and accreditation fees while local freelance journalists paid Z$1,5 million as application fees.
Late renewal of accreditation would be penalised at the rate of Z$100 000 per day while that for registration is pegged at Z$500 000.
The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), a coalition of media stakeholders that comprises MISA-Zimbabwe, the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe,  and the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, recently submitted their common position to the government regarding proposed media reforms.
In their paper MAZ emphasised the substitution of statutory regulation with self-regulation, a guarantee of media freedom in a new constitution, transformation of the Zim-babwe Broadcasting Corporation into a true public broadcaster and the disinvestment of government from the newspaper industry, among other issues.
Meanwhile, The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists has urged its members to ignore the government directive to register with MIC to cover this week’s COMESA conference.
The union said journalists should not register until a legally constituted accreditation body has been put in place.