Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
BEING patriotic is not belonging to a political party and the media is integral in educating Zimbabweans about that distinction, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said
Minister Mutsvangwa said this during a cocktail held for journalists and captains in the media industry on Thursday at a Bulawayo hotel.
Earlier in the day, Minister Mutsvangwa toured stands of parastatals under her Ministry at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
In her address to journalists, Minister Mutsvangwa said the media was important in educating people about the importance of ubuntu and patriotism.
“We need to educate our people, we need to let them understand what it is, what it means to be patriotic.
There are people who think to be patriotic is to be Zanu-PF, or to be CCC or to be MDC; no!
We need to be Zimbabweans who are proud to be patriotic,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“I lived most of my life in New York, I was educated in America. I must tell you the suburb that we lived in, every house had an American flag flying and they were not party members, they were just American citizens.
As Zimbabweans we need to love our country, we need to love who we are, and that is patriotism.
It is up to us as the media industry to educate our people to love themselves, to love who they are, to know where they came from. So that we can chart the right way forward.
It is really important to get that home. When we see our people losing ubuntu, we as the members of the fourth estate; we should feel ashamed.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said the media must remain a vehicle of peace and development, as clearly espoused by President Mnangagwa’s vision 2030 of an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society.
She said there have been great strides made in opening up the airwaves.
“I know there are some people who live in the past, who pretend and refuse to see the reality on the ground, but we are walking the talk. Testimony for this is the opening of the media space to allow for more and diverse voices.
“We listened to the concerns of the stakeholders and instituted regulatory legal reforms in the media sector that culminated in the scrapping of Access of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and gave birth to the Freedom of Information Act. At the moment we are finalising the Zimbabwe Media Practitioners Bill,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
She said there needs to be more local content as the country cannot continue feeding the youth with external content.
Minister Mutsvangwa said community radio stations are giving the remotest and marginalised communities of the country a voice to express themselves and their aspirations, their challenges, their development thrust in line with the second republic mantra of leaving no one and no place behind.
In attendance were Deputy Minister Kindness Paradza and the Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana, with Minister Mutsvangwa’s husband Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa.
Zimpapers board chairman Mr Tommy Sithole, CEO Mr Pikirayi Deketeke and General Manager Mr Marks Shayamano also attended. — Follow on Twitter @bonganinkunzi
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