Media challenged to promote peace ahead of 2023 elections

Conrad Mupesa, Mashonaland West Bureau

AS the nation draws nearer to the 2023 harmonised elections, a call has been made to the media to relay messages that promote peace and de-escalate possible incendiary situations.

The call was made by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa yesterday in Kadoma during a two-day Media and Elections Reporting Workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Institute.

She reaffirmed the Second Republic’s commitment for all political parties to get fair and universal coverage from the public media.

Representatives of Zanu PF, CCC and MDC A parties, state and private media organisations, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zimbabwe Gender Commission were at the workshop whose objective is to find common ground for the media and political parties towards peaceful elections.

The three political parties were chosen, said the institute’s executive director, Mr Isaac Maposa, because they were the three with representatives in Parliament.

Said Minister Mutsvangwa: “In any election period, the media is expected to carry various messages for various political parties which differ in form and content. In so doing, we expect all the messages to be driven by the dominant ideology of One nation One people, that is, putting Zimbabwe first.

“For political parties to mobilise their supporters in peace, there is a need for the media to embrace the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media which is enshrined in Section 61 of our Constitution.”

Journalists must actively participate in the pre-emption, containment, and de-escalation of possibly provocative situations by crafting messages carefully.

The Second Republic’s policy in line with leaving no one behind, said Minister Mutsvangwa, was for the media and particularly that which was state-owned to report fairly and ethically about all political parties.

“That’s what I am working hard to achieve. That’s the spirit of our 2013 Constitution.

This will help our President’s expressed desire for maximum and inclusive universal coverage and this is in line with his oft repeated mantra of ‘no one and no place should be left behind’ in the development endeavour of the Second Republic.”

Her remarks followed a plea by CCC secretary general Mr Charlton Hwende for state media to report equitably and positively on all political parties.

Minister Mutsvangwa castigated intrusive and tendentious external broadcasting into Zimbabwe.

She said the Government was closing the gap created by funding constraints faced by national broadcaster, ZBC, whose operations are capital intensive, by introducing community radio stations.

“To close that gap we have since licensed and launched community radios stations that run on manageable budgets and they are a big hit with local communities.”

These community radio stations have been opened across the country and the Minister expected to commission another in Binga this month.

While the media bore the brunt of being labelled a conduit of political violence and instability, Minister Mutsvangwa called on political parties to keep their supporters in line.

“There is a need for political parties to spread the gospel of tolerance to their supporters as a way of nipping violence at its source.

Our media have a paramount duty of disseminating this message of tolerance from political actors, and editors must minimise at the source, the rise of online threats or advocacy of discrimination, hostility, and violence,” she said.

A task was equally laid on editors of media houses to reject on their platforms any lack of respect for each other’s humanity and dignity, including cyberbullying and trolling, hate speech, and distribution of child abuse messages, radicalisation, extremism, or support for terrorism.

The Second Republic, in its few years in office, has put in place a raft of measures for elections to be held in a free environment with the repeal of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and its replacement with proper laws.

“Government reaffirms the importance of the rule of law to combat impunity in cases of attacks on freedom of expression and journalism.

Editors must promote engagement with the media including social media that is thoughtful and informed, and which advances peace and the realisation of each person’s and country’s full potential.”

The workshop presented an opportunity for fruitful dialogue with stakeholders dissecting issues of concern.

In his opening statement, Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa said Zanu PF believes in democracy as shown by being its quest for free and fair elections in 1980 and support for media plurality as evidenced by the opening of airwaves for more radio and television stations.

Mr Hwende of CCC, who lamented media practitioners’ poor remuneration, also called for political parties to accept poll outcomes for the nation’s development.

MDC-A secretary general Ms Paurina Mupariwa, who raised the issue of journalists reporting freely and professionally, also advocated for protection of journalists from harassment by political parties.

University of Zimbabwe’s Dean of Law, Dr Innocent Maja, recommended the accessibility of information in all the 16 official languages with Minister Mutsvangwa pointing out that several community radio stations have been offered licences to address this.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission spokesperson Jasper Mangwana challenged media practitioners to verify facts before publishing while Zimbabwe Gender Commission chief executive officer, Mrs Virginia Muwaningwa advocated for media equity amid revelations that coverage of women in politics was low.

Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mary Mliswa-Chikoka said the stability of the nation before, during and after next year’s elections lies in the hands of the media.

Director of Strategy and Innovation of Royal Media in Kenya gave an insight into lessons Zimbabwe can draw from the East African nation’s elections.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister, Kindness Paradza, is expected to close the workshop today.