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Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
Government this year embarked on policy reforms aimed at enhancing access to information and enabling media operating environment, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa yesterday told the ongoing Parliamentary pre-budget seminar
Giving an overview of her ministry’s performance this year and expectations for 2021, she said the policy thrust, pursued by the ministry since the beginning of the year included creating an enabling environment for the media.
“We are working hard to end the polarisation and to make sure that Zimbabweans love themselves. We are working hard to ensure that we become more patriotic and we are working hard to amplify the success stories of this country.
“We have also increased access to information to various national and external publics. We have increased publicity of national development, Government policy, programmes and projects particularly in the context of devolution. We are also working hard in main-streaming marginalised languages in the media, information and communication sector,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa was happy with the performance of her ministry in creating an enabling media operating environment through the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act that replaced and repealed the strongly-disliked Access to Information and Protection Act.
“The enactment of the Freedom of Information Act during the Covid-19 period bears testimony to servant leadership of President Mnangagwa and the Second Republic, that he is committed to achieving set goals and targets,” Minister Mutsvangwa said.
She said debate on the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill and the Zimbabwe Media Communication Bill were ongoing while the national policy on media and the film industry would soon be adopted.
The Zimbabwe Media Practitioners Regulatory Bill, that seeks to establish shared regulation between the State and the media industry, and the Protection of Personal Information Bill would be tabled in Parliament next year.
She said her ministry had also done well in raising awareness on the Covid-19 pandemic through the establishment of a toll-free call centre and programmes on print, electronic and social media.
The broadcasting digitisation project was 40 percent complete but she wanted Government to allocate more resources are allocated to complete the project and ensure access to radio and television broadcasting services by all citizens of the country.
Six commercial television licences would be awarded before the end of the year following interviews that were held by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe in September while 10 licences for community-owned and language-based radio stations would be awarded within the same period.
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