Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
RADIO coverage in Zimbabwe has increased from 70 percent to 81 percent, despite the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services operating under severe financial constraints, Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana has revealed.
He made the revelation while giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Broadcasting Services yesterday. He attributed this progress to the resourcefulness and resilience of his Ministry, which he said was operating under immense financial pressure.
“This ministry is feeding 5 000 with two loaves of bread and five fish,” he said, using a biblical analogy. “Was that the right quantum? Whatever it was, that miracle—this Ministry is performing it. Honourable members, in nine months, we did it.”
However, Mr Mangwana warned that this growth is unsustainable without increased funding and called for enhanced budgetary support, particularly to strengthen the operations of community radio stations and district offices. He informed the committee that the ministry requires approximately ZiG 2.1 billion for 2026 to meet its operational needs, explaining that a bottom-up budgeting approach had been used to identify requirements from the district level upwards.
“The districts that are in our constituencies, in the spirit of devolution, we want those districts enabled, capacitated, to ensure that they actually represent the whole Ministry properly,” he said.
He decried the lack of basic resources at district offices, noting that some staff operate without proper offices or functional vehicles.
“In fact, those with cars that were bought in 2008. That’s 17 years ago. I don’t know if any of you have got such a car at home… You are calling it a vintage. Not to function on behalf of the Government. A ramshackle,” he said.
He further highlighted the indignity faced by ministry staff, who often rely on borrowed vehicles from other departments to carry out fieldwork. “Please, save us from this humiliation,” he pleaded with the committee.
Despite the request for ZiG 2.1 billion, the ministry was allocated only ZiG 533 million.
The financial shortfall also affects key parastatals. Transmedia, the signal carrier responsible for maintaining and building new transmitters, requested ZiG 487 million, but was allocated only ZiG 3 million.
