Chronicle Editor
Tawanda Marwizi Herald Correspondent
Resource mobilisation constraints have derailed Zimbabwe’s quest to quickly migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting, Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Simon Khaya Moyo has said. Speaking at the 10th anniversary celebrations of Mrs Rebecca Chisamba’s production and media consultancy company in Harare last night, Minister Khaya Moyo said digitisation had taken longer than initially thought as a result of the current challenges.
“As most of you may be aware, Zimbabwe, like most other countries in the region is currently migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting,” he said. “To this end, Government, through my ministry, is rolling out the national digital broadcasting programme, which, regrettably, has taken longer to complete than previously anticipated due to resource mobilisation constraints.” Minister Khaya Moyo assured Zimbabweans that the project was still on course, adding that results on the ground were encouraging.
“I am confident that we will be in a position, very soon, to announce the launching of our broadcasting services onto the digital platform,” he said. Technical benefits in the form of available channels, improved reception, better picture sound quality, he said, were among the benefits of digital broadcasting. Minister Moyo said the creative arts and media industries would benefit tremendously from the increase of TV channels to 12. There will also be an increase in business and employment opportunities, he said.
“Given the additional increase of five more public television broadcasting channels, it is apparent, ladies and gentlemen, that content to play on those channels is the biggest challenge before us as we near our launch into the era of digital broadcasting,” said Minister Khaya Moyo.
“Content producers and Zimbabwean artistes should take up the challenge seriously by showcasing their talents, expertise and capacity to compete in a highly globalised world.” Minister Khaya Moyo said although the digitisation programme was behind schedule, it remained high on Government’s priorities under the infrastructure cluster in Zim-Asset. He paid tribute to Mrs Chisamba for her achievements. Speaking at the same occasion, Mrs Chisamba said the goal of her show was to entertain and inspire people using local languages.
“That is where I derive my mandate from, to speak in our local dialects and uphold our cultural values,” she said. The media sector, she said, had to keep up with technology, especially the evolution of the equipment being used.
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