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Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE and Namibia have reaffirmed their commitment to revitalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on sharing information, which was signed in 2014.
This follows a visit to Windhoek by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa last week.
In a joint statement with her Namibian counterpart — the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, Stanley Simaata — Minister Mutsvangwa pledged to deepen the two countries’ bilateral ties in the information sector.
“The two ministers acknowledged the excellent relations between the two countries that date back to the days of the liberation struggles and reaffirm their commitment to deepen and strengthen the bilateral relations in the information sector,” reads the statement.
The two parties resolved to “review and revitalise the 2014 MOU in line with developments in technology and realities on the ground and create scope of the implementation of the agreements in the broadcasting and news agencies sectors”.
An undertaking to transform The Southern Times — a newspaper jointly produced by Zimbabwe and Namibia through NamZim — into a fully fledged Sadc regional publication was also made. This is in line with a 2017 resolution of the Sadc Council of Ministers of Information, Communication and Technology.
“The two delegations noted the good work NamZim had done through The Southern Times over the past 15 years to champion the idea of a regional newspaper that allows the Sadc region to tell its own narrative,” reads the statement.
“In the spirit of the co-operation, the two ministers enjoined their technical teams to deliver a draft revised MoU by end of April 2019 with a view of signing it during the Namibia-Zimbabwe Permanent Joint Commission scheduled for May/June 2019.”
Zimbabwe and Namibia enjoy cordial ties which stretch back to liberation wars in the two countries.
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