Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

A visitor to Harare on a cold 19 June
2011 would have been impressed
by Zimbabwe’s state of “media
freedom”. Just 500 metres from
State House, <strong>the</strong> official residence
of President Robert Mugabe, was
a billboard from South Africa’s
Sunday Times newspaper declaring
“Mugabe is a liar”.
The same billboards were strewn all
over town, even along 8th Street,
300 metres from <strong>the</strong> police general
headquarters. This to most would
be <strong>the</strong> clearest indicator of media
plurality and a democratic media
dispensation. The scenario however
belies <strong>the</strong> true state of affairs
of Zimbabwe media, which is that
nearly two <strong>years</strong> <strong>after</strong> <strong>the</strong> signing
of <strong>the</strong> Global Political Agreement
(GPA) that ushered in a new political
order in <strong>the</strong> form of <strong>the</strong> Government
of National Unity (GNU), <strong>the</strong>
political crisis still persists and <strong>the</strong>
Zimbabwean media’s future remains
far from certain.
Article 19 of <strong>the</strong> Global Political
Agreement (GPA) clearly states that
<strong>the</strong> three main political parties,
Zanu-PF and <strong>the</strong> MDC parties, should
embark on media reforms that
would culminate in <strong>the</strong> licensing of
new print and broadcasting media
Section 1: Freedom
Zimbabwe media: A victim of politics
By Rashweat Mukundu
Rashweat Mukundu is a Zimbabwean
journalist, media and freedom of
expression activist. He is currently
working with Zimbabwe Civil Society
Organisations on human rights
programmes.
players as well as reform <strong>the</strong> stateowned
Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC).
Of <strong>the</strong>se, only one has been accomplished:
<strong>the</strong> licensing of new
newspapers, albeit under <strong>the</strong> same
controls as before. The Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy
Act remains <strong>the</strong> same and newspapers
still have to register to operate.
While citizens of Zimbabwe have
access to stories such as “Mugabe
is a liar” on a daily basis and social
media like Facebook have exploded,
<strong>the</strong> broadcast media remains shut –
save for shortwave radio broadcasts
by <strong>the</strong> Voice of America and three
o<strong>the</strong>r civil society-run broadcasters
from London and South Africa.
These are called “pirate” radio stations
by Zanu-PF and are part of
GPA talks with demands that <strong>the</strong>y
be shut down.
The question is: why are <strong>the</strong> reforms
coming in drips? The answer is
political and lies in <strong>the</strong> calculations
that <strong>the</strong> former ruling party and still
much-in-control Zanu-PF is making
on its political future. Having noted
<strong>the</strong> solid support that <strong>the</strong> MDC-
Tsvangirai party holds in urban
areas, and that <strong>the</strong> electorate in
<strong>the</strong>se areas is unlikely to be swayed
by anything, Zanu-PF has left <strong>the</strong>
“Just 500 metres
from State House,
<strong>the</strong> official residence
of President Robert
Mugabe, was a
billboard from South
Africa’s Sunday Times
newspaper declaring
‘Mugabe is a liar’.”
Media in Africa - 2011 | 79