(MISA/IFEX) – On 16 October 2000, the Zimbabwe High Court fined Assistant Police Commissioner Libermann Ndlovu ZW$3000 (approx. US$56.60) or thirty days in jail for defying a lawful order issued by Judge Chatikobo on 4 October. However, the court exonerated Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri from the matter. Justice Gwaunza said she had considered his explanation […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 16 October 2000, the Zimbabwe High Court fined Assistant Police Commissioner Libermann Ndlovu ZW$3000 (approx. US$56.60) or thirty days in jail for defying a lawful order issued by Judge Chatikobo on 4 October. However, the court exonerated Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri from the matter. Justice Gwaunza said she had considered his explanation that he was “not fully prepared” to stand by Ndlovu.
The two were charged with contempt for defying a judge’s order and ignoring orders given to police to stop the seizure of independent broadcaster Capital Radio’s equipment. Neither Chihuri nor Ndlovu denied that the order had been defied, but differed on who was responsible.
In the meantime, the government has appointed a seven-member Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which will be responsible for planning and administering Zimbabwe’s broadcasting spectrum, as well as defining and demarcating global licence area plans for the country. Among other responsibilities, the authority will also be in charge of inviting, selecting and recommending prospective licences to the minister and, in conjunction with players from the industry, defining and enforcing a broadcasting code of conduct. No public servants have been named as members of the authority.
Minister of State for Information Jonathon Moyo earlier said that new broadcasting regulations which set up the authority would be in force for the next six months, during which time stakeholders should consult and provide feedback to government on sections they wished to change before the regulations were passed to parliament as a bill for permanent legislation.
Background Information
The two police officials were charged with contempt after the police located and raided the studios of private broadcaster Capitol Radio at Harare’s Monomotapa Hotel on the night of 4 October.
The raid was conducted despite Capitol Radio’s interdict barring the police from confiscating the station’s equipment until 4:30 p.m. (local time) on 5 October. The interdict stipulated that the minister of state for information, the director of the Post and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) and the commissioner of police were barred from either interfering with the operations of the station or confiscating its equipment.
Capital Radio had been broadcasting since September 28 in the absence of any broadcasting regulatory framework and following a Supreme Court ruling on 22 September which nullified the state’s broadcasting monopoly.
The new broadcasting regulations came in the wake of the 22 September Supreme Court ruling. Following the ruling, government contended that no broadcaster would be allowed to operate until government had established a regulatory authority to provide an operational framework for new broadcasters. The regulations were hastily enacted and passed into law in terms of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act. They have been widely rejected and condemned by media organisations in Zimbabwe as draconian and punitive.
