(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a 5 December 2004 MISA statement: Government and Broadcasting Authority not sincere on Opening the Airwaves The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe, which continues to campaign for broadcasting diversity under its Open the Airwaves Campaign, welcomes as a step in the right direction announcements by the Broadcasting Authority of […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a 5 December 2004 MISA statement:
Government and Broadcasting Authority not sincere on Opening the Airwaves
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe, which continues to campaign for broadcasting diversity under its Open the Airwaves Campaign, welcomes as a step in the right direction announcements by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) that it is ready to receive applications for licenses for 15 private radio stations and one television station.
Of concern to MISA-Zimbabwe is the fact that while the BAZ is calling for the applications it is not the licensing authority as was defined by the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).
The Supreme Court in the Capital Radio judgment struck down Section 6 of the BSA, which made the minister the licensing authority, while the BAZ processes the applications for a broadcaster’s licence.
This means that while the BAZ is calling for interested parties to apply for licenses, there is no legal instrument to facilitate the registration of licenses in Zimbabwe. So far, the concerned Ministry has not come up with any new set of regulations or amendments to the law that would facilitate the granting of licenses.
In other words, there is a legal vacuum that is yet to be filled following the Supreme Court ruling.
The call by BAZ in the Government Gazette of 5 September 2004 providing the requisite application and licence fees for the respective classes of broadcasting licensees will amount to nothing in the absence of the enabling legal instruments.
We note that in March 2004, the same BAZ made another call for applications and the results of such a call have not been made public. MISA-Zimbabwe is concerned with the setting up of deadlines for application licensees, a matter which we believe must be determined by the frequencies available.