(MISA/IFEX) – The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a non-governmental body working towards constitutional reform in Zimbabwe, has threatened to re-institute legal proceedings against the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) for refusing to run its advertisements on radio and television. In a letter dated 26 August 1999 to ZBC Director-General Luke Munyawarara, the NCA gave the ZBC […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a non-governmental
body working towards constitutional reform in Zimbabwe, has threatened to
re-institute legal proceedings against the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) for refusing to run its advertisements on radio and television.
In a letter dated 26 August 1999 to ZBC Director-General Luke Munyawarara,
the NCA gave the ZBC seventy-two hours to resume broadcast of the
advertisements, which were first stopped in January. The NCA said that if
the ZBC did not run the advertisements, the NCA would revive its February
High Court application.
The NCA told MISA-Zimbabwe that its decision to take the ZBC to court
remained.
It is understood that the ZBC ceased to run the NCA advertisements when the
association began its campaign against the government-appointed
Constitutional Commission.
Background Information
The NCA tendered the bulk of its advertising material to the ZBC in January.
They were then told that “some of them were okay for broadcast while others
were not.” Most of the advertisements were only run for a few days and then
dropped with no reason given. The NCA then filed a lawsuit in the High Court
against the ZBC on 25 February, but the case was withdrawn when the
corporation pledged to resume broadcasting the advertisements.
