GOVERNMENT has said no political party will be given a broadcasting licence in Zimbabwe as the sector is a national security threat, amid manoeuvres from the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) to launch a channel on DStv.
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) is the sole
issuer of broadcasting licences and MultiChoice, as a legally licensed
broadcaster will not be an accomplice to an illegal channel which contravenes
the Zimbabwean laws.
According to the BAZ Act, Part IV, Section 20, no political
party or organisation shall hold or have control of any broadcasting licence or
signal carrier licence.
In an interview, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting
Services Deputy Minister, Kindness Paradza said the Government’s policy was not
to issue broadcasting licences to political parties.
“MultiChoice is licenced and they are aware of the rules
and regulations governing broadcasting in Zimbabwe so they will not be an
accomplice to an illegal or pirate channel. We are sure MultiChoice will not be
persuaded to carry an illegal channel on its platform.
So far, our policy is not to issue broadcasting licences to
political parties considering this is a finite national asset which cannot be
issued out willy nilly. We have many political parties in this country, so if
we are to give licences to all of them, our allocated spectrum will be full and
we will not have any space left for future generations.
So simply put it’s a no. Even the ruling party Zanu-PF has
not been issued with a broadcasting licence,” said Deputy Minister Paradza.
“It must be noted that broadcasting is a national security
threat if abused like what happened in Rwanda in 1994, when its radio was used
to incite genocide against the Tutsis. As a responsible Government, we want to
guard against that and protect our people from an unscrupulous and unpatriotic
section in our society,” added the Deputy Minister.
On Tuesday last week, CCC secretary-general Mr Charlton
Hwende, writing on Twitter, insinuated that his party was keen on launching a
television channel ahead of elections next year.
“To launch a truly independent channel on DSTV Channel you
need monthly fees of around $8 000. Let’s do it Zimbabwe we are left with only
12 months before the election, so we need $96 000 and we free the Airwaves,”
wrote Mr Hwende.
Deputy Minister Paradza said according to the Electoral
law, during the election period each political party is allocated free time on
the national broadcaster to sell their ideas and manifestos.
“According to our Electoral law, during the election period,
each political party is allocated free time on the national broadcaster, ZBCtv
to sell their respective ideas and manifestos. They can also advertise.
However, we noticed that during the last by-elections some of the contesting
political parties, CCC, in particular, refused to take up their allocated free
slots to sell their ideas on ZBC,” said Dep Minister Paradza. Chronicle
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