Alfonce Mbizwo

UNDeR the late former President Robert mugabe, Zimbabwe was among the most censored countries in the world, consistently faring badly in the Press Freedom index year after year. Zimbabwe’s small, but verdant independent media often faced persistent harassment to the extent that self-censorship became a common issue among local journalists.

NewsDay was born into an environment that, while polarised, offered hope and the promise of a bright future for the country. The Government of National Unity between the ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition mDC formations was just over a year old then and up to now remains a harbinger of what could be achieved if the collective worked toward a common goal.

when emmerson mnangagwa took over as President on November 24, 2017, he made all the right noises and led to hopes that the political transition would ultimately herald a more open environment for the Press. The question, however, remained: how much criticism will the new leader tolerate and how far will he go in media reforms?

As media we had several reasons to doubt mnangagwa’s instincts on human rights, including the right to free expression. After all, he was mugabe’s right-hand man and confidante for years, and as Justice minister in 2014 he argued to keep criminal defamation laws on the country’s statutes even as the courts struck them off, maintaining that they were justifiable in a democratic country. Reformist was not a word that could be used to describe him. And so, it has proved.

Three years after the military ended the 37-year rule of the autocratic mugabe, journalists and media experts in Zimbabwe have their answer: not much has changed and the government certainly has no appetite to relax media laws. in 2016, the mugabe regime experimented with shutting down popular social media platforms such as WhatsApp, but in January 2019 mnangagwa took it to a new level, switching off the internet completely for seven days to suppress information as protests raged across the country. in November last year, mnangagwa signed into law the maintenance of Peace and Order Act, a law which critics say is every bit as repressive

as the one it

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was meant to replace, the Public Order and security Act.

The President certainly missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf in media reforms and prove that he could be a reformist for the better.

For NewsDay and the independent media, the next decade presents more challenges. while Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution in 2013 which provides for freedom of the media including protection of the confidentiality of sources of information for journalists, there are plenty of mechanisms through which the state controls the media.

Government has kept a tight leash on media operations by maintaining laws that make it a crime to publish or communicate false statements that are seen as prejudicial to the state. Journalists can be charged for “inciting or promoting public disorder or public violence or endangering public safety; or adversely affecting the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe or undermining public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or interfering with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service.”

They also face criminal charges for expressions that are deemed as undermining the President. As NewsDay and Alpha media Holdings, we dream “of a prosperous Zimbabwe which invests in its people and allows them to excel. A country with an economy where individuals reap the fruits of their endeavours with minimal hindrance from the government and from the scourge of corruption”.

we seek to do this by upholding those key media tenets of accuracy, balance, fairness and relevance. may the next decade bear this out.