Cheers to more years of advocacy
IT seems like yesterday, but when I did the calculations, I realised it's exactly 11 years ago when I was recruited as an intern. Eleven years ago, you were just 14 years old. Some would have called you a teenager in human metaphorical terms, but with the nature of the burden you carried even at that age, you would have been mistakenly labelled as an adult.
This year you turned 25, having been conceived as a Trust on 27 August 1995, growing into a fully-fledged secretariat by August 1997. Today you are celebrating your 25th anniversary following the establishment of the secretariat in 1996.
Congratulations MISA Zimbabwe. Indeed time flies.
This has been a journey with trials and tribulations.
Arrests, detentions, harassments (of journalists and media workers), the list goes on, as part and parcel of that expedition. Indeed, when history is written about the heroes who fought to have media pluralism, diversity, and independence, freedom of expression in Zimbabwe, your name shall be in the forefront.
As you celebrate your 25th anniversary, take encouragement in the gains achieved so far. It is common knowledge that the journey has been through a thorny path. From the days of POSA (Public Order and Security Act)
to AIPPA (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act), the whole tide was against you.
Yet you fought tooth and nail to have media pluralism and diversity. You stood by your values - to promote free speech, equality, diversity, participation, accountability, responsibility and fairness. As mentioned earlier, media diversity, pluralism and independence are not a static destination, but a continuous process that constantly needs checks and balances.
Today we take pride in that the nation is poised to have at least more than one (television) broadcaster, following
the granting of television licenses to private players. We hope they will be on air soon. Most importantly, licenses have been issued to community radios, to complete the three-tier system of broadcasting that you and the general public have been clamouring for.
We look forward to listening to Ntepe, Nyangani, Vemuganga, Matobo, to mention a few (of the community radio stations) broadcast for their local communities. Today, we at least celebrate that we have a Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression. All these notable achievements, in my view, would not have been possible without MISA's advocacy interventions.
We are not there yet. A lot still needs to be done. Media polarisation remains a big challenge that you need to work on. Perhaps we have a bit of pluralism and without diversity. The fight is a continuous process. Media diversity, pluralism and independence is not a destination, but a continuous process requiring constant maintenance, checks and balances.
As you celebrate your anniversary, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the internship opportunity. It was at MISA that my first newspaper article was published in the Standard's Sunday View Column.
What a glorious Sunday it was. It was at MISA that I gained the confidence to write articles worthy of publishing in newspapers. It is at MISA Zimbabwe that I learnt the importance of expressing an opinion.
One of the officers used to tell me that whether people agree or not, whether your opinion is judged right or wrong, the most important thing is to have your opinion heard.
Today, I am a father. I still cherish my internship moments at MISA. The field events and community meetings were some of my best moments. That experience inspired me to pursue development studies which I am currently studying.
Thank you MISA-Zimbabwe!
Keep on offering interns opportunities to gain practical experience and the chance to showcase their talents as you did to me. With more television stations and community radios coming, it also means more professional media practitioners are required.
The onus is on you to train responsible journalists to supplement training from colleges and universities. We are looking forward to seeing vibrant community newspapers, community radios and TV stations in Zimbabwe. Our dream for Zimbabwe with free media, diverse, plural and independent media lives on. No time to sleep on duty.
Cheers to more years of advocacy, information dissemination and digital transformation campaigns. Once again, congratulations on your 25th anniversary.