No 'media hangmen' for new Zim regulator

The Chair of Zimbabwe's Parliamentary select committee on the media has made a verbal stand against the inclusion of 'media hangmen' in the Zimbabwe Information Commission, saying the government will not allow the likes of Jonathan Moyo or Tafataona Mahoso to be involved.

Tongai Matutu, the urban legislator in Masvingo, told a news briefing that Moyo and Mahoso are responsible for the dire state that Zimbabwean media is in because of their records of stifling media freedom. He told journalists there would be no place for either of them on the new media regulatory board.

Moyo, who is the controversial former Minister of Information and Publicity, was the architect of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). He presided over the closure of independent newspapers such as The Daily News and The Tribune through the now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC), which in turn was headed by Mahoso.

"We are not going to allow media hangmen to find themselves on the new commission," said Matutu.

"The likes of Moyo and Mahoso will not be considered for any post because they are responsible for the mess in which we are," he added.

But Moyo who is remembered as an abrasive wordsmith for President Robert Mugabe’s government in which he served for five years has since leaving government embarked on a public relations campaign to redeem his profile as a credible government critic and law maker. He has come out to speak sternly against the very law he engineered and the abuse of office by some ZANU PF officers such as Webster Shamu.

He however still courts controversy with many legislators and political commentators speculating that he engineered Mugabe's win in the infamous "rerun" of disputed elections last year. They have ascertions that he authors Gideon Gono's addresses to the nation while spoon feeding George Charamba, the President's spokesperson.

The High Court has already ruled that the MIC is now null and void, but in a sign that media reform is still a long way off in Zimbabwe, a group of journalists were turned away from the opening of the Comesa summit earlier this month. The four, who won a landmark case against the government on the legality of the MIC, were refused entry to the event for not having accreditation, despite the High Court order declaring the MIC illegal being granted two days before.

SW RADIO AFRICA & Simba Nembaware