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Majome takes ZBC to Concourt

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WOMEN’s Affairs deputy minister Jessie Majome has taken her fight against ZBC to the Concourt challenging its demand for television and radio licence fees despite alleged biased programming.

WOMEN’s Affairs deputy minister Jessie Majome has taken her fight against State broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) to the Constitutional Court (Concourt) challenging its demand for television and radio licence fees despite alleged biased programming.

SENIOR COURT REPORTER

Majome, who is an MDC-T national executive committee member and the party’s parliamentary candidate for Harare West, was last year arrested for failing to produce a television licence and charged with contravening section 356 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

“I did not produce a licence at the police station and I will not do so. . . I hasten to say that my non-compliance with the aforementioned statute was indeed purposeful on my part, but it was not by no means wilful and contemptuous of the law,” Majome said in her founding affidavit.

She said the law compelling people to pay television and radio licences infringed on their rights given that ZBC was partisan. “The first respondent (ZBC) is openly biased towards Zanu PF party in its general reporting, news casting and general programming to the detriment of other bona fide political parties, particularly MDC-T of which I am a senior member,” Majome said.

“Quite clearly, the first respondent does not provide the same public service for any other political party.

“In fact, the first respondent treats other political parties as if they do not exist at all yet Zanu PF is only just another party which makes up the Global Political Agreement and even polled fewer votes than MDC-T in 2008 general elections.”

She said by doing so, ZBC “impertinently disdained” the political views of at least half if not the majority of people in the country through its “heavily biased programming”.

Majome urged the Concourt to declare as unconstitutional sections 38B2, 38C and 38D1-4 of the Broadcasting Services Act and to declare that non-compliance with the said sections does not constitute a criminal offence.

She also urged the court to exercise its powers and permanently stay her prosecution over the non-payment of a television licence.

Other respondents cited in the application are Information minister Webster Shamu, Attorney- General Johannes Tomana and the National Prosecuting Authority.