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BAZ lacks transparency: Chimedza

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ZIMBABWE Arts and Culture Industry Association (ZIACIA) president Boniface Chimedza has accused the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) of lack of transparency in the disbursement of funds to film producers.

ZIMBABWE Arts and Culture Industry Association (ZIACIA) president Boniface Chimedza has accused the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) of lack of transparency in the disbursement of funds to film producers.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

chimedza

In an interview with NewsDay, Chimedza said there was no clear communication strategy between producers and the BAZ with independent film and television producers crying foul over how the projects were being qualified or disqualified.

“The concerns of the producers are anchored on the lack of transparency regarding how funds are being administered, how the funds are currently being disbursed, how projects are being qualified or disqualified,” Chimedza said.

“Several issues have been brought to the fore, mainly that of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe. We only hear rumours that such and so have been identified and have been given money. We do not even know how they (producers) are being identified.”

He said they were not aware of the criteria used for identifying producers, some from Matabeleland and others from Masvingo and subsequently funding them.

“There is no clear communication channel between the producers and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe as we just heard a lot of figures being thrown around, like $125 000 or $160 000, some are saying there are no millions, there are just hundreds of thousands. We need an official statement,” he said.

“If the government poured money into our sector, we are the stakeholders in this sector, we are not civil servants, but practitioners on the ground and we need to know how much money is it exactly.”

Chimedza said they were also not happy with the slow pace at which the process was moving and their efforts to engage the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services regarding the issue had not been fruitful.

Although BAZ requested questions in writing yesterday, they had not responded by the time of going to Press.