One critical outcome of the sustained advocacy interventions by media professional associations and support organizations has been the acknowledgement by the Zimbabwean government of the imperative need to reform the country's media laws to the extent that for close to a decade, Parliament has annually been considering laws to do with the media and information sectors as part of the legislative agenda.
By considering reforms to the laws governing the operations of the media, the legislature served a multi-pronged agenda of aligning laws with the constitution and creating a conducive environment for freedom of expression and the corollary rights to media freedom and access to information are fully realized in Zimbabwe.
In this reform trajectory, some notable developments have been realised.
Arguably, chief among these have been the repeal of the restrictive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which paved the way for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act.
AIPPA, which provided for statutory regulation of the media albeit with punitive measures for journalists and media organizations, equally had far reaching impacts on the rights to access information that the law purported to provide for.
As part of the reforms to AIPPA, the legislature considered and passed the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) Act, the Cyber and Data Protection Act and considered the amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act.
In making changes to existing laws and introducing new legislation, there are incremental gains and positive steps towards the constitutional imperative for the democratic governance of the media.
These changes were to be buttressed by the launch of a media policy as a comprehensive framework that seeks to foster a vibrant, diverse and inclusive media.
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Launched by the country's president in March 2025, the Zimbabwe Media Policy is another by-product of advocacy interventions by media stakeholders for there to be a guiding framework towards the realization of the rights provided for by the constitution and subsequent national blueprints.
Despite the fair share of challenges in the methodology and subtext of the policy, the media blueprint is a useful baseline in addressing the sectoral structural and operational challenges.
Some of the challenges are a function of what the reformed laws failed to address, yet the other media restrictions emanate from what are called "clawback provisions", where a right provided for by one law is taken away by another.
This is how criminal defamation provisions of the law are somehow finding expression in Zimbabwean statutes despite having been struck down by the Constitutional Court.
Other provisions, such as publication of falsehoods as an example, expunged by way of the repeal of AIPPA were retained through the enactment of the Cyber and Data Protection Act.
The Media Policy, anchored on democratic principles of an open society provides a basis for engagement and steps towards implementing the vision as espoused in the blueprint.
An analysis of the blueprint however suggests some legislative gaps that Parliament, particularly through the portfolio committee on information, media and broadcasting services ought to address to effectively implement the media policy.
To breakdown these gaps, it is imperative to assess the six strategic pillars that anchor the policy in the quest to promote a vibrant, diverse and independent media.
The first pillar is that of ensuring economic stability of the media through among other interventions the establishment of a media fund.
By any measure, the establishment of a media fund is a realistic and strategic objective that can potentially address the sustainability challenges of the media.
However, there are gaps within the media legislative framework that curtails the establishment of this Fund on account of decentralization.
The ZMC Act, which is currently undergoing amendments provides for the establishment of a Media Fund and so does the BSA, which establishes a Broadcasting Fund.
The BSA further provides for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Zbc) to collect licenses from members of the public, which makes up another fund for the media.
The government, by way of assuming the debts of the national broadcaster and providing grants to the ZBC, in a way contributes to funding of the media as envisaged by the Media Fund.
These pockets of fragmented funds as provided for in separate legislation inhibits effective and efficient utilization of resources.
Put differently, it hinders the prospects of the establishment of a media fund as envisaged in the media policy.
In any event, the media and broadcasting funds as provided for by the ZMC and the BSA respectfully are supposed to be funded by the very same media that is struggling to break even and faced with sustainability challenges.
Media organizations covering elections are expected to pay accreditation fees with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and community broadcasters that receive donations need to meet costs of registering as Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) under the PVO Act as amended.
All these costs and taxes upon the media inhibit the implementation of strategic pillar of economic sustainability.
To this end, the legislature should considering plugging these gaps with a view of reviewing the discussed laws and coming with a framework for a consolidated media fund.
The second pillar of the media policy is that of digital transformation and innovation.
By all means, the imperative need for the media to adapt in the digital age and innovate cannot be overstated.
There are however legislative challenges that are inhibiting innovation and full digital transformation.
For starters, the fact that Zimbabwe's regulatory framework remains among the few in the Southern Africa region yet to converge, there are structurally inhibitors to innovate wherein there's variance between how digital infrastructure and transmission are regulated.
Moreover, innovation is curtailed when within the legislative framework, there are provisions of laws such as insult or publication of falsehoods.
The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), a network of journalistic professional associations and media support organizations in partnership with Bloggers of Zambia, a digital rights organization as well as a regional network of media solidarity, Spaces of Solidarity with support DW Akademie are embarking on a campaign against laws that have provision for insult as these have a chilling effect on creativity and freedom of expression.
The Zimbabwean parliament is among those being mobilized to agitate for the repeal of such provisions.
Moreover, the Zimbabwean parliamentary portfolio committee on media should call for the development of a media specific Artificial Intelligence policy as part of promoting digital transformation and innovation as envisaged in the policy.
The third strategic pillar on media development and capacity building, the legislature should promote the establishment of a modern and responsive media curriculum that is nationally recognized outside the legal hurdles provided for in the current configuration of journalism training at tertiary level.
On media sovereignty and regulation, which is the fourth strategic pillar of the Media Policy, the legislature should push the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services to expedite the process of gazetting the Media Practitioners Bill in giving legal effect to the co-regulation of the media.
Moreover, the legislature should agitate for the reform of the regulatory framework of the Zbc in transforming the state broadcaster into a public broadcaster.
The FOI Act must be implemented holistically with the legislature taking an active role in holding bearers of information accountable in fully implementing the fifth policy strategic pillar of access to information and knowledge.
The sixth and final strategic pillar addresses the question of local content, wherein through the interventions of addressing a consolidated fund for the media, there can be a structured fund to support content creation.
Zimbabwe's democracy as a whole is at the crossroads. A vibrant, diverse and inclusive media serves as the bedrock of entrenching democracy and constitutionalism.
Parliament, particularly the committee on information, media and broadcasting services has an opportunity to contribute to this democratic trajectory by filling the legislative gaps in implementing the Zimbabwe's media policy.
- *Nigel Nyamutumbu is a media development practitioner serving as the coordinator of a network of journalistic professional associations and media support organizations the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ). He can be contacted on [email protected] or +263772501557. He made this submission at an engagement and mobilisation meeting with the parliamentary portfolio committee on information, media and broadcasting services coordinated by MAZ on April 9, 2026 in Harare.
