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RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000044 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B.WALCH 
DRL FOR N. WILETT 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR M. GAVIN 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA LALLISON AND BSTRASSBERGER 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM KPAO ZI
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF NEW MEDIA COMMISSION 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) The GOZ has named members of the Zimbabwe Media 
Commission (ZMC), a regulatory body that will receive and 
process applications for media publishing licenses.  Media 
groups view this development as an opportunity to democratize 
the media environment in Zimbabwe.  However, they question 
the independence of the regulatory body and have expressed 
fears that the ZMC might be paralyzed by the diametrically 
opposed viewpoints of the commissioners.  Appointments to the 
other three new constitutional commissions -- electoral, 
human rights, and anti-corruption -- have yet to be either 
fully disclosed or determined.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Media Commission a Product of Compromise 
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¶2.  (U) On December 23, 2009, at a joint press conference, 
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai 
named Godfrey Majonga as chairman and Nqobile Nyathi as 
deputy chair of the newly constituted Zimbabwe Media 
Commission (ZMC).  Other members of the nine-member 
commission are Henry Muradzikwa, Matthew Takaona, Millicent 
Mombeshora, Chris Mhike, Chris Mutsvangwa, Miriam Madziwa and 
Lawton Hikwa.  The Commission will receive and process 
applications for publishing licenses and other functions as 
directed by Parliament. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Majonga is currently Deputy Director of Danhiko 
Project, a Harare-based NGO focused on delivering benefits to 
disabled Zimbabweans.  First Lady Grace Mugabe serves as 
Danhiko's patron and her visits to the center have been 
extensively covered by the local media.  Little is known 
about Majonga's predisposition in terms of media freedom 
issues except that he worked as a TV presenter for the 
state-controlled monopoly broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting 
Corporation (ZBC).  ZBC is known for its positive coverage of 
ZANU-PF.  It is likely that Majonga, along with former ZBC 
Chief Executive Officer Muradzikwa, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 
Divisional Head Mombeshora, former diplomat Mutsvangwa and 
National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Dean 
Hikwa, all favor ZANU-PF. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Deputy Chairperson, Nqobile Nyathi is a media 
lecturer at NUST and reports to Hikwa.  She was previously 
editor of the Daily News when it was shut down in 2003 by the 
now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC).  She also 
worked for the Financial Gazette, before it transferred 
ownership to Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono in 2003. 
Along with media lawyer Chris Mhike and journalist Miriam 
Madziwa, Nyathi is seen as a reform-minded individual with 
vast knowledge of the journalism profession.  She is close to 
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe and sources at NUST say 
she has authored several speeches for her. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Takaona, who served for ten years as President of 
the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), and Hikwa, an IV 
Alum (2000), have worked in the government-controlled 
QAlum (2000), have worked in the government-controlled 
Zimbabwe Newspapers Group, publishers of the only dailies in 
the country (the Herald and the Chronicle), as journalist and 
board member respectively.  They supported government actions 
against independent media, including defending the legality 
of the MIC when it was challenged by independent media 
journalists.  ZUJ President Takaona campaigned for media 
reform and was part of initiatives to form a self-regulatory 
 
HARARE 00000044  002 OF 003 
 
 
body, the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ), but he 
also, in stepping down as President, participated in 
anti-democratic ZUJ elections that assured him a continued 
role as consultant to the Union.  Hikwa's resignation from 
the Zimpapers board has never been explained publicly and was 
viewed by some as an act of independence; however, he is 
close to Mugabe's spokesperson, George Charamba, and is said 
to be a defender of ZA 
NU-PF policies. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Free Media Advocates Prepare for Disappointment 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶6.  (U) In a statement released January 15, leading media 
advocacy group, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) 
said the commission was "a potential vehicle to democratize 
the media, long shackled by political controls."  MISA was 
skeptical, however, of the independence of the new media 
regulatory body to promote diverse and plural media.  MISA 
said ZMC would operate under the very same repressive legal 
instruments that had decimated the private media and hindered 
the proliferation of alternative sources of information. 
Andrew Moyse, head of independent media monitoring group, 
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ), was quoted in 
the media saying the ZMC "might be paralyzed by the 
diametrically opposing viewpoints of the commissioners.  The 
ZANU-PF elements in the commission will resist reform.  It is 
a bit of a mixed bag, but we understand because this is a 
product of heavy compromises everywhere." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) There has been little information about when the 
ZMC will begin receiving and processing applications for 
licenses from prospective publishers.  Deputy Minister of 
Media, Information, and Publicity Jameson Timba said there 
were still a few issues that had to be addressed before the 
commission begins its work.  He said the ZMC was already 
defined in terms of the Access to Information and Protection 
of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and therefore did not need any law to 
formalize its operations.  There is no provision requiring 
the taking of oaths -- whether in the Constitution or in the 
relevant Act -- for the new commissioners.  Mutsvangwa 
reportedly told a meeting convened by the Dutch Embassy that 
all the ZMC required to begin its work was an official 
publication in the Government Gazette formally announcing the 
commissioners.  Takaona and Mhike said they still have not 
received formal communication from the government regarding 
their appointment to the ZMC on January 20. 
 
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Other Commissions Not Yet Completed 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The three other constitutionally-mandated 
commissions have lagged behind the ZMC in terms of 
appointments.  The government has announced commission 
members for the electoral commission and human rights 
commission, but has not disclosed who will chair and deputy 
these commissions. 
Qthese commissions. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶9.  (SBU) With the announcement of the ZMC, organizations 
such as the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), 
publishers of the banned Daily News, and the Zimind 
Publishers -- which has announced plans for a daily newspaper 
-- have some hope that their publications will be licensed. 
 
HARARE 00000044  003 OF 003 
 
 
But questions remain as to how independent the ZMC will be, 
and AIPPA poses a continuing threat to press freedoms.  There 
are high hopes for enhanced press freedom under the new media 
commission, but we will wait to see how events develop before 
drawing conclusions.  END COMMENT. 
 
RAY