News / Local
Shamu accused of sidelining Bulawayo
04 Dec 2012 at 04:26hrs | Views
A BULAWAYO-BASED community radio project yesterday accused Media, Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu of being reluctant to licence community radio stations in the city.
Youth Star FM director Philani Ncube said Shamu had ignored invitations to discuss media reforms with them.
"We have been inviting the minister a number of times so that we engage him concerning media reforms and the licencing of community radio stations in Bulawayo, but we have not received any responses from him and neither has he attended any of our events," he said.
Ncube said last Thursday they invited Shamu "but he did not even bother to attend or offer an excuse".
"We wanted to engage him and find out how far they have gone with licensing community radio stations in Bulawayo since two commercial radio stations were licensed in Harare, but there has not been anything this side," he said.
Ncube said Youth Star FM was disappointed because the minister "has been concentrating on other issues outside media reforms, but he never seemed to bother himself about Bulawayo".
Contacted for comment, Shamu referred the NewsDay to his secretary a Mrs Hunda who professed ignorance about the invitations.
"We did not receive a single invitation from Youth Star FM," she said.
"Maybe they did not follow the correct procedure of inviting the minister because they were supposed to make an appointment through my office.
"The minister was in Bulawayo for two weeks attending important events there, so he could not leave those events," Hunda said.
"Besides, there are three parties engaged in media reforms, including the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbawe, so they are also supposed to engage those instead of troubling the minister alone," she said.
Youth Star FM director Philani Ncube said Shamu had ignored invitations to discuss media reforms with them.
"We have been inviting the minister a number of times so that we engage him concerning media reforms and the licencing of community radio stations in Bulawayo, but we have not received any responses from him and neither has he attended any of our events," he said.
Ncube said last Thursday they invited Shamu "but he did not even bother to attend or offer an excuse".
"We wanted to engage him and find out how far they have gone with licensing community radio stations in Bulawayo since two commercial radio stations were licensed in Harare, but there has not been anything this side," he said.
Ncube said Youth Star FM was disappointed because the minister "has been concentrating on other issues outside media reforms, but he never seemed to bother himself about Bulawayo".
Contacted for comment, Shamu referred the NewsDay to his secretary a Mrs Hunda who professed ignorance about the invitations.
"We did not receive a single invitation from Youth Star FM," she said.
"Maybe they did not follow the correct procedure of inviting the minister because they were supposed to make an appointment through my office.
"The minister was in Bulawayo for two weeks attending important events there, so he could not leave those events," Hunda said.
"Besides, there are three parties engaged in media reforms, including the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbawe, so they are also supposed to engage those instead of troubling the minister alone," she said.
Source - newsday
