Zimbabwe urged torepeal repressive laws

Media practitioners and Press freedom advocates have urged the Zimbabwean government to repeal colonial-era and repressive media laws, warning that democracy cannot thrive in an environment where journalists face intimidation, arrests, and persecution.

The call was made at the ongoing Southern Africa Media Summit in Harare, held under the theme "Strengthening Independent Journalism for Democracy and Nation Building."

Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) chairman Trevor Ncube decried the deteriorating state of Press freedom across southern Africa, blaming restrictive legislation for suppressing independent voices.

"Across southern Africa, 87% of attacks on journalism involve State actors, with the police being responsible for most of them," Ncube said. "Our Press freedom rankings are falling. Repressive laws such as the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and the Cyber and Data Protection Act must go."

Ncube referenced the 1991 Windhoek Declaration, which established the principles of a free and pluralistic Press, lamenting that its spirit has been betrayed over time.

"We should not be arrested, detained, or intimidated to prove that we live in a resilient democracy," he added. "The State or government should stop this kind of nonsense."

Ncube also dismissed the notion that independent media serve opposition parties, insisting that true journalism holds all power to account.

"Opposition political parties want praise-singers, not journalists. When we expose your ethical failures, suddenly the media is captured," he said. "Real journalism offends everyone eventually. We are equal opportunity offenders. Let me be clear, State repression remains a brutal threat."

Human rights lawyer Chris Mhike echoed the call for reform, stressing the need to align the country's media laws with constitutional guarantees.

"There is a gap between what is promised and what is lived in reality," Mhike said. "Many of the statutes are not consistent with the promises in the Constitution. It is our duty as journalists and citizens to ensure that draconian legislation is aligned with the Constitution."

Helen Sithole, representing the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe, acknowledged incremental progress but said more needed to be done to protect freedom of expression.

"We are making some positive progress, but when we look at our laws, they need further alignment with the freedoms echoed in our Constitution," Sithole said.

Sharing experiences from Kenya, Judie Kaberia, acting country director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, said journalists in Nairobi face increasing threats, including police brutality and the shutdown of media broadcasts.

"The police went out and they targeted the journalists. And then they went to the satellites where they have their signals and they switched off the signals," Kaberia said, describing incidents where security forces attacked reporters and disabled media infrastructure.

She emphasised the need for collaboration between civil society, legal bodies, and development partners to defend Press freedom.

"What we did is to work very fast with civil society, the Law Society of Kenya, and other organisations," she explained. "If we don't have freedom of the media, if the media cannot speak for the people, then no one else will speak."

The summit continues amid growing regional concerns over shrinking civic space and the erosion of media independence in southern Africa.