CCC, Zanu-PF, ZEC in indaba
Zimbabwe's main political parties, the public, and private media editors, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and the government met in Kadoma recently for a two-day indaba to dialogue and chart the 2023 information dissemination roadmap.
In his opening remarks, the organizers of the indaba, the Zimbabwe Institute, ZI Executive Director Isaac Maposa said, “We are here to build a nation primarily… through our words, we can build our country”.
Citizens Coalition for Change, CCC secretary-general Chalton Hwende told delegates at the indaba, “We have had elections since 1980, but for the first time we think if we started early if the government listens to some of the issues that we are proposing we hope that for the first time we will have an election that is not contested, an election where the loser can congratulate the winner.”
Christopher Mutsvangwa, the Zanu PF spokesperson weighed in saying, “This is a good thing for Zimbabwe to bring all the political voices together so that we can sharpen our minds and focus our minds on that which unites us and minimise on that which divides us and prepare for the most important event in our five-year calendar which is the elections coming in 2023.”
Secretary General of the Douglas Mwonzora led MDC, Paurina Mpariwa called professionalism in the media, “As we approach 2023, we need the Fourth Estate, that is the media which operates professionally, freely, and protected as well… Let's do it differently this time so that everyone will see, that everyone will read, everyone, will agree.”
University of Zimbabwe Dean of the Law Faculty, Innocent Maja, however, pointed out that the media still faces many challenges in adequately executing its watchdog role. He cited the partisan nature of reporting by public and private media; inaccurate, unbalanced, and biased reporting by media; State media bias in the representation of political players; unprofessional conduct by media personnel, propaganda, disinformation and hate speech; and weak regulatory mechanisms that fail to ensure compliance with the law among some the challenges faced by the media.
ZIMBABWE'S three political parties in Parliament, Zanu-PF, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and MDC Alliance (MDC-A) have called for a truce ahead of the 2023 general elections.
