A news report on Thursday quoted Welshman Ncube saying that the talks which began on Monday focused on "western sanctions against Zimbabwe, pirate radio stations and government appointments including those of the attorney general and reserve bank governor". While another report said ZANU PF wants 'the MDC to rein in its supporters in western capitals running "pirate" radio stations'.
Guys - please - get a grip. We're not controlled, owned or are even members of the MDC. They can do nothing to have us closed down. Our broadcasts on shortwave and via the internet are completely legal and we want nothing more than a free, peaceful, democratic Zimbabwe. And yes we do believe that Zimbabweans have an absolute right to the information that has been denied them for so many years.
Perhaps I can remind you of the fact that in 2000 I challenged the government's broadcasting monopoly in the Supreme Court and won the right to set up the first independent radio station, on the basis that freedom of expression was enshrined in Zimbabwe's constitution. But Robert Mugabe used his presidential powers to have the station shut down after just 6 days, ignoring his country's own constitution and courts of law.
Get rid of the appalling broadcasting regulations which were introduced in response to this court ruling. Allow myriad broadcasters to apply for a license, register as many as you can. Those that are any good will survive, the bad ones will go the way of all bad media. Get some decent newspapers on the streets, allow as many community radio stations as you can cram onto a waveband.
If you want to get rid of radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe - free the media. Really free it. It really is that simple. Discussion over, now will you PLEASE start talking about the real issues. You have a population that's desperate, investors ready to throw money at Zimbabwe the minute there is a guaranteed return to the rule of law, respect for property rights, an end to the political intimidation and the massive human rights abuses - and Gono and Tomana really do have to go.
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Gerry, I thank you for your declaration of independent radio as the expression of free people and their right to imformation so as they can form their OWN opinions.The TRUTH is something that cant be manifested because it is what it is!Once the truth is suppressed,tainted or perverted it no longer is the truth!
I think MDC does not stand chance to order the so called controversial broadcasts at all. They do not own them neither do they have the mandate to tell them what to air and what not to air. GNU was a very good idea. Now voters got to know which of the three parties is their own. It is your performance guys that builds or reduce your rating. It is not propaganda, beating, historical poems or mighty power that counts. It is delivery spiced with honesty. Even if the GNU continue for 5 years our destiny is very clear, the writing is on the wall. Ziva nemoyo. We all want the sanctions to go. Even MDC wants suctions to go. The problem is out standing issues. I bet you if the out sanding issues are solved the so called sanctions suffer a natural lift. The negotiators know this.
does anyone know what 'pirate' stations these guys are even talking about? Who actually runs them? What frequency are they on? Out of where? Botswana?
Maybe it's the pirates off the somali coast broadcasting.
Has ZANU-Poof ever provided these "pirate" radio stations are funded by MDC-T? Maybe Zimbabweans in the diaspora are so pissed-off about the situation in Zimbabwe that they have pooled their resources to denouces the kleptocracy that IS ZANU-Poof/Mugabe!
On the other hand, ZANU-Poof and the CIO have found no difficulty fabricating evidence against their opposition in Zimbabwe proper when they use POSA to imprison and torture their opposition, so again, it begs the question: How is MDC-T supossed to "stop" the allegedly "pirate" radio stations from broadcasting.
Isn't dissent an essential part of a free democracy? Oh, I forgot, we're talking about Zimbabwe here................
"Totall Empowerment!" - for a kleptocracy of fools and "war veterans" who were too young to have actually fought in the "liberation"............
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