Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe urges responsible authorities to uphold the media’s right to access and equally cover events in the public interest as provided and protected by the Constitution’s Section 61 on freedom of expression and freedom of the media and Section 62 on access to information.
Section 62 (1) states: Every Zimbabwean citizen or permanent resident, including juristic persons and the Zimbabwean media, has the right of access to any information held by the State or by any institution or agency of government at every level, in so far as the information is required in the interests of public accountability.
This statement followed, Midlands Minister of State and Devolution Affairs Owen Ncube who has been reportedly banned two journalists from The Mirror and NewsDay from covering government functions in the province.
The meeting is reported to hsve occurred at the Minister’s boardroom in Gweru on 27 February 2024.
The Minister is allegedly to have asked journalists to identify themselves and then singled out the two journalists for representing “newspapers that attack government”.
He then asked his security to see them out.
MISA, urged aggrieved parties to lodge their complaints with the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe or the Zimbabwe Media Commission for redress instead of issuing unilateral and detrimental sanctions against media houses.