By Mlondolozi Ndlovu

President Mugabe appointed 14 new ministers last week with the notable appointment being that of the new Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services where Chris Mushowe was appointed.
Mushowe replaces the former Minister and Zanu PF spin doctor Professor Jonathan Moyo who was demoted/ re-assigned to the less influential Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.

The incoming ‘man who controls words’ comes into the ministry at a time the President had left the space vacant in the previous reshuffle where Moyo and others were re-assigned.
A lot of theories were proposed on why Mugabe has left the post vacant, with the succession politics at play, mentioned as the major reason.

It should also be noted that the outgoing Minister was involved in various tags of war with rival factions within the party as they all accused him of ‘destroying’ Zanu PF through the media.
At one point Moyo was even labeled the ‘devil incarnate’ by President Mugabe at the burial of Nathan Shamuyarira and had Zanu PF members demanding at several times that he be revealed.

Unlike Moyo Mushowe will have to thread very cautiously at least to avoid being ‘booted out’ or ‘demoted’ as has been the norm in Mugabe cabinet, which is rotated as a coach substituting players in a friendly match.
This therefore makes the appointment of Mushowe as the new Minister not to inspire any hope for the Zimbabwean media, considering that Moyo was fired when he was in the right direction is as far as the industry was concerned.

For instance it was during Moyo’s tenure that 8 new radio stations were licensed which meant liberalization of the air waves (never mind the controversy behind individuals given licenses).
Mushowe’s duty will be to make sure that he completes the three tier broadcasting system espoused in the Broadcasting Services Act and the African Charter on Broadcasting.

With Moyo already having ensured that Zimbabwe gets more commercial licenses, one wonders if Zanu PF with the fears of losing the 2018 elections will allow Mushowe to license Community radios.
One of the most effective ways that political messages can have an impact (especially when they are propaganda) is when they are not responded to, hence it will be difficult for Mushowe to allow for this.

Secondly Mushowe will have to implement the recommendations from the Ministry appointed Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) which called for the Govt to implement various reforms in the media.
Among the reforms that the commission noted are the need for the repealing of the Access to Information and allow journalists to operate without hurdles.

This means they will be need for the government to give journalists and members of the public access to ‘public’ information as stated in our constitution.
However, if there is anything that Zanu PF will not do is provide access to this kind of democracy especially if it’s true as analysts have said that the current cabinet is a ‘succession’ cabinet’.

The other thing that Mushowe will have to deal with is the digitization process, to allow for the improvement of quality programming and opening up the much constrained airwaves.

The country’s sole television broadcasting station ZBC TV will also give Mushowe a terrible headache i.e having to deal with reducing expenses in the back drop of the KMP Audit.

He will have to deal with boasting confidence in the few remaining workers while at the same time transforming the broadcaster into a truly public broadcasting station as stipulating in the supreme law.
However, all this will prove to be a daunting task for Mushowe given the unrepentant Zanu PF way of doing things which places politics at the expense of innovation.

All the best CDE Minister!