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afrol.com, 25 September - The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's monopoly over the airwaves has been nullified by a Supreme Court ruling, thus paving the way for other players to enter the broadcasting scene. The Supreme Court ruled on September 22 that a private broadcaster, Capital Radio Limited, could operate and provide a broadcasting service from within the country. The State Broadcaster is to continue its monopoly, however, the responsible minister, Jonathan Moyo informed. In a two page landmark ruling, the full bench of the court ruled that Capital Radio was entitled to import and utilise broadcasting equipment in Zimbabwe, subject to the laws of the country. The Supreme Court declared that the monopoly on broadcasting services created by Section 27 of the Broadcasting Act was inconsistent with Section 20 of the Constitution. The court said that the monopoly of the ZBC was therefore invalid in so far as it vested in the ZBC the exclusive privilege of carrying on a broadcasting service in Zimbabwe. The ruling also declared that Section 14 of the Radio Communication Services Act was inconsistent with Section 20 of the Constitution and, therefore, invalid in so far as they prohibited any person, other than the ZBC, from possessing or working a radio station for the purpose of carrying on a broadcasting service in Zimbabwe. The full bench of the Supreme Court made the ruling in the Constitutional application between Capital Radio, and the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, cited as the respondent. In June this year, the Supreme Court dismissed Capital Radio's application for a license to broadcast in Zimbabwe within 10 days, saying there was no urgency to issue it with the license since the Government had taken steps to amend the Broadcasting Act. The Supreme Court ruling is similar to the one it made in 1995 in a matter in which a private cellular phone company, Econet, was challenging the Posts and Telecommunications Act, which made no provision for the existence of private telecommunications companies. The court ruled that section 26(1) of Chapter 250 of the PTC Act was ultra vires Section 20(1) of the Constitution. Section 20(1) of the Zimbabwe Constitution says: "Except with his own consent or by way of parental discipline, no personal shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference, and freedom from interference with his correspondence." State Broadcaster to continue its monopoly The minister's remarks means that Capital Radio will have to wait a while longer to apply for a licence to start operating. Moyo said nobody should broadcast in the country before obtaining a licence. He said this did not mean that the government was not committed to freeing the airwaves as it had shown its commitment by the establishment of a media advisory panel, which was done before the High Court ruling. The Minister said his Government did not want a "broadcasting jungle" and that there was a great need to "control broadcasting" because people would start broadcasting "pornographic and beastly material". He went to on to say that broadcasting was for Zimbabweans and that the government should limit foreign control in the broadcasting sector. He said the broadcasting reform process should be guided by national interest, the constitution and technological changes. Access to broadcasting for everyone in the country was more important that freeing the airwaves, Moyo said. Moyo has said the government would this week put in place mechanisms to set up a regulatory authority.
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