Banned Zim daily refused licence again

HARARE – A government commission has for the second time refused a licence to Zimbabwe’s largest private daily newspaper, dashing hopes it could resume publishing.

In a ruling seen by Reuters yesterday, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) said Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the Daily News, had contravened tough press laws enacted in 2002. The Supreme Court in March ordered the MIC to reconsider a 2003 edict that shut down the Daily News, once a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government, raising the prospect that the paper could reopen.However, the commission said ANZ had, among other things, employed unaccredited journalists, published without a registration certificate and continued to operate after the Supreme Court ruled that the paper was publishing illegally.”Having found that the applicant has contravened sections…of the (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy) Act the application for registration is hereby denied,” the MIC ruling said.ANZ officials were not immediately available for comment but its chief executive Sam Nkomo has said previously the long wait for a licence had financially crippled the newspaper.The Daily News was closed by police in September 2003 for failing to register with the MIC under laws also used to shut other private media firms.The Supreme Court has upheld some tough elements of Zimbabwe’s press laws after turning down ANZ’s request to strike down provisions such as the stipulation that only Zimbabwean citizens may work permanently as journalists in the country.ANZ had argued the registration law was unconstitutional and designed to curb free speech.Last July the commission closed another paper, the weekly Tribune, published by Africa Tribune Newspapers, which it accused of failing to notify a change in the company’s name as required by law.It cancelled another regional paper’s licence early this year, saying it had lied in its application.The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says the media and security laws are part of a package of legislation that have given Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party an unfair advantage in elections, which the government denies.However, Mugabe has argued that the media were being used by his domestic and foreign foes in a propaganda campaign to discredit his government over its policy of seizing white-owned farms for redistribution among blacks.- Nampa-ReutersThe Supreme Court in March ordered the MIC to reconsider a 2003 edict that shut down the Daily News, once a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government, raising the prospect that the paper could reopen.However, the commission said ANZ had, among other things, employed unaccredited journalists, published without a registration certificate and continued to operate after the Supreme Court ruled that the paper was publishing illegally.”Having found that the applicant has contravened sections…of the (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy) Act the application for registration is hereby denied,” the MIC ruling said.ANZ officials were not immediately available for comment but its chief executive Sam Nkomo has said previously the long wait for a licence had financially crippled the newspaper.The Daily News was closed by police in September 2003 for failing to register with the MIC under laws also used to shut other private media firms.The Supreme Court has upheld some tough elements of Zimbabwe’s press laws after turning down ANZ’s request to strike down provisions such as the stipulation that only Zimbabwean citizens may work permanently as journalists in the country.ANZ had argued the registration law was unconstitutional and designed to curb free speech.Last July the commission closed another paper, the weekly Tribune, published by Africa Tribune Newspapers, which it accused of failing to notify a change in the company’s name as required by law.It cancelled another regional paper’s licence early this year, saying it had lied in its application.The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says the media and security laws are part of a package of legislation that have given Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party an unfair advantage in elections, which the government denies.However, Mugabe has argued that the media were being used by his domestic and foreign foes in a propaganda campaign to discredit his government over its policy of seizing white-owned farms for redistribution among blacks.- Nampa-Reuters