Parliamentary committee says broadcasting act is unconstitutional

A Zimbabwean parliamentary committee has said the Broadcasting Act gazetted last year using Presidential powers is illegal and violates sections of the country's constitution.

News reports on Wednesday said the finding of the committee was contained in a report expected to be debated in parliament on the same day. In response to the report, Jonathan Moyo, minister for information and publicity, was quoted as saying: "It smacks of an ambush because I was not consulted. No one said anything to me. I only heard the thing being read in parliament, but we need to discuss the regulations and vote on them in the democratic style that parliament enjoys."

The new broadcasting regulations came in the wake of a ruling by the Zimbabwe Supreme Court last September, which nullified the state's broadcasting monopoly. The judgement made null and void the Broadcasting Act under which the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) was made sole broadcaster in Zimbabwe.