MUMBAI: Zimbabwe will soon have its second television station that will broadcast under the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation‘s (ZBC‘s) stable.
The development comes at a time when private media players have been waiting for the newly set up Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to call for radio and television licence applications in accordance with the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that brought about Zimbabwe‘s new unity government.
The news also comes at a time when Zanu PF is decrying and de-campaigning exiled radio stations that are challenging ZBC‘s monopoly.
ZBC, the country‘s sole broadcaster, has been accused of being a mouthpiece for President Robert Mugabe‘s Zanu PF party. Prime Minister Tsvangirai‘s MDC says ZBC TV continues to make broadcasts biased against his party, now in government, in violation of the GPA, which says it must provide balanced and fair coverage to all political parties.