By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has temporarily suspended the accreditation of journalists for the year 2020.
This follows a high court interdict obtained by Zimbabwe Online Content Creators for the suspension of the accreditation.
However anumber of journalists from the state controlled media and private media had already received the 2020 ZMC accreditation cards.
“The Zimbabwe Media Commission has temporarily suspended the accreditation of all media practitioners following a High Court Interdict obtained by the Zimbabwe Online Content Creators Trust (ZOCC). The High Court judgement interdicts the Commission from proceeding with the current accreditation framework that had introduced two additional categories for filmmakers and online content creators which in the past were accredited as journalists.”
Accreditation will resume after resolutions are made.
“The Commission will soon issue a statement on the resumption of the accreditation process after meeting with stakeholders and the legal implications of the judgement. It is in the spirit of upholding the Court judgement that the Commission has temporarily stopped accreditation of media practitioners. The Commission needs time to interpret and understand the judgement and its implications.”
The Commission said that they will soon be meeting with stakeholders to deliberate on the issue of accreditation of media practitioners. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the legal instrument proving for registration and accreditation, only provides for the accreditation of journalists who meet certain basic standards as contained in Statutory instrument 169C of 2002, Second Schedule (Section 2) and the requirements as per Form AP3 which is part of the schedule.
The ZMC this year had introduced different categories for the accreditation process.