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Alert

ANZ licensing decision falls to minister, following judge's ruling that media commission chairman is biased

(MISA/IFEX) - The Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe's (ANZ) legal battle to be granted an operating licence has taken a new twist, with the Minister of Information Dr. Tichaona Jokonya now expected to decide the publishing company's fate.

This comes in the wake of reports that the chairman of the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC), Dr. Tafataona Mahoso, admitted that a High Court ruling barred the MIC from involvement in the ANZ case.

On 8 February 2006, High Court judge Justice Rita Makarau ruled that Mahoso was biased against ANZ, publishers of the banned "Daily News" and "Daily News on Sunday". Makarau ruled that the MIC board's impartiality was tainted by the proven bias of its chairman, barring all members of the MIC from involvement in the consideration of ANZ's application.

The weekly "Financial Gazette" reported in its 16 March edition that Mahoso had since conceded that the judgment barred them from determining the ANZ application. This shifts the resolution of the matter to Minister Jokonya.

The minister, as the appointing authority, can appoint a special board to determine the application or can instruct the MIC secretariat to issue a certificate of registration.

The ANZ management has already written to the minister appealing for his intervention. ANZ legal adviser Mordecai Mahlangu, however, expressed disappointment that the minister had not yet responded to their letters of appeal, written on 22 February and 13 March.

"We are distressed by this. We are all patriots and would like this matter to be resolved in the best interests of the country," said Mahlangu.