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Nick Mangwana, Special Correspondent
Access to information is a key ingredient in achieving democracy in any polity. The right to information is a universally acknowledged virtue and Zimbabwe’s Constitution recognises this sacrosanct value whereby citizens have the right to receive and impart information.

In the practice of democracy, information is strategic.

As Zimbabwe pursues its reform agenda in line with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, information plays a role in mediating Government and the general public’s messaging and communication intercourse.

At the centre of this, Government, through the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, has done the following is committed to run an open and informed administration that is a clear departure from the previous regime.

Since the inception of the Second Republic, the Ministry has undertaken a number of initiatives to mediate the reform agenda. These include:

·Opening and running official social media interactive platforms, where key information on Government activities is updated and debated;

· Introducing the Post Cabinet Briefings to update the public on discussions in Cabinet, which are pre-dominantly economic-focused;

· Roundtable discussions to discuss with media stakeholders, including the media, civil society, advertisers, and other interested parties on the media reform process, in particular amendment of existing laws and alignment with the Constitution;

· An all stakeholder conference as Government pursues inclusive participatory politics to come up with a National Media Policy to ensure that all sectarian interests are catered for;

· Going full throttle to complete the digitalisation project, which would enable Government to open up the airwaves to private players under the mantra Zimbabwe is Open for Media Business. Digitalisation widens the spectrum and can accommodate more channels compared to the analogue system that is currently there.

Reforms – Governance, economy and national healing
This instalment highlights three components under Zimbabwe’s reform agenda, namely governance, economy and national healing that have been in recent discussion in the country.

Zimbabwe is actively opening the democratic space and the last election in July was a significant marker in the exercise. It shall be recalled that among a raft of measures to ensure a free, fair, transparent and fool-proof election as a cornerstone of democratic transition. To that end, Government;

· Fully implemented the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise, including the opposition in the process, through the testing of the kits in their presence before selecting a suitable supplier;

· Allowed the opposition to view the printing of the ballots;

· Invited international observers, including the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, the United States, The Elders, who had been banished from observing the country’s elections in the First Republic;

· Allowed and facilitated the opposition to freely campaign without fear of intimidation in Zanu-PF rural strongholds;

· Steadfastly followed and adhered to the Constitution and the country’s electoral laws;

· Allowed civil society and political parties to undertake rigorous voter education campaigns;

· The media, both public and private, were allowed to go about their 4th Estate role without fear or favour, or fear of Government reprisals. Government observed freedom of the media;

· Freedom of expression was promoted as Government let the 5th Estate do its job, with citizen journalists and netizens freely campaigning, critiquing and debating on political issues;

· All political parties were granted live coverage by the public media to market their manifestos, while the mandatory equal media coverage, two weeks prior to the election as prescribed in the Electoral Act was followed to the letter and spirit.

To show his commitment to the reform process in the post-election period, following the unfortunate violent disturbances of 1 August 2018, which resulted in the death of six people, President Mnangagwa appointed an independent commission chaired by Former South African President, Kgalema Motlanthe, to investigate the disturbances.

The Motlanthe Commission comprises a mix of various eminent persons from South Africa, the UK, Nigeria and Tanzania. The President has not spared a cent to ensure that the Commission unravels what happened on the day in question, and as a listening President, he will implement recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission.

Apart from opening up democratic space, Government through the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) and the 2019 National Budget has shown considerable commitment to ensuring the realisation of economic and political reform. The TSP in Part IV titled “Governance Reforms,” makes a key commitment to observe the rule of law; political governance and democratisation; respect for human and property rights; national unity, peace and reconciliation, tolerance; and freedoms of expression and association.

The country’s re-engagement efforts with the international community for it to be re-admitted into community of nations is premised on the country narrowing, and ultimately extinguishing its democracy deficit.

Already, the foregoing commitments as outlined under the TSP are finding expression in the actions of Government as enunciated in the 2019 National Budget;

· It set aside US$53 million to compensate former white commercial white farmers for developments on the farms that were compulsorily acquired, which will be an ongoing process going forward;

· Ensured the election of members of the Provincial Councils during the 31 July 2018 elections, which signalled the start of devolution of power as demanded by the Constitution. In addition, to give life to these Provincial Councils, US$310 million was allocated for them and local authorities; and

· Allocated US$39.3 million towards the digitalisation project.

In addition, on the economic front, Government, through the frugal measures announced in the 2019 National Budget, has

· Slashed the basic salaries of senior Government officials by 5 percent;

· Limited international travel by Government officials;

· Only given annual bonus on basic salary for civil servants;

· Limited unregulated use of pool vehicles in the civil service;

· Readjusted the personal issue vehicle financing scheme to reflect the “Austerity for Prosperity,” motto of the new dispensation;

· Dismissed over 3 000 Youth officers; and

· Retired all those above the retirement age of 65 years.

Prior to the elections, Government assigned Vice President Kembo Mohadi to oversee the National Peace and Reconciliation Portfolio, which is aimed at healing the wounds of past conflict. Consultations across all the provinces were done to ensure that the correct model of uniting the nation and healing it is achieved. It is an ongoing process.

In addition, the new dispensation has revised the Indigenisation Policy to reflect the Zimbabwe is Open for Business mantra by retaining the 51/49 threshold on platinum and diamonds only, while other sectors of the economy were open to investment on flexible terms. This has resulted in the protection of property rights of foreign companies that were already operating in the country, who had become targets of indigenisation from unscrupulous indigenous business persons.

At this rate, there is no doubt that Zimbabwe is vigorously pursuing a reformist agenda, which is aimed at re-integrating Zimbabwe into the community of nations, opening up democratic space, developing the country’s economy and healing the wounds of past conflict.

*Mr Mangwana is the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. He is also the Spokesperson of the Government of Zimbabwe.