T owards the end of 2014, factional fights spawned by Zanu-PF intra-party contestations to succeed President Mugabe, resulted in the ejection of former Vice President Joice Mujuru from government and eventually the party. This was followed by dismissals and suspensions of her perceived loyalists and included senior party officials and Ministers. This factional war spilled into 2015 and eventually gave birth to two distinct and bitterly-opposed camps – whpd pthe President continuously works hard on containing. The factionalism, coupled with an ailing economy that witnessed massive company closures, staff retrenchment, salary cuts, and reduced working hours across all sectors also filtered down to the media. The operations of the media were affected by a shrinking advertising market and discriminating consumers, posing serious viability and sustainability challenges for media houses. Media houses cut down on staff, froze salaries and streamlined their operations. This led to a decline in media diversity, increased self-censorship, and deterioration in the independence and quality of reporting. Slow progress in media reforms also characterised 2015. Despite adoption of a progressive Constitution in 2013 that guarantees media freedom and freedom of expression and the launch of the country’s Media Panel of Inquiry recommending the reform of oppressive laws, the country has not seen any meaningful shifts in the country’s legislation or policies. 94 So This is Democracy? 2015 For instance Sections 60, 61 and 62 of Zimbabwe’s constitution guarantee the rights to propagate one’s thoughts, media freedom, freedom of expression and access to information. However, most statutes relating to unhindered enjoyment of these liberties have remained intact. Other laws such as the Official Secrets Act, the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (CODE), as well as the Defence and Police Acts, restrict the dissemination of information on the pretext of protecting public security. All this militates against the spirit and letter of the new constitution. The beacon of hope for the media sector was the scrapping of criminal from the statute books by the Constitutional Court. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Media Reforms On 18 March 2015, Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) officially released its report on Zimbabwe’s information and media sector. Launched by the then Media and Broadcasting Services, Minister Jonathan Moyo, in December 2013, the 25 member panel went around the country in a 666-page report which included recommendations that government review misaligned legislation and at the same time recommended the repeal of laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (CODE), Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act (CECA), Official Secrets Act (OSA) and Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act. “The orientation of laws affecting the information sector has been one of control, and not one of viewing this sector anew, as a growth pole in the national