Laws such as the discredited Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), used to license and regulate the media; the Official Secrets Act (OSA), to broadly embargo information held by public bodies and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), to hinder free establishment of private radio stations, remained entrenched in the country’s statutes. Other restrictive laws include the Public Order and Security Act, Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act (CECA), and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. This should also be viewed against the government’s accelerated efforts to introduce the cybercrime laws, generally perceived as intended to curb free speech online. These laws essentially curtail citizens’ right to freedom of assembly and association, demonstrate and petition, including the right to freedom of conscience, as provided for by Sections 58, 59 and 60 of the Constitution as well as Sections 61 and 62 which protect the right to free expression, media freedom and access to information. Encouraging though is that President Mnangagwa in his State of the Nation Address to the 9th Parliament of Zimbabwe, singled out AIPPA and BSA as among the laws that will be tabled for amendment. Similarly, the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services led by Monica Mutsvangwa, in November 2018 held consultative meetings with key media stakeholders to get input into the form and shape the envisaged reforms should take. That as it may be, the question being generally asked is whether the President will live up to his promises and whip his ruling Zanu PF with its two-thirds parliamentary majority, to play ball and not scupper the long overdue media laws and policy reforms. ❖ Political Context and Key Events It is trite to note that the above-mentioned envisaged reforms have been outstanding since the inception of the 2013 Constitution and should be viewed against the ecstatic jubilations that engulfed the country following Mugabe’s ouster in November 2017.