Voule notes that Zimbabwe was suffering from political polarisation and poor governance at a time when the worsening economic environment has added to people’s discontent with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government. Civic space continues to deteriorate, re-establishing an environment of fear and persecution, he further noted. political context and key events As highlighted in our 2019 State of the Media Report, the above scenario comes at a time when the country continues on its socio-economic and political meltdown bringing into question the government’s commitment to undertake fundamental legislative and economic reforms. Prices of basic goods continue to spiral with inflation pegged above 700% while the perennial fuel and cash shortages persist in an economy that is already hurting and is likely to be worsened by the global COVID-19 pandemic which has seen the country imposing its own lockdown measures since 30 March 2020. Several journalists were caught in the crossfire of the implementation of the 21-day national lockdown, with several of them being harassed assaulted or detained by the police and soldiers despite the media being declared an essential service in terms of the COVID-19 regulations. In February this year Reserve Bank Governor, Dr John Mangudya, said foreign direct investment had fallen from US$717,1 million in 2018 to US$259 million in 2019. According to the World Economic Outlook Report issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Zimbabwe’s economy will shrink by -7.4% in 2020 on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, IMF had forecast GDP growth of 0.8 percent. Post the pandemic, IMF projects 2.5 percent growth for 2021. Zimbabwe’s humanitarian and economic crises comes at a time when the impasse over the working conditions and salaries of health workers spilled into 2020 unresolved as witnessed by the continuous strikes by nurses and doctors in addition to similar actions by the country’s teachers. In the meantime, the government forged ahead with its plans to amend the Constitution following completion of the public hearings on the Constitution Amendment No.2 Bill. Contentious sections proposed for amendment, among others, include removal of the presidential running mate clause, tenure (extension of) office of judges, delimitation of constituencies, appointment of the Prosecutor General without public interviews and selection of judges without public interviews. These proposals were generally rejected during the public hearings. It therefore remains to be seen whether the will of the people will be respected given that the 2013 Constitution was endorsed by an overwhelming 94.5% of voters when it was subjected to a referendum. While the Freedom of Information Act has since been signed into law, the government has since gazetted the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill, which is strong on surveillance of citizens and weak on balancing cyber security with the enjoyment of fundamental rights such as free expression online, privacy and protection of personal data. 3