Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that any restrictions on the right to freedom of expression must be reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democracy. Such restrictions should be proportionate and the harm to freedom of expression should not outweigh the benefits of the restrictions. However, in Zimbabwe it is also an offence to make an abusive, indecent, obscene or false statement about the President. For such an offence, POSA imposes a fine of Z$20 000 or a one-year jail term or to both such fine and imprisonment. The Codification Act raises the fine to Z$200 000 while the prison term remains the same. General Laws Amendment Bill Zanu-PF’s explicit intentions to narrow the democratic space were brought to the fore only in September 2005 following the tabling of the General Laws Amendment Bill. This bill yet again seeks to tighten POSA by increasing the penalties against journalists convicted for publishing statements that insult or undermine the authority of the President. The bill, which seeks to amend several other acts, including 22 sections of POSA, has since been referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee. The proposed amendments seek to increase the fine imposed under Section 16 of POSA from Z$20 000 to Z$2 million. The penalty fees for those convicted under Section 15 will now be Z$10 million or five years or both such fine and imprisonment. Unauthorised public gatherings for the purposes of rioting or causing disorder will attract a fine of Z$10 million. Secret service media ownership scandal The ubiquity of this onslaught against basic freedoms gets increasingly murky in the wake of reports that the country’s secret service, the Central Intelligence Organisation, has acquired a controlling stake in the ‘privately owned’ Zimbabwe Mirror Newspapers Group, publishers of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. This leaves the three financial weeklies – The Financial Gazette, Zimbabwe Standard and Zimbabwe Independent – as the only truly privately owned publications following the closure of the Daily News, Daily News on Sunday, Tribune and The Weekly Times. Accreditation Section 79 of AIPPA states that the Media and Information Commission (MIC) may accredit journalists and issue them with press cards, annually. The MIC, which is answerable to the responsible minister and the executive, determines whether or not one is qualified to practice as a journalist, and there are no fixed criteria related to such qualifications. Section 79 contradicts Section 20 of the constitution in that it restricts the right to freedom of expression to those who the minister decides to accredit. In other words, the MIC, not media houses, decides who can work as a journalist in Zimbabwe. The resignation of veteran journalist Jonathan Maphenduka from the MIC on August 18 2005 sheds light on the biased nature of the commission’s decisions. Maphenduka resigned over what he described as the MIC’s ill-advised decisions to close down four newspapers. In addition to the restrictive legislative environment, journalists have to contend with poor working conditions, low salaries and an inferior skills base due to inadequate investment in training resources and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). This has affected morale and the quality of stories with most journalists preferring to sell their investigative So This Is Democracy? 2005 -145- Media Institute of Southern Africa