ZBC is thus a state-owned and state-controlled and not public broadcaster. The ZBC Commercialisation Act should thus be repealed accordingly to meet the new constitutional obligations. The present setup lives room for political interference, patronage, nepotism, propaganda, partisan journalism which impacts negatively on the professional and ethical conduct of ZBC. The appointment of an independent ZBC board answerable to Parliament is now of imperative urgency given the new constitutional dispensation as it will go a long in securing the editorial and programming independence of ZBC through a binding Editorial Charter to foster accountability on its envisaged public service mandate. community radio stations The government continued to dither and prevaricate as to when and how it is going to proceed concerning the much awaited licensing of community radio stations as provided for under the Broadcasting Services Act until almost towards the end of the year. Suffice to say, Zimbabwe went into the 12th year without licensing community radio stations despite their being provided for in terms of the BSA of 2001. Instead, the closest there was to further opening of the airwaves, was a renewed call by BAZ in October 2013 for applications for 25 commercial free-to-air provincial radio stations under questionable licensing procedures. Bizarrely, applicants have to indicate directors and shareholders’ political affiliation. digitisation On digitisation, Zimbabwe is likely to miss the International Telecommunications Union’s 2015 deadline let alone the SADC’s 2013 cutoff date due to lack of funds. This comes at a time when the country is still to license privately owned commercial television stations notwithstanding the first ever commercial radio stations which started operating in 2011. That as it may be, the controversy surrounding the licensing of ZiFM and Star FM owned by Supa Mandiwanzira and the state-controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers, makes a strong case for more independently owned radio stations. Mandiwanzira, now deputy Minister of Information, stood and won a parliamentary seat on a Zanu PF ticket in 2013 elections. According to Professor Moyo, digital broadcasting has the potential to support about 80 television services. While he hinted that ZBC’s monopoly of the television broadcasting could be ending soon, the licensing of new radio and television services cannot be left to the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) as it is currently constituted. The Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) which established BAZ, should be repealed to allow for a new and converged independent regulatory framework that establishes a clear separation of powers between government, regulators and service providers. The Declaration on the Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa states: