ing sector as pledged in terms of the GPA. The reforms agreed to encompassed the need to reconstitute the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), transforming ZBC into a truly independent public broadcaster, reconstitution of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (to oversee the management of the state controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers). And since the Zimbabwe Media Commission is the overall body responsible for media activity in the country, it means that aspiring broadcasters have to first get licensed by BAZ and then get registered with the Commission, creating unnecessary bureaucratic impediments. Also in the frame of regulation is the ministry of ICTs. Although it has been stripped of all Acts it was supposed to administer, it still issues pronouncements on ICT policy frameworks which have a bearing on the media. Besides, all these bodies, there also exists a civil society and media initiative in the form of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ), which was set up as an alternative entity to foster media professionalism. The body was established to amicably resolve grievances of members of the public who feel wronged by the media, without necessarily going through the costly court route or resorting to the use of archaic laws that criminalise the practice of journalism. ter of Media, Information and Publicity Webster Shamu in September 2009. BAZ was to be reconstituted to secure wide representation on its board thus fostering a much more open and transparent in so far as the adjudication and licensing of aspiring broadcasters. Transformation of ZBC The seeming reluctance to liberate the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) from the control of the Ministry of Information and make the broadcaster accountable to parliament, has seen the broadcaster continue being used to only reflect the views of those who control it and not the whole spectrum of Zimbabwean thought. The information ministry has made it clear that it would not usher in reforms at the state broadcaster. In its oral presentation before the parliamentary committee on media and information in May 2012, the ministry passed a vote of confidence on ZBC’s governing board, which remains one of the sources of dispute in government. Reconstitution of BAZ was agreed to by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai following the controversy surrounding appointments of the new board by the Minis- ICTs and telecommunications In June 2009, the government announced that an Information Communications Technology Bill was in the offing. The bill would merge the BAZ and Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) and create the National Information and Communications Technology Authority of Zimbabwe. Three years down the line, all that has materialised are statements of intention to that effect as the Bill is still to be presented before Parliament. In April 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\"