=LPEDEZH 2010, the Bill was referred back to the responsible minister owing to what was then reported as its “structural defects”. In August 2012, the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, said the ministry had now finished consultations on the review of the National ICT Policy Framework. The ICT policy is expected to provide for, among other factors, national information and communication authority and converged regulator and e-government. The e-government agency will develop, promote and co-ordinate the use of ICTs in government for the exchange of information and delivery of services. This comes on the backdrop of increased uptake in ICTs. According to survey released by Freedom House in August 2012, about 13% of Zimbabwe’s estimated 12 million people, have access to the Internet. And, according to the latest Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (ZAMPS), close to three million people have access to satellite TV, the majority being those with free-to-air decoders. About nine people million also have access to mobile phone technology and 64% of them use it for sms-texting. 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\" &RQFOXVLRQ In its present form, the new constitution will a go a long way in safeguarding media freedom, free artistic expression, freedom of expression and access to information as it has explicit guarantees for the enjoyment of these rights. This would render as unconstitutional several of the mentioned restrictive laws used to erode freedom of expression and the media. The only blemish is its entrenchment of state ownership of the media, which can be used to perpetuate state controls of ZBC, as well the retention of a statutory ZMC with powers to take “disciplinary” measures against the media. MISA-Zimbabwe is thus encouraged by SADC’s insistence that the next elections should be held under a new democratic constitution and a clear election roadmap which encapsulates the fundamentals of the SADC Principles and Guidelines on the Conduct of Democratic Elections to ensure and secure equal and equitable access to the public media as well as free and fair elections.