INTRODUCTION
This year’s Transparency Assessment research comes
at a time when the world at large is under lockdown
restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Inevitably,
this has had an effect on the right of access to
information in the country.
At this time, it is especially crucial that all citizens in
the country have easy access to information about
the pandemic. It is against this backdrop that MISA
Zimbabwe filed a court application compelling
the Zimbabwean government to regularly provide
information on COVID-19 in all of the country’s 16 official
languages. In April 2020, the High Court ruled in favour
of MISA Zimbabwe. As a result , the government (through
the Ministry of Information) now provides daily updates
on the pandemic.
However, access to information remains a challenge,
especially during lockdown as citizens have been
restricted from physically visiting many public offices.
They have therefore been forced to rely on information
available through online platforms, and this is difficult
for citizens who do not have access to the internet.
This situation has been exacerbated by the increasing
high costs of data. Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s largest
mobile network operator, hiked its data and SMS tariffs
by approximately 21% in March 2020. A daily bundle
data service now costs US$11 for 40 MegaBytes (MB),
while the highest package on offer, 1,200 MB, will now
set their customers back US$150.
In August 2020, at the time of writing this report,
Zimbabweans were experiencing socio-economic
hardships with inflation pegged at more than 700%
and unemployment at more than 90%. This poses the
greatest challenge to the right of access to information.
The adverse economy has not spared media
organisations which, with the added burden of COVID-19,
are facing sustainability issues. Some organisations
have reported dwindling advertising revenue. Although
most media houses also publish online E-papers,
access is restricted due to high data costs. This further
undermines citizens’ rights of access to information
as they prioritise catering for their basic needs over
information.

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These developments come at the time of gazetting the
Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill. Many people view
this bill as being strong on mass surveillance of citizens
as opposed to balancing the need for cyber security with
the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms as provided in
the country’s constitution, the African Declaration on
Internet Rights and Freedoms, and African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights declaration on Freedom of
Expression and Access to Information.
This year’s Transparency Assessment research was also
conducted at a time when government officials made
chilling threats against what they termed ‘social media
abuse’, as well as intimidations that people, including
journalists, could be arrested for freely expressing
themselves on social media. Lieutenant-General Edzai
Chimonyo, Zimbabwe’s National Army Commander, said
the military would put social media under surveillance.
The military also issued threats against online media
publications. This may lead to self-censorship and
affect access to information.

REPEAL OF THE ACCESS TO
INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF
PRIVACY ACT
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act, commonly referred to as AIPPA, was passed by the
Parliament of Zimbabwe in 2002. Many described this
Act as part of the government’s campaign (at that time)
to stifle access to information in Zimbabwe.
AIPPA had a bearing on media freedom and journalistic
rights, media regulation and protection of privacy or
information. This Act controlled the independence
of media by granting wide-ranging powers to a Media
and Information Commission (which was under
government control) and imposing registration/
licensing requirements on media organisations as well
as journalists. It also imposed strict content restrictions
on the media.
It is against this backdrop that the repeal of AIPPA is
considered to be an essential step in Zimbabwe’s
law reform initiatives. Three Bills within AIPPA were
proposed for repeal: the Freedom of Information Bill,
Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and Protection of
Personal Information Bill.

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TRANSPARENCY ASSESSMENT REPORT

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