The Banjul Declaration explicitly and unequivocally states: Self regulation is the best system of instilling professionalism in the media. This position cannot be interpreted to mean otherwise as it is self-explanatory in its explicitness. The amendments did not address the offending provisions that make it impossible for media diversity and pluralism through the entry of new private players into both the print and broadcasting sector as envisaged under the 1991 Windhoek Declaration and African Charter on Broadcasting. For instance foreign funding and ownership in the print media is still restricted and can only be considered at the “absolute discretion” of the responsible minister. As for the BSA, the amendments did not address the critical issue pertaining to the ban of foreign funding and partnership in the broadcasting sector of which the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) has admitted is the major hindrance to the issuing of licenses to private players in order to free the airwaves from the stranglehold of the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Arrests, Harassment of Journalists While cases of the harassment, arrests and detention of journalists had somewhat decreased, the months preceding the 29 March 2008 elections and the sequel 27 June 2008 presidential election runoff was marked by an upsurge in the number of recorded cases of media freedom violations. The onslaught on media freedom and freedom of expression came in the form of resuscitation of cases against journalists which had hitherto been quashed for lack of evidence, re-arrests of foreign journalists released by the courts and allegations of the existence of a ‘blacklist’ barring certain journalists from being accredited to cover the 29 March 2008 elections. As politically motivated violence swept the countryside ahead of the elections, Mathew Takaona, the president of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) was caught in the crossfire of the vortex of violence. Takaona was assaulted together with his brother by assailants in military fatigues at a shopping complex in Harare’s dormitory town of Chitungwiza. Another journalist, Frank Chikowore spent two weeks in custody before being granted bail on spurious charges of public violence related to the alleged torching of a bus in Harare’s suburb of Warren Park on 15 April 2008. In machinations designed to instil fear in those journalists deemed too critical of government, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) imposed a one year ban against freelance journalist Brian Hungwe backdated to 20 August 2007 for allegedly breaching Sections 90 and 79 (c) of AIPPA as read with Section 6 of Statutory Instrument 169 c of 2002. The Supreme Court quashed the MIC ban as unlawful. March/June Elections The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the MIC’s instruction, denied freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono accreditation to cover the 29 March 2008 elections. Freelance journalists were the main targets of this onslaught. In the eastern border town of Mutare, the police revived charges against Sydney Saize and charged him with contravening Section 15 (1) (c) of the draconian Public Order and Security Act which deals with communicating falsehoods. Saize was also charged with contravening the now repealed Section 83 of AIPPA which dealt with practicing journalism without accreditation. Mutare public prosecutor Malvern Musarurwa, 5