Bulawayo (New Ziana)-The media has a role to play in ensuring the nation remains united before, during and after the harmonised elections scheduled for August 23 this year, an official said.
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) executive secretary Godwin Phiri said this during the handover of safety jackets as well as elections reporting and peace journalism manuals to local media practitioners.
President Mnangagwa proclaimed August 23, 2023 as the date for holding the elections and June 21 as the date when nomination courts will sit throughout the country.
He also proclaimed October 2 as the run-off election should it become necessary.
“One thing that we want to emphasise as a Commission is that elections should not divide us. Elections should leave us as one unified family,” said Phiri.
“As Zimbabweans, we share one common history, we share a common identity, we share fears, common hopes, common aspirations, and therefore elections should not leave us in a situation where our communities are divided, our communities are fighting.”
Phiri said holding different opinions does not make people enemies, adding that the media plays a critical role in unifying the nation.
“Of course, during the elections, people will choose differently. That is why we have so many political parties, that’s why we are called a
democracy.
“People choose differently but that does not make them enemies,” he said.
The media can be a source of division if it does not take its leadership role in terms of delivering quality information to its citizens, he said.
“As a Commission, we don’t want a situation where our media is the driver of hate in communities. This is not the time to be promoting hate speech, it’s not the time to promote lies. We also had things like fake news but other people say news can`t be fake, it’s either its news or lies,” explained Phiri.
He urged the media to give space to all political players to sell themselves, adding it was up to the citizens to choose political parties of their choice.
“Let’s give space to all political players to sell themselves, let the citizens decide, let’s not decide on their behalf,” said Phiri.
The ZMC is engaging political parties across the board to allow media practitioners to professionally conduct their work during rallies and help deliver news to citizens, he said.
It has so far trained 80 trainers who will go around the provinces to train journalists on how to conduct themselves during the election period.
“Everyone wearing this jacket should treat it with dignity because it’s for your safety and easy identification.
New Ziana
