ZMC to open four regional offices this year, starts with Bulawayo

The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has opened a regional office to cater for the Matabeleland region in Bulawayo as part of government policy to decentralise services.

Officially opening the regional office, branch on Thursday, ZMC chairperson Ruby Magosvongwe said the development will see the organisation being more accessible to its clients and stakeholders in the region.

“It is within the strides to contribute to the realisation of the National Development Strategy (NDS) and Vision 2030 goals for increased service delivery and the need to connect with its citizenry that the Commission decided to reach out to all provinces by way of opening regional offices,” she said.

She said the commission is targeting to open four regional offices this year starting with Bulawayo, which will be followed by the Midlands, Masvingo and Manicaland.

“We do hope and believe that, with time and resources permitting, the offices will be cascaded down to district levels in the spirit of the devolution agenda,” she said.

Magosvongwe said the commission`s mandate focuses on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression and of the media, promotion of accountable governance through facilitating public access to information held by public entities for the purpose of transparency, accountability and protection of human rights.

She said guided by its constitutional mandate, the ZMC has adopted various programmes to promote the growth of a media that is responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe, adding that the so called Fourth Estate plays a catalytic role in galvanising support for development at any level.

“Furthermore, we desire a media that speaks to issues using people`s local languages.

People will appreciate and understand issues better when news and information is given in the local idiom that they identify with and easily understand,” she said.

New Ziana