Transform Zimbabwe President, Jacob Ngarivhume has called on the Emmerson Mnangagwa administration to urgently reform the media laws and allow the public broadcasters to be impartial in their operation
Ngarivhume made the remarks in an interview with 263Chat adding that state media continues to pay a blind ear to opposition activities and events, only reporting negative stories that gives the ruling Zanu PF unfair advantage ahead of elections.
“The media coverage is not for a free and fair election because the state media is biased towards the ruling party,” said Ngarivhume.
He accused Zanu PF of manipulating and personalizing state controlled media for own benefit.
Ngarivhume added that Zimbabwe’s failures are largely because of leadership saying it’s now time for a new generation of God-fearing leaders who are marketable and responsible to take this nation forward.
“Zimbabwe has largely failed because we have lacked leaders who are responsible and the patronage system which Mnangagwa and his colleagues are responsible for building around Mugabe which is now impossible to change,” Ngarivhume said.
He said people should expect nothing new except ‘few drops of lipstick on the frog’.
“We don’t expect anything new because there is nothing new in terms of fundamentals, there won’t be anything new in terms of the real structures of democracy and structures of a functional economy but what we see is a continuation of the system that was built around Mugabe. For us to see an end to the bank queues we need to see a situation where there is actually a complete turnaround in a way we are managing our economy and the government should also be consistent with the rule of law and clearly laid out economic policies,” added Ngarivhume.
He urged Zimbabweans to register to vote, calling on the electoral body, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission(ZEC) to produce a verified voters’ roll before elections to avoid rigging and other irregularities.
