IN a landmark ruling, the Administrative Court on Friday ordered the Media and Information Commission (MIC) to grant the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday an operating licence by the end of next month.
President of the Administrative Court, Justice Michael Majuru – sitting with assessors Tendai Chari and Augustine Mano Timbe – said in his ruling should the MIC fail to grant the operating licence by the said date, the ANZ would be deemed registered and would resume operations.
“Accordingly, it is ordered that there be appointed by the appointing authority, a validly constituted board as envisaged in section 40 (of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) by November 30, 2003.
“The board is to issue the appellant with a certificate of registration on or before that date, failing which the appellant should be deemed to be registered as from that date,” read part of the judgement.
The ANZ, however, went on to publish the Daily News yesterday and people scrambled to get a copy of the eight-page debut edition since it was shut down for more than a month.
“What they (the government) wanted, and still want, is an obsequious media, one which sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil of the government,” the paper said in its editorial. A Harare lawyer, Alec Muchadehama told the Sunday Mirror yesterday that he felt the move by the ANZ could have been premised on the understanding that by publishing today, the Daily News is operating like any other newspaper in circulation.
“In one way, if the court said the MIC wasn’t properly constituted, all the other papers that were registered are not properly registered, which doesn’t make them any different from the Daily News. That is to say all the registered papers were unlawfully registered and the Daily News is no exception,” he said.
He added that he believed since the MIC had indicated that it was going to appeal, the ruling (by the Administrative Court) falls and it remained with the higher court to determine whether or not the MIC was properly constituted.
“Since the MIC has not yet appealed, my understanding is that there’s no appeal yet so that’s another reason why the ANZ could have gone ahead to publish before 30 November,” he said. ANZ chairman, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told a press conference after the ruling that the court’s decision was heartening but the battle was still on. “We are pleased with the decision, but our legal battle is not yet over,” he said. The remarks were in reference to the ANZ’s constitutional challenge of AIPPA in the Supreme Court, which had earlier on ruled that it could only entertain the media house’s challenge after it was registered with MIC.
“We will humbly continue our business of publishing a newspaper as soon as possible,” Nkomo said, adding that they were also considering taking legal action for the loss of revenue during the paper’s six-week closure.
The police yesterday quickly descended on the ANZ offices in Harare and picked up some workers. Though police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena could not give the exact number of those arrested, he confirmed the development.
“Some workers have been picked up by the police because as far as we are concerned, their operations are illegal and we are still making inquiries,” he said.
The court had noted in its ruling that it took the unusual step of overriding the MIC by ordering the granting of the licence because under the circumstances, the court was in as good a position to make the decision itself. The court concurred with ANZ lawyer, Advocate Eric Matinenga that the MIC was improperly constituted as no media houses were consulted when the Commission was established.
Matinenga highlighted that Mahoso was biased against the ANZ as shown by his articles that appeared in the Sunday Mail and which were used as exhibits in court.
“We are satisfied that the Appellant has shown that the Respondent, particularly its Chairman, was biased against the Appellant,” the court said.
Mahoso however had denied that he was biased, saying his articles were an expression of his personal views and had to be separated from his role as chairman of the MIC.
Mahoso said he strongly disagreed with the court’s decision and had since instructed MIC lawyers, Muzangaza, Mandaza and Tomana to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The ANZ was shut down on September 12 after the Supreme Court had ruled that it was operating illegally and could not approach the court with “dirty hands” as it was operating outside the law. The MIC refused to register the newspaper group in the wake of the superior court’s ruling, forcing the ANZ to appeal to the Administrative Court as is provided for under AIPPA.
Observers noted that should the MIC file a notice of appeal in the Supreme Court, that would also be tantamount to approaching the court with “dirty hands” as the Administrative Court had ruled that the MIC itself was improperly constituted. It said a new commission should be in place by 30 November.
AIPPA – which was meant to curb what the Minister of Information and Publicity in the President’s Office, Jonathan Moyo, described as irresponsible journalism – was enacted in 2001. It was perceived in private media circles as an attempt to protect those in high offices from public scrutiny while curtailing freedom of expression.