In this article by Issa Sikiti da Silva for BizCommunity.com, Henry Maina, director of Article 19 talks about why African politicians ban media:

The fundamental reason that many African governments ban and harass the media has more to do with personal connotations than other issues, Kenya’s Henry Maina, director of Article 19 Eastern Africa, told delegates at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference last week in Johannesburg.

“If you look closely, you will see that politicians across the continent don’t want to be criticised,” Maina, a specialist in criminal justice, human rights, advocacy and governance, said.

In many African countries, where the head of the state, ministers and members of the ruling party have become the law themselves, and courts exist only to try cases of petty crimes and murder, any journalist who takes on the government will be promptly arrested, tried in a ‘kangaroo court’ for high treason and executed or jailed for life.

Prosecuted for insulting authorities

In other countries, however, where there is some sort of rule of law and social justice, criticism of the government usually end up in courts, with journalists being prosecuted for insulting high-profile authorities.

Maina described these laws as archaic and oppressive, saying Africa should repeal them. “More than 40 African countries still have these colonial laws, including official secret laws. Why? If you are going to keep secrets, you should do it in a progressive manner,” he said.

Maina fired a salvo at South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, for proposing the creation of a media appeals tribunal and resuscitating colonial laws.

Critics believe the ANC, which brags to be the sole contributor of the restoration of freedom of expression and press liberties enjoyed today by all citizens, has turned from hero to villain by re-enacting some of apartheid’s legislation, including the National Key Points Act, the Film and Publication Amendment Act, and lately the much-hated Protection of Information Bill (aka Secrecy Bill).

Paul Hilder, director of campaigns for Oxfam and previously campaign director for Avaaz.org believes that Today’s networked activists can achieve real change.

I was sitting in the car park at work yesterday morning listening to Where do I begin and waiting for my hiccups to stop. Although I had to hold my breath in anticipation of hitting uncountable and 9 potholes on my way to work it didn’t help in getting rid of my hiccups. So whilst I was waiting for them to Be Gone I was reflecting on the headlines in The Sunday Mail.

These included the very convenient exhumation of bodies from massacres during the Rhodesian war. Hey, go figure, we are even More Unpopular and we don’t have the Land Card any more and the Anti-Sanctions Petition is like really hard work to get going, so maybe its a good time to dig up some remains and work them politically. Of course now we have the MDC playing tit for tat with corpses saying that if ZPF want to revisit the nastiness of the Whites, then lets revisit the nastiness of the perpetrators of Gukurahundi.

That’s politics for you.

And then the Sunday Mail has this really big photo of some White farmer type signing the Anti-Sanctions Petition, whoop, whoop … is that the 27th signature that they’ve got?

Meanwhile last Saturday I got a text message from Econet apologising for postponing the draw for prizes that they were going to have that day in Harare Gardens. I wondered whether the Hand of Chihuri was involved. I mean, let’s face it, an Econet draw to win a car and some other stuff is certainly more likely to bring in the crowds than a ZPF or MDC rally and maybe that is dangerous – you know people gathering in large numbers and all that.

Seems to me that just now there’s going to be a limit set on how many people can walk down First Street at any given time just in case they come over all Egyptian.

“Will someone please find a wife for our PM“, screamed a recent headline in the nation’s leading family weekly newspaper.  I asked myself why the PM’s love life warranted placement on the front page ahead of stories about the appalling state of the public health care system, blatant corruption by state officials at every level, even our untold suffering under illegal sanctions.  However, because the senior writer was clearly desperate to show that it was in the nation’s best interest that the PM settles down to conventional family life, I gave the issue some consideration.

I think the state should sponsor the running of a Zimbabwean version of The Bachelor.  The PM’s situation is of national concern so requires national intervention!  Think about it.  We have all the right ingredients to produce an impressive adaptation of this reality show.

1.    We have a very eligible bachelor in the PM, and like other Bachelors from the show, what he lacks in looks he more than makes up for in his sizeable means.

2.    It is clear that physical appearance is about the only criterion used to select The Bachelor’s potential soul mates.  Our country has innumerable good-looking women so bringing together 25 for our PM to choose from should be pretty easy.  (Have you seen the beauties that are Zanu Pf Harare Province Models?)  Of course, all the ladies must be 100% local and must have high standards of cleanliness.  We are, after all, a nation renowned for valuing all things indigenous and for rejecting filth and squalor.

3.    Spectacular dates set in wonderful places are a distinct feature of the popular TV show and our local version shall not disappoint.  With many exquisite properties across the land now in the hands of the majority, the new owners will happily lease them out for our production.  Thus, with great sites for the dream dates, the PM can then court his bevy of beauties at braais, galas and rallies, hosted in scenic places, countrywide.

4.    The TV series always includes fantasy dates where The Bachelor takes each finalist separately to one of two exotic locations.  I’m sure our friends around the world would only be too glad to facilitate a tour of Pyongyang, a relaxing retreat in Malabo or a shopping trip to sunny Baghdad.

And as the process progresses, the PM will remorsefully distribute red roses (or maybe red cards, computers or farms), eliminating one broken hearted bachelorette after the other.  But in the end, just like in the reality show, The Bachelor will find true and everlasting love and he’ll seal his commitment with a dazzling diamond – a Chiadzwa stone, perhaps.

Then Zimbabwe can get on with addressing its other problems.

Worth a read to amuse you on a Friday afternoon . . . go to Ivor Hartmann’s blog.

The Afrobarometer is an independent, non-partisan research project that measures the social, political, and economic atmosphere in Africa. The project conducted a survey to gauge the public perception of the Constitutional Reform Process during the final stages of COPACs Constitutional Outreach. The report, titled Public Perceptions on Constitutional Reform in Zimbabwe, focused on the perceptions of Zimbabweans on constitutional reform in terms of both the process and the content.

Some of the findings of the survey were that that awareness of the Constitution and associated issues was along the main partisan lines: 81% of those sympathetic to the MDC-T said they had heard about the Constitution compared to 73% of those aligned to ZANU-PF. Non attendance of outreach meetings was higher among MDC-M and ZAPU sympathizers at 67% and 100% respectively. Further, the survey shows that only 3% ZANU-PF sympathizers reported that anyone prevented them from attending an outreach meeting, while 7% of MDC-T sympathizers indicated the same. Popular awareness of the constitution rose with education: 66% among those who had no formal education; 70% among primary school graduates and 84% among those who completed secondary school.

Contrary to general opinion about the Constitutional Reform Process, the report is optimistic, concluding that ‘ the process can still be salvaged in such a way that the final product is a constitution that people want.’