The Standing Rules and Orders Committee of the Parliament of Zimbabwe is mandated in terms of sections 237 and 248 of the Constitution, to nominate candidates for appointment by His Excellency the President to serve as Commissioners on Zimbabwe Media Commission provided for in Chapter 13 Part 1 of the Constitution.
The term of office of the current eight (8) commissioners will expire on the 10th of February 2015. Accordingly, the Standing Rules and Orders Committee is hereby reopening the nomination process by calling on the public to nominate persons to be considered for appointement to this Commission.
Previous nominations for candidates should not be resubmitted. Sitting Commissioners who are eligible for reappointment may be nominated. The functions of the Commisiion and the person specifications are given below.
249 Functions of Zimbabwe Media Commission
(1) The Zimbabwe Media Commission has the following functions—
(a) to uphold, promote and develop freedom of the media;
(b) to promote and enforce good practices and ethics in the media;
(c) to monitor broadcasting in the public interest and, in particular, to ensure fairness and diversity of views broadly representing Zimbabwean society;
(d) to encourage the formulation of codes of conduct for persons employed in the media and, where no such code exists, to formulate and enforce one;
(e) to receive and consider complaints from the public and, where appropriate, to take action against journalists and other persons employed in the media or broadcasting who are found to have breached any law or any code of conduct applicable to them;
(f) to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe have fair and wide access to information;
(g) to encourage the use and development of all the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe;
(h) to encourage the adoption of new technology in the media and in the dissemination of information;
(i) to promote fair competition and diversity in the media; and
(j) to conduct research into issues relating to freedom of the press and of expression, and in that regard to promote reforms in the law.