A draft Information Telecommunication (ICT)Bill tabled by a cabinet minister has engulfed fragile Zimbabwe Coalition government.
ICT Minister, Nelson Chamisa, has been accused by Zanu PF loyalists as trying to re-order functions of three ministries through the bill.
The Bill backed by Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) seeks to open up Zimbabwe’s media and telecommunications sector, which have been tightly controlled by President Mugabe’s cronies since independence.
The government controlled Herald newspaper, reported on Wednesday that Dr. Misheck Sibanda, the Cabinet secretary refused to transmit the bill because it wasn’t legally sound.
“We are not sure if the minister has crafted the draft as a member of this government or as an MDC functionary,” the paper said quoting a government source. “This is a political Bill.”
Another source from Mr Mugabe’s office quoted by the Herald said Mr Chamisa’s draft threatened the fabric of the inclusive government and would set a “a dangerous precedent for the coalition that is only half a year old
Six months after Mr Mugabe formed a unity government with his former arch rivals led by Mr Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara of the smaller formation of the MDC, the coalition is haggling over key reforms.
Hardliners in the former ruling Zanu PF are said to be resistant to media reforms because they are afraid of opening up space to the MDC formations ahead of fresh elections due in the next 18 months.
In February, President Robert Mugabe almost caused the collapse of the coalition when he unilaterally took away the control of the telecommunications and broadcasting portfolios from Mr Chamisa and handed them to ministers from his Zanu PF.
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