By Princess Eugene Majuru
The recent interview between former ZBC head of news Gilbert Nyambabvu and Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, served as a stark public display of Zimbabwe’s struggle to adapt its state media to the modern digital age. The exchange highlighted a significant disconnect between the urgent demands of 21st-century communication and the current digital strategy (or lack thereof) at the helm of the national public broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
The App Absurdity and the YouTube Compromise
Nyambabvu’s probing question regarding the absence of a simple ZBC mobile application was highly pertinent. In an era where communication is predominantly mobile-first, the lack of an easy-to-access application for news and content is an inexcusable oversight for a national broadcaster. The Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, currently headed by Minister Tatenda Mavetera, has a clear mandate to foster a knowledge-based society and promote ICT literacy, making this digital inertia a cross-departmental failure.
Mangwana’s response—that ZBC posts some broadcast news items to YouTube—misses the fundamental point of digital strategy. Relying on an international third-party platform for catch-up content is a compromise, not a strategy. It abdicates control, lacks the convenience of a dedicated, branded user experience, and does not adequately serve the national interest. A proprietary app or robust, user-friendly website is a direct pathway to citizens, ensuring control over the content, user data, and the delivery of critical, time-sensitive national information.
Prioritization: From Reach to Connectivity
The government’s primary focus, as correctly identified, should be universal national reach. State broadcasting exists to ensure every citizen, regardless of location, receives vital national information, especially during emergencies like cyclones or disease outbreaks. The acknowledged deficiency of transmitters already poses a grave threat to this mandate.
However, in the modern landscape, simply broadcasting is insufficient. The conversation must move from mere reach (analogue signal) to ubiquitous connectivity.
Infrastructure Investment: The Ministry’s digitisation and infrastructure plans must be dramatically accelerated. The goal should be to ensure reliable mobile data and internet access across all urban and rural centers.
The Free Wi-Fi Imperative: The suggestion to implement free public Wi-Fi in city centers is a globally proven, doable measure that simultaneously promotes e-governance, digital literacy, and universal access to information, including state media platforms. In a nation where data costs can be prohibitive, this is a social and developmental necessity.
Mangwana and his team need to return to the drawing board for a digital strategy that treats communication as the number one national priority.
The State Media Control Misinterpretation
Mangwana’s comments about not interfering with state media’s operations reveal a significant misunderstanding of the concept of state media. By definition, state media is owned, funded, and ultimately accountable to the state. The idea that the Ministry leaves them to “do what they want” is not evidence of editorial independence but rather a symptom of a governance breakdown and strategic detachment.
State control in this context does not mean interfering with daily news editing; it means ensuring the broadcaster fulfills its national mandate, upholds the highest standards of journalism, adheres to its public service obligations, and aligns with the nation’s strategic communication and development goals. A lack of engagement suggests a failure to provide essential oversight, strategic direction, and prompt resolution of operational and technological challenges.
The Stifling of Skilled Talent
The experience of Gilbert Nyambabvu—a media professional with extensive international exposure and training who was unable to implement modernization efforts at ZBC—serves as a cautionary tale. Nyambabvu’s brief tenure, which ended because local teams were reportedly resistant to new ideas and change, highlights an internal cultural block that is crippling the institution.
This inability to absorb and implement high-level, international best practices suggests a structural problem beyond just funding; it points to a deep-seated resistance to innovation and professional growth. For the Ministry to succeed, it must champion a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and the urgent adoption of modern media management principles. This includes ensuring that leadership, particularly the Permanent Secretary, undertakes continuous, hands-on media training and professional development to guide the sector effectively in a rapidly changing world. The stakes are too high for anything less than a fully engaged and digitally literate leadership team.
The current trajectory risks leaving Zimbabwe’s national communication system entirely behind the digital curve, undermining governance, public safety, and national branding.
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