Parliament says Mnangagwa should appoint substantive Minister of Information

4. Also, the board for the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe should be appointed as a matter of urgency for good corporate governance.

5. The Zimbabwe Commission Board should also be constituted.

6. The Ministry should have a Minister for policy direction. Completed digital transmitters should be switched on because you are also aware that some of the transmitters have already been completed and are digital compliant but have not been switched on. Funds allocated to the Ministry should be disbursed timeously so that the Ministry can effectively execute its mandate.

7. The ZBC/TV should come up with content that attracts viewership and therefore advertisers for revenue generation.

8. They should also utilise available local skills base.

The Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services plays a critical role in the dissemination of information, promotion of public communication and builds the image of the country. For the Ministry to achieve these objectives and targets, there is need for adequate provision of funding from Treasury. The Committee noted with concern that the funding provided by Treasury is inadequate for the Ministry to achieve its set objectives for the fiscal year, especially the digitilisation project.

I will now move on to the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services and Cyber Security which also in the allocation proposed by the Minister of Finance has got an increase of 65% compared to what they got last year.

The Committee recommends that:

1. The use of ICT be expanded to include rural areas.

2. The national fiber optic backbone should be expanded to all areas of the country. Critical works on the Zimbabwe Digital Broadcasting Migration Project should be completed within the current financial year.

3. The digitilisation of the television sites, construction of transmission towers should be completed and operationalised by end of June this year.

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