ZBC pulls plug on ZESN ads

Advertise on The Zimbabwean

Written by zimsupplies

Wednesday, 27 February 2008 22:19

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba has ordered the State-broadcaster ZBC to pull off air voter education adverts by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, ZESN.
This IS in blatant contravention of SADC principles governing the conduct of elections in member countries.
Authoritative sources at the State broadcaster confirmed that ZBC stopped airing the voter education adverts, which have been conspicuously absent from the airwaves since Friday, the day the directive from the President's Office came.
ZESN chair Noel Kututwa confirmed the development and said the State broadcaster was preparing to give the independent poll monitoring group a refund, although no formal communication has been noted.
The directive comes hardly a week after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) stopped ZESN for conducting voter education, stating that under the Electoral Act, only ZEC was mandated to carry out voter education.
ZEC has admitted that it is heavily ill-equipped and under funded to carry out any exercise on its own.
The ZESN adverts had raised awareness among the electorate about voting procedures in a four-tier election that is set to present logistical and voting nightmares.

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