Mozambique

Mozambique
A survey by the
Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP),
Open Society Initiative Southern Africa (OSISA)
Open Society Media Program (OSMP)
AN OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS PUBLICATION
Public broAdcAsting in AfricA series

Copyright 2010, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by
any means, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Written by:
Tomas Vieira Mario (researcher), Jeanette Minnie (regional editor) and Hendrik Bussiek (editor-in-chief)
Published by:
Open Society Foundations
ISBN: 978-1-920355-60-9
For more information contact:
AfriMAP / Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
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Contents
Acronyms v
Foreword vii
Introduction ix
1 Country Facts 1
1 Government 2
2 Socio-economic conditions 7
3 Main challenges 8
4 The media landscape 12
5 Brief history of broadcasting 23
2 Media Legislation and Regulation 25
1 International, continental and regional standards 25
2 The Constitution of Mozambique 31
3 General media laws and regulations 35
4 Other laws with an impact on media and freedom of expression 41
5 Jurisprudence 46
6 Conclusions and recommendations 47
3 The Broadcasting Landscape 51
1 Radio Mozambique and Television Mozambique 51
2 Commercial/private broadcasters 52
3 Community and other forms of broadcasting 56
4 Concentration of media ownership 61
5 Technical standard and accessibility of services 62
4 Digitalisation and its Impact 67
1 Preparedness for switch-over 68
2 Convergence 69
5 Broadcasting Legislation and Regulation 73
1 Regulatory mechanisms 73
2 Licensing of broadcasters and enforcement of licence conditions 75
3 Complaints systems 78
i v PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
6 Radio Mozambique and Television Mozambique 81
1 Legal framework 81
2 Profles of RM and TVM 84
3 Organisational structures 87
4 Attitudes within RM and TVM 90
7 Funding of RM and TVM 95
1 Main sources of funding 95
2 Spending 98
8 Programming 101
1 Programme/editorial policies and guidelines 101
2 Programme schedules 105
3 News and current affairs 113
4 Audience research 117
5 Feedback and complaints procedures 118
9 Perceptions of and Expectations towards RM and TVM 121
1 Civil society 121
2 Government and other political players 123
3 Conclusions 124
10 Broadcasting Reform Eforts 127
1 Drafting of a new broadcasting law 127
2 The Draft Radio and Television Bill 134
11 Overall Conclusions and Recommendations 137
PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE v
Acronyms
ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
AEJ Associao de Empresas Jornalsticas
(Association of Media Companies)
AIM Agencia de Informao de Moambique
(Mozambique News Agency)
AU African Union
CIUEM Centro de Informtica da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
(Eduardo Mondlane University Informatics Centre)
CMC Centros Multimdia Comunitrios
(Community Multimedia Centres)
CNCS Conselho Nacional de Combate ao SIDA
(National Council on HIV/AIDS)
CNE Comisso Nacional de Eleies (National Electoral Commission)
CPRD Centros Provinciais de Recursos Digitais
(Provincial Digital Resources Centres)
CSCS Conselho Superior da Comunicao Social
(Supreme Council for the Media)
CSMJ Conselho Superior da Magistratura Judicial
(Supreme Council of the Judiciary)
CSO civil society organisation
EDM Electricidade de Moambique (National Electricity Company)
Editmoz Frum Nacional de Editores (Editors Forum)
FORCOM Frum Nacional das Rdios Comunitrias
(National Forum of Community Radios)
Frelimo Frente de Libertao de Moambique
GABINFO Gabinete de Informao (Government Information Bureau)
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICS Institute of Social Communication
INCM Instituto Nacional das Comunicaes de Moambique
(National Institute of Communications)
INE National Institute of Statistics
ITU International Telecommunications Union
MDM Movimento Democrtico de Moambique
(Mozambique Democratic Movement)
MISA Media Institute of Southern Africa
MT Mozambican Meticais (currency)
v i PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
OAU Organisation of African Unity
OSISA Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
PARPA Plano de Aco para a Reduo da Pobreza Absoluta
(Plan of Action for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty)
Renamo Resistncia Nacional Mocambicana
RFI Radio France Internationale
RM Radio Moambique
RTK Radio Televiso Klint
RTP Radio Televiso Portuguesa
SADC Southern African Development Community
SARDC Southern African Research and Documentation Centre
SIRT Sociedade de Informao de Tete
SNASP Servio Nacional de Segurana Popular
(National Department of Peoples Security)
SNJ Sindicato Nacional de Jornalistas (National Union of Journalists)
SOICO STV Sociedade Independente de Comunicao Televiso
TDM Telecomunicaes de Moambique
(Mozambique Telecom Company)
TIM Televiso Independente de Moambique
TVM Televiso de Moambique
Foreword
The report is the result of research that started in 2008 with the aim of collecting,
collating and writing up information about regulation, ownership, access, performance
as well as prospects for public broadcast reform in Africa. The Mozambique report is
part of an eleven-country survey of African broadcast media. The main reason for
conducting the research is to contribute to Africas democratic consolidation.
Many African countries have made signifcant gains in building democratic
systems of governance that are based on popular control of decision-making and in
which citizens are treated as equals. Availability and access to information by a greater
number of citizens is a critical part of a functioning democracy and a countrys
development. The role of a public broadcaster as a vehicle through which objective
information and diverse perspectives are transmitted into the public domain cannot
be overstated.
A number of countries are currently undertaking public broadcast media reforms
that aim to improve service delivery and accountability to citizens. Such reforms draw
from evolving African and global standards regarding media and broadcast media
in particular. The survey instrument, developed in consultation with media experts
from Africa and other parts of the world, is largely based on agreements, conventions,
charters and declarations regarding media that have been developed at regional and
continental levels in Africa.
The survey of broadcast media in Africa was initiated by two projects of the Open
Society Institute (OSI), the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project
(AfriMAP) and the Open Society Media Program, working with the African members
of the Soros Foundation Network in Southern Africa, the Open Society Initiative for
for Southern Africa (OSISA). The research was carried out by Tomas Vieira Mario, a
Mozambican media and freedom of expression lawyer and a long-time media activist.
The report was co-edited by Jeanette Minnie, an international freedom of expression
and media consultant, as regional editor, and the editor-in-chief of the project,
Hendrik Bussiek, a media consultant with extensive broadcasting experience in Africa
and globally.
v i i i PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
It is our hope that the research will clear some of the misconceptions about public
broadcasters. In its simplest defnition a public broadcasting service is a broadcaster
that serves the public as a whole and is accountable to the public as a whole. Yet in
most instances what is referred to as a public broadcaster is in fact a state broadcaster:
this research aims to help the process of aiding the transformation of Africas public
broadcasters into media worthy of the name.
Ozias Tungwarara
Director, AfriMAP
Introduction
The survey on public broadcasting in Africa starts from the premise that development
and democracy cannot thrive without open and free public space where all issues
concerning peoples lives can be aired and debated and which gives them room and
opportunity to participate in decision-making. Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen
describes democracy as governance by dialogue and broadcasters are ideally placed
to facilitate this dialogue by providing the space for it if their services are accessible,
independent, credible and open to the full spectrum of diverse views.
Following from this premise, the key objective of the survey is to assess whether
and to what extent the various forms of broadcasting on our continent can and do
create such a free public space, with special attention given to those services which call
themselves public. A total of eleven country reports look closely at the current status
of broadcasting in Benin, Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria,
South Africa, Uganda, zambia and zimbabwe.
While this survey may be unprecedented in its scope and depth, it does feed into
ongoing discussions among broadcasters, civil society and politicians in Africa on the
nature and mandate of genuine public broadcasting. Reform eforts are under way
in a number of countries. And at least on paper there is already broad consensus on
the need to open up the airwaves to commercial and community broadcasters and
for state broadcasters to be transformed into truly public broadcasting services. The
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African
Unions Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in 2002, for example, says
a State monopoly over broadcasting is not compatible with the right to freedom of
expression and demands that state and government controlled broadcasters should be
transformed into public service broadcasters accountable to the public. This document
and other regional policy declarations serve as major benchmarks for this survey.
In particular, these African documents inform the vision and mandate of public
broadcasting as understood in this study.
1
This vision can be summarised as follows:
1 Apart from the African Commissions Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, these are the African
Charter on Broadcasting 2001 as well as the 1995 policy document On The Move and 2007 draft policy paper Now
is the Time by the Southern African Broadcasting Association, in which state/public broadcasters in southern Africa
commit themselves to the aim of public broadcasting.
x PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
to serve the overall public interest and be accountable to all strata of society as
represented by an independent board;
to ensure full respect for freedom of expression, promote the free fow of
information and ideas, assist people to make informed decisions and facilitate
and strengthen democracy.
The public broadcasters mandate is:
to provide access to a wide range of information and ideas from the various
sectors of society;
to report on news and current afairs in a way which is not infuenced by
political, commercial or other special interests and therefore comprehensive,
fair and balanced (editorial independence);
to contribute to economic, social and cultural development in Africa by
providing a credible forum for democratic debate on how to meet common
challenges;
to hold those in power in every sector of society accountable;
to empower and inspire citizens, especially the poor and marginalised, in
their quest to improve the quality of their lives;
to provide credible and varied programming for all interests, those of the
general public as well as minority audiences, irrespective of religious beliefs,
political persuasion, culture, race and gender;
to refect, as comprehensively as possible, the range of opinions on matters of
public interest and of social, political, philosophical, religious, scientifc and
artistic trends;
to promote the principles of free speech and expression as well as of free
access to communication by enabling all citizens, regardless of their social
status, to communicate freely on the airwaves;
to promote and develop local content, for example, through adherence to
minimum quotas;
to provide universal access to their services, with their signal seeking to reach
all corners of the country.
Other broadcasting services can in one way or the other also fulfll aspects of
this mandate, and the survey, therefore, looks at them as well in order to assess their
contribution to the creation of a public space.
The facts, fgures and informed assessments presented in the survey will, it is
INTRODUCTION x i
hoped, provide a nuanced picture of where broadcasting in Africa at present stands
between His Masters Voice of old and the envisaged public broadcasting service of
the future. This information should provide a sound basis for advocacy work, both
among decision-makers and civil society as a whole.
In the case of Mozambique the fndings and recommendations of the report come
at a timely juncture with the debate on new media and broadcasting legislation being
in full swing. The report starts out with a comprehensive audit of existing media
laws and other legislation with an impact on freedom of expression and a critical
in-depth assessment of the legal and regulatory framework in which broadcasting
presently operates. This is followed by a detailed study of the state broadcasters their
organisation, their fnances, their policies, the content they ofer.
A draft report was presented to a validation workshop in Maputo/Mozambique
in June 2010, attended by a range of stakeholders from government, parliament,
media and broadcasting practitioners and civil society at large. Comments and
recommendations made at this meeting have been taken up in the fnal report.
Researchers and editors would like to express their gratitude to all those who
contributed by sharing their information and insights and providing valuable feedback
and constructive criticism.
Hendrik Bussiek
1
Country Facts
Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal on 25 June 1975, after a ten-year
liberation war conducted by the Frente de Libertao de Moambique (Frelimo), the
only political force that has been in power in the country since then.
After independence Frelimo introduced a one-party socialist system and became a
close ally of the Soviet Union. Towards the end of the seventies and early eighties, a
bloody civil war unfolded, with the government unable to control much of the rural
areas. In these neglected parts of central Mozambique, the governments of then
Rhodesia and South Africa supported the creation of an armed resistance movement,
Resistncia Nacional Mocambicana (Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo).
Following the independence of zimbabwe in 1980, apartheid South Africa became
Renamos chief supporter and the confict intensifed, with Renamo becoming the
main challenger to Frelimo.
In 1990, when socialist regimes all over the world were crumbling, Mozambique
adopted a new constitution and introduced a multi-party system. State companies were
privatised and freedom of speech and freedom to form political parties became rights
protected by the Constitution.
In 1992, peace negotiations between Frelimo and Renamo fnally ended in a
ceasefre and a peace treaty signed in Rome. As part of the peace treaty Frelimo had to
acknowledge the existence of Renamo as a political party.
Since its frst democratic elections in 1994, Mozambique has been consolidating its
multi-party democracy. Its Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and freedom
of association, and a Constitutional Council (Court) was inaugurated in October 2003.
2
2 Law no. 9/2003, of 22 October 2003.
2 PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
In November 2004 a new Constitution was adopted. It enshrines the principles of
political pluralism and the separation and interdependence of powers, i.e. a cooperative
approach between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
In what has often been referred to as a success story of post-war peace and the
development of democracy in Africa, Mozambique has experienced political continuity
and stability, including four successful general elections (in 1994, 1999, 2003/4 and
2009) that have gradually entrenched the multi-party system in national politics.
Three municipal elections in 1998, 2003 and 2009 initiated a process of
government decentralisation with regard to political, administrative and fnancial
decisions, now expanded further with the frst provincial elections having been held
in November 2009.
1 Government
1.1 Parliament
The electoral system for parliamentary polls is based on party-list proportional
representation, considered to be the most appropriate in a post-confict situation. In
this system votes are cast for political parties and not for individuals. All participating
parties submit lists of candidates to indicate who will represent them in parliament in
case of electoral success. This system provides for the inclusion of even the smallest
political parties to ensure that all have a voice and representation.
There are eleven constituencies, corresponding to the ten provinces in the country
and the city of Maputo. These constituencies send representatives to the Assembly of
the Republic in proportion to the number of registered votes they receive.
3
A 5 per cent
entry threshold for parties established by the frst, post-war electoral law of 1994 was
abolished in 2007. The Assembly of the Republic consists of 250 members (deputies)
elected for a term of fve years.
1.2 the President of the republic
The election of the President of the Republic is conducted in a single electoral
district, covering the whole territory of Mozambique, and runs concurrently with
parliamentary polls. The candidate who obtains more than half of all valid votes is
elected. If no candidate manages to garner an absolute majority or more than 50 per
3 Law no. 7/2007 of 26 February 2007.
COUNTRY FACTS 3
cent of the vote, a run-of is held between the two leading candidates and the one who
wins the most votes, or a simple majority, is then duly elected. The term of ofce of the
President of the Republic is fve years, and is renewable for one further term.
The President of the Republic, who is both head of state and of government,
4
is
invested with strong powers over the legislative Assembly and the judiciary. According
to the Constitution, he may dissolve the Assembly of the Republic after debate should
it reject the governments programme.
5
The President of the Republic appoints the
President and Vice President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Constitutional
Council (Court) and the President of the Administrative Court. He also has the power
to appoint, exonerate and dismiss the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney
General of the Republic.
6
The President of the Republic may take such decisions based
upon recommendations from the Conselho Superior da Magistratura Judicial, CSMJ
(Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the equivalent of a Judicial Service Commission).
7
1.3 Presidential and parliamentary elections
Elections are overseen by the National Electoral Commission (Comisso Nacional
de Eleies, CNE). Initially these commissions were dominated by the countrys two
main political parties. This has changed due to the involvement of a highly visible
civil society movement, initially spearheaded by religious congregations. Their eforts
culminated in the constitution of the frst civil society-dominated National Electoral
Commission in July 2007.
The CNE has 13 members, with civil society organisations (CSOs) nominating the
majority eight members, and the President being chosen from the ranks of civil
society.
8
Frelimo and the Renamo-Electoral Union Party both appointed three and two
members of the CNE respectively (the group of fve), according to their proportional
representation in parliament. CSOs submit names for membership in the CNE and
the group of fve makes the fnal selection by consensus, failing which the matter
is put to a vote. In the current CNE, four out of the eight members nominated by
civil society were chosen by ballot, which means that Frelimos majority vote had the
ultimate say in the composition of the commission.
The last general elections in October 2009 gave the ruling Frelimo Party and
the incumbent president Armando Guebuza an overwhelming victory. President
Guebuza won 2.9 million of the 3.9 million valid votes slightly more than 74 per
4 Article 148 of the Constitution: The Head of State shall be the Head of Government.
5 Article 188 of the Constitution.
8 Law no. 8/2007 of 26 February 2007.
cent for his second (and last) fve-year term. He is a well-known fgure from the war
of independence and a leading member of Frelimo, who succeeded the countrys frst
democratically elected president, Joaquim Chissano, in 2004.
The runner-up was Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement
Renamo, who took almost 651 000 votes, or 16.6 per cent. The third candidate, the
mayor of Beira, Daviz Simango, who heads the Mozambique Democratic Movement
(Movimento Democrtico Moambique, MDM), garnered 341 000 votes, or 8.7 per cent.
The MDM is a break-away party from Renamo that was founded in March 2009.
In the parliamentary poll, Frelimo got 75 per cent of the vote, with Renamo coming
a distant second at 17.8 per cent and the MDM in third place with 4 per cent. A
number of smaller parties were excluded from the elections by the CNE on procedural
grounds. The MDM was only allowed to run in four provinces (Maputo City, Sofala,
Niassa and Inhambane), so its results do not express the full level of support for the
new party. The exclusion generated much controversy as local political commentators
and western diplomats claimed the CNEs decision was unfair and unconstitutional.
The Mozambican Constitutional Council, however, rejected an appeal made by the
excluded parties to revise the CNEs decision.
The results strengthened Frelimos already impressive parliamentary majority. The
number of seats held by the ruling party in the 250 member Assembly of the Republic
rose from 160 to 191. Renamos parliamentary representation dropped from 90 to 51
members, while a third party joined the ranks thanks to its strong showing in Sofala
and Maputo City, the MDM now has eight deputies in the national assembly.
For the frst time, provincial assemblies were also elected in the 2009 poll, varying
in size from 70 to 91 members. Frelimo won an absolute majority in all ten assemblies.
The only provincial assembly with a sizeable opposition is Sofala, where the MDM won
20 seats compared to 59 for Frelimo and one for Renamo.
The provincial assemblies have no legislative powers. They simply approve (or
reject) the budget presented by the provincial government, and have limited powers of
oversight. They will meet only twice a year for no more than ten days a session.
1.4 the judiciary
The Constitutional Council has been in place since 2004, and its constitutionally
established functions are, among others:
9
a) to evaluate and declare on the constitutionality of laws and the legality of
normative acts of State;
COUNTRY FACTS 5
b) to settle conficts of jurisdiction between sovereign public agencies.
The Constitutional Council has been reviewing constitutional cases and solving a
number of electoral disputes between the two main political parties and their allies.
It forced the president and parliament to dissolve government bodies or not to
promulgate new laws which did not comply with the Constitution on no less than four
occasions in 2007.
10
The Supreme Council of the Judiciary (CSMJ), responsible for supervising and
regulating the conduct of judges,
11
is expected to ensure the independence of the
judiciary and has powers inter alia to appoint, place, transfer, promote, dismiss
and exercise disciplinary action over judges.
12
The CSMJ is jointly appointed by the
president, parliament and the judiciary, as follows:
a) two members are appointed by the President of the Republic;
b) fve members are elected by the Assembly of the Republic, according to the
principle of proportional representation;
c) seven members of the judiciary in the different categories are elected by their
peers, in terms of the Statute of Judges.
The President of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land,
13
presides over the
CSMJ in an ex ofcio capacity.
1.5 the balance of power
It has often been argued that the present constitutional framework tends to tilt the
balance of power towards the executive, given the presidents constitutional powers
over the judiciary. As a general rule, the President will not appoint a person who is not
to his liking to such strategic posts, writes Prof. Gilles Cistac of Eduardo Mondlane
University.
14
A study undertaken by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) in
2006 says:
10 In 2007 the Constitutional Council has declared the Presidential Decree no. 25/2005 of 27 April which created the
Council for Coordination of Legality as unconstitutional for violating the principle of separation of powers between
the judiciary, the legislative and the executive. It has also declared as unconstitutional a law approved by the Assembly
of the Republic on 19 September 2008, which had revoked two laws punishing crimes against the national economy
(Law no. 5/82 of 9 July and Law no. 9/87 of 19 September) among other decisions. On the other hand, in 2008 the
President of the Republic revoked a Decree that had created the Anti-Corruption National Forum, in anticipation of a
declaration of unconstitutionality of the forum by the Constitutional Council, also because its composition violated the
principles of separation of state power.
13 Section 1, article 225 of the Constitution.
14 G. Cistac, Os Trs Poderes do Estado, in Governacao e Integridade em Moambique (Governance and Integrity in
Mozambique), Centro de Integridade Pblica, Maputo, April 2008, p. 16.
To counterbalance the power of the executive, supervision of the appointment of
the members of the judiciary is extremely important. However, the fact that the
President of the Supreme Court is, ex-offcio, the President of the Supreme Council
of the Judiciary (CSMJ) creates the perception that the CSMJ is intimately connected
to the executive.
15
In addition to these constitutional constraints, the independence of the judiciary is
further jeopardised by poorly trained personnel and limited resources.
16
As regards the legislature, Renamo sufered a further loss in clout following its
very poor performance in the 2009 general elections, thus allowing Frelimo with its
comfortable absolute majority an almost free reign. In practice, on the vast majority of
issues put to the vote, decisions go the way of Frelimo. Because of the party-list system,
loyalty to the party prevails.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the 2004 Constitution introduced
the concept of decree-law by which parliament can delegate legislative authority
to the Council of Ministers (cabinet) at its request. A decree-law enters into force
automatically if it is not challenged by parliament. This power has already been used
to enact signifcant legislation, like the Civil Procedure Code, and is open to abuse if
parliament is unable to exercise its oversight role efectively.
17
This further tilts the balance of power in favour of the executive, supported by
Frelimo and headed by the President of the Republic.
15 Moambique: O Sector da Justia e o Estado de Direito. Open Society Foundation for Southern Africa, Johannesburg,
2006, p. 11.
16 Ibid., p. 12.
17 Mozambique Country Governance Analysis 2007, www.dfd.gov.uk/pubs/fles/mozambique-country-gov.pdf.
COUNTRY FACTS 7
2 Socio-economic conditions
Table 1: Population data
Population (millions) 20.8
gnP per capita 349.0 (US$, 2006)
Adult illiteracy 48%
life expectancy 47.9
Main languages (% distribution
among the population)
Portuguese: Offcial and mother tongue 6.5
Emakhwa-Lomwe 34.2
Xichangana 11.4
Cisena 7.0
Echuwabo 6.3
Other national languages 33
religions (%) Unknown 0.7
Anglican 1.3
Evangelic 10.9
Zion 17.9
Islamic 17.9
Catholic 28.4
Other 6.7
No religion 18.8
Source: National Institute of Statistics (INE)
18

Post-confict political stability and signifcant economic progress have gone hand in
hand, achieved by Mozambicans and enthusiastically supported by the international
community.
The great agricultural and industrial potential of Mozambique gives cause for a
degree of optimism regarding prospects for the countrys economic development in
the long term. These include large tracts of still available arable land, natural riches
which are again being exploited including the restoration and creation of industrial
facilities (the Cahora Bassa Dam, the Mozal aluminium plant, the Moatize coal mine),
and the gradual renaissance of trade through the natural corridors of Maputo, Nacala
and Beira that connect the hinterland of Malawi to the Indian Ocean. (The crisis in
zimbabwe, however, is currently limiting the potential of the Beira corridor.)
18 www.ine.gov.mz and www.ine.gov.mz/censos_dir/recenseamento_geral/estudos_analise/lingua. For readers of
Human Development Reports, please note that the fgures provided by global HDR 2007 are slightly lower than the
ones provided here by the National Human Development Report (UNDP Mozambique Ofce) through the National
Institute of Statistics. The diferences include the countrys population, calculated at 23.5 million the global Human
Development Report, against the 20.8 from the most recent general population census carried out in Mozambique
in August 2007 (INE, 2007) as well as the fgures for life expectancy at birth and illiteracy, both lower in the global
Human Development Report. Mozambican researchers dispute the accuracy of the sources used by the New York
UNDP Human Development Statistics Ofce (UNDP, 1998, 2007).
The country formally took control of Africas second-largest dam, Cahora Bassa (with
a capacity of 2 075 megawatts) in November 2007, when the governments of Portugal
and Mozambique transferred ownership of the operating company Hidroelectrica
de Cahora Bassa (HCB) to Mozambique. Transport infrastructure improvements
are under way. The integrated port facilities at Nacala, in particular, are attracting
signifcant investment fows, linked in part with investment in a nearby oil refnery.
The publicly owned national railroad company, the Empresa dos Portos e Caminhos de
Ferro de Mocambique, or CFM, with aid from the World Bank, has become proftable
after years of restructuring. An investment of US$ 20 million has been earmarked for
work under way on the Ressano Garcia line, which connects Mozambique and South
Africa. The intention is to increase cargo trafc to 9 million tonnes annually by 2009.
Other lines have been leased to private operating companies.
19
While poverty remains high on the list of concerns, signifcant progress has been
made. On the basis of the cost of a basket of essential goods and services, the National
Institute of Statistics (INE) measured a substantial decrease in the incidence of poverty,
from 69 per cent in 1996/97 to 54 per cent in 2002/03. No recent fgures are available.
Poverty is ofcially defned as the inability of individuals to ensure for themselves
and their dependants a series of minimum basic conditions for subsistence and well-
being, according to the norms of society. In monetary terms these minimum basic
conditions for subsistence vary between 21.8 and 78 US cents per person per day.
20
Further progress will be more difcult to achieve as it requires structural reforms
and signifcant investment in order to increase agricultural productivity and facilitate
new and innovative micro-economic projects.
3 Main challenges
Despite economic growth being registered at an ofcial rate of about 8 per cent since
1997 (INE, 2004), 54 per cent of the Mozambican population still live in absolute
poverty. The most serious threat to Mozambiques stability at present lies not in the
prospect of a return to arms by either of the main parties and a renewal of the civil
war, but in the danger of increasing crime and violence as the economy fails to expand
quickly enough to satisfy the needs of the population. Economic constraints continue
to prevent the government from adopting policies that will consolidate the peace
among ordinary Mozambicans by changing their lives for the better.
There have been a number of outbreaks of sporadic violence, usually involving
19 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/MOzAMBIqUEEXTN/0,,content.
20 Poverty Reduction Strategy Program (PARPA I), 20012006, www.portaldogoverno.mz.
COUNTRY FACTS 9
ordinary people who feel that the states legal and security structures have lost or failed
to develop capacity quickly enough to protect its citizens.
3.1 governance
Accountability mechanisms in Mozambique are weak and the boundaries between the
ruling party (Frelimo) and the machinery of state are blurred. According to the World
Bank Country Data Report, which displays the countrys performance in six aggregate
governance indicators between 1996 and 2007 based on a scale from 0 to 100 points,
Mozambiques rating is 40 for government efectiveness, 31 for regulatory quality, 30
for rule of law, and 38 for control of corruption. The ranking for political stability and
absence of violence is comparatively higher (59).
21
3.2 corruption
Reducing corruption has been a central plank of President Guebuzas programme
of action. However the countrys strong donor community expresses concern that
the governments anti-corruption strategy has delivered too few visible results. In
particular, there are worries in relation to the irregular publication of data and the lack
of cases coming before the courts in 2006 and 2007. In the Global Perceptions Index
2008 of Transparency International, Mozambique occupies 126th place out of a total of
180 countries.
22
Corrupt practices are most evident in procurement and contracts for
the public sector. Donors advocate the setting of measurable targets for anti-corruption
plans to allow for monitoring and proper impact assessment.
3.3 dependency on aid
The countrys dependence on foreign aid is very high. Donors contributed 51 per
cent of the state budget in 2007.
23
According to the OECD Development Assistance
Committee, net ofcial development assistance to Mozambique in 2004 amounted
to around US$ 1.2 billion, which corresponds to 23 per cent of national income. This
makes Mozambique the worlds eighth most aid-dependent country.
24
The largest
donors are the World Bank, the European Commission and the United States, with
21 http:sitersources.worldbank.org/INMOzAMBIqUE/Resources/MOzAMBIqUE_Governance.pdf, accessed
7 September 2008.
22 Transparency International, Global Corruption Report 2009, accessed 23 October 2009, www.transparency.org/
publications/gcr/gcr_2009#6.1.
23 National Human Development Report 2007, UNDP Maputo Ofce.
24 J. Hanlon and P. De Renzio, Contested Sovereignty in Mozambique: The Dilemmas of Aid Dependence. Managing
Aid Dependence Project. GEG Working Paper 2005/07. Oxford University College.UK.
1 0 PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
more than US$ 100 million per year, followed by Denmark, the UK, Sweden, Norway,
the Netherlands and the African Development Bank (who provide between US$ 50
and US$ 70 million per year).
25
There has been much debate on the impact of this dependency not just on governance
but on democratic structures as a whole. National and foreign experts have warned of
the dangers of donors exercising undue infuence on government decisions and thus
excluding Mozambican society and the national assembly from the policy dialogue.
26

According to this perception, dependence on aid has hampered accountability by
undermining key democratic institutions and mechanisms, including the civil society
sphere.
27
Civil society organisations, which have the potential to make a constructive
impact on political life by helping to foster fairer, more honest, transparent, democratic
and accountable governance, are themselves prone to align with the donors agenda.
Thus, civil society is viewed as being too weak to demand changes and improvements
in governance.
28
3.4 decentralisation
Mozambiques present process of social and economic transformation includes the
implementation of a decentralisation policy meant to stimulate democracy, political
equity and active participation of citizens at the local level through autonomous
and democratically elected local governments. This is not only expected to enhance
accountability, transparency and good governance, but also to increase management
efciency, efciency in fnancial performance through increased revenue generation
and rational expenditure decisions, as well as create a better environment for public-
private partnerships. According to legislation adopted in 1997, local authorities with
their own representative (municipal assembly) and executive bodies (municipal
council) were to be established. In 1998 and 2003, municipal elections were held in 33
towns and villages, and the number increased to 43 in 2008.
According to some studies, however, the approach is less one of genuine
decentralisation of powers but rather one of deconcentration only. This perception
is strengthened by the adoption of Law no. 8/2003 regarding the organisation and
functioning of local state bodies. This law defnes the district as the basic planning
unit and provides for the transfer of funds from the central government to the district
25 Ibid.
26 See Ibid., among others.
27 N. Awortwi and A. Nuvunga (eds), Foreign Aid, Governance and Institutional Development in Mozambique, Shaker
Publishing, Maastricht, 2007, pp. 4445.
28 Ibid., p. 46 and ndice da Sociedade Civil em Moambique 2007: A Sociedade Civil Moambicana por dentro: Avaliacao,
Desafos, Oportunidades e Aco, Fundao para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade (FDC) e Programa das Naes
Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), Maputo, 2007. Further discussions on the subject include: J. Hanlons Are
donors to Mozambique promoting corruption?, http://www.mol.co.mz/analise/corrupcao/jhshefelda.html.
COUNTRY FACTS 1 1
level. So, the powers that were expected to be attributed to municipalities have in fact
been given to the district administrations, led by ofcials appointed by the central
government and not legitimised by the local communities.
29
As a result, it is feared
that the much vaunted decentralisation process will end up merely reproducing a
centralised line of thought and lead to the emergence of a kind of democratic de facto
one-party state.
3.5 skills shortages
Overall, the Mozambican workforce is poorly educated and lacks technical skills. More
than 75 per cent of the population has fve years or less of school attendance and only
8.5 per cent have achieved secondary or tertiary education. A mere 1 per cent of the
total school enrolment, or 15 per cent of all secondary level students, participate in
formal technical and vocational education and training (TVET) courses each year, of
which about 90 per cent are in the 45 technical schools managed by the education
and culture ministry (MEC). Failure rates (50 per cent) and drop-out rates (30 per
cent) remain consistently high as a result of under-qualifed instructors, a shortage of
learning materials and dilapidated facilities.
30
3.6 sustainability of growth
The economy will need to attract increased foreign and domestic investment and
mobilise additional tax revenue to sustain development and reduce poverty. External
aid is expected to decline in the medium term and, following the opening up of the
free trade area in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region as
of 1 January 2008, there will also be signifcant loss of customs revenue. Investment
so far, while substantial, has mainly gone to a few megaprojects. For example, there
was US$ 7.3 billion in approved investment during the frst three quarters of 2007, but
the lions share of that amount was accounted for by a single project, the oil refnery
at Nacala-a-Velha in Nampula Province. Mozambique needs to increase and diversify
its exports to other SADC members, especially to South Africa, if it is to prevent that
countrys powerful businesses from taking over its own economic space.
29 G. Akesson and A. Nilsson, National Governance and Local Chieftaincy A Multi-level Power Assessment in Mozambique
from Niassas Perspective. CIEDMA, SARL, Maputo, 2008, p. 67.
30 Instituto Nacional de Estatstica (INE), Inqurito Integrado Forca de Trabalho (IFTRAB), 2004/2005. Relatrio Final,
2006.
3.7 hiv/Aids pandemic
Presently the infection rate is between 16.2 and 27 per cent in various parts of the
country and up to 1.64 million children have been orphaned as a result. Prevention
campaigns are difcult because of the prevailing high illiteracy rate of 48 per cent.
Care for AIDS patients is lacking because of the poor public health service, which
caters for only 44 per cent of the population.
31
3.8 cyclical, devastating natural disasters
Cyclones and prolonged droughts followed by heavy rains and foods along the four
main rivers are some of the most serious challenges for which the country needs
permanent preparedness. Infrastructure is destroyed and hundreds of thousands of
people regularly lose their homes and livelihoods, falling prey to water-borne diseases
and needing emergency food aid. With the country on its own often unable to meet
the costs of such disaster relief and having to appeal to the international community
for help, this also tends to reinforce its dependency on donor assistance. Planning for
adaptation to climate change has not really begun on any signifcant scale, although
increased attention is being given to regional river-basin management.
3.9 Poor infrastructure
Mozambique is faced with a dire need to increase energy production and provide the
majority of people with access to the electricity grid; to expand the network of roads,
bridges, ports and railways, and ensure their maintenance; to expand and improve access
to telecommunications, especially in remote areas; and to build water supply systems.
4 The media landscape
4.1 Print media
According to the Government Information Bureau (Gabinete de Informao,
GABINFO) in the prime ministers ofce, there are 119 registered newspapers and
magazines in Mozambique. However, only some 27 are actually active, including some
fax newssheets.
32
31 National Human Development Report, Mozambique, Response to HIV and AIDS: Challenges and Opportunities, UNDP,
www.undp.org.mz.
32 It should be noted that in its registration records, GABINFO does not make any distinction between in-house
institutional and corporate publications (from government and private institutions) and mass media publications.
COUNTRY FACTS 1 3
The latter are small daily publications (of six to eight pages) disseminated by fax
machine, which were instrumental in ushering in the era of media pluralism in the
country in 1992. They challenged the ofcial media by publishing independently
collected information on issues which would otherwise be viewed as taboo. Typical
examples of such low-cost, alternative media are Mediafax and Metical, both created by
Carlos Cardoso, the countrys foremost investigative journalist who was assassinated
in 2001 (see details in chapter 2). These typically Mozambican media later evolved into
electronically distributed publications tackling sensitive issues such as corruption and
other forms of misconduct in public administration as well as in the countrys party
politics.
More than 72 per cent of the newspapers and magazines now in circulation were
started between 1999 and 2006.
The following table gives an overview of publications currently available in the
country, their ownership profles and their political afliation.
Table 2: National and regional print media
3334
type name owner/s language circulation
33
Political
orientation
daily newspapers Noticias Sociedade do
Noticias (state
and private
shareholding)
Portuguese 15 000 Government
control
34
Diario de
Mocambique
Privately owned Portuguese 5 000 Government
control
O Pais Privately owned Portuguese 30 000 Independent
seven daily fax
news sheets
Various
titles
Privately owned Portuguese 500 each Independent
Weekly
newspapers
Savana Mediacoop PT Portuguese 7 000 Independent
Zambeze NOVOMedia,
SARL
Portuguese 7 000 Pro-
opposition
Magazine
Independent
Privately owned Portuguese/
English
7 000 Independent
Publico Privately owned Portuguese 5 000 Independent
33 There are no independent sources for circulation fgures. The fgures cited in the table have been provided by the
publications themselves. Some independent sources regard these fgures as infated in order to attract advertising.
34 The newspapers main shareholder is President Armando Guebuzas Intelect Company hence its afliation with the
government.
Table 2: National and regional print media continued
type name owner/s language circulation Political
orientation
Weekly
newspapers
(cont.)
Escorpiao Privately owned Portuguese 5 000 Independent
A Verdade
35
Privately owned Portuguese 50 000 Independent
Canal de
Mocambique
Privately owned Portuguese 7 000 Independent
O Pais SOICO Group Portuguese 7 000 Independent
Domingo Sociedade do
Noticias (state
and private
shareholding)
control
Desafo
Sports
Sociedade do
Noticias (state
and private
shareholding)
control
Weekly
magazines
Tempo Tempografca
Group
Portuguese 10 000 Independent
Prestigio Sojornal. Lda. Portuguese 15 000 Independent
regional
publications
Eight
regional
weekly
publications
Various Portuguese 200 to
300 each
Independent
news agency AIM State Portuguese
/English
Government
control
Source: Author, building on fgures collected from GABINFO media registration fles
35
Article 6 of the Press Law permits the state to acquire holdings in the mass media
beyond those defned as being in the public sector. The Mozambican government
holds shares in a company, the Sociedade do Noticias, which owns several newspapers
published in Portuguese. These titles include:
the countrys main daily newspaper, Noticias;
the only Sunday newspaper, Domingo;
the weekly sports newspaper, Desafo.
35 A Verdade is the only newspaper distributed for free in Mozambique.and its representative claimed that they are the
only one with audited circulation fgures.
COUNTRY FACTS 1 5
The main shareholders of Sociedade do Noticias are the national central bank (Banco de
Mocambique), the national insurance company (Emose) and the national oil company
(Petromoc) all three state-owned companies. A fourth partner is a small private
company. The Central Bank holds the chairmanship of the group, which makes it a
state-controlled media institution. No information on shareholding percentages could
be obtained. The Press Law establishes that in the case of joint stock companies, all
shares must be nominal (article 6[7]).
Seven independent provincial publications have emerged outside of Maputo:
Amanhecer and Faisca weeklies (Niassa Province), WhampulaFax and Lurio (Nampula
Province), Horizonte weekly (Cabo Delgado Province), Diario da Zambezia (zambezia
Province), and O Autarca (Sofala Province). Their circulations are very modest,
numbering around 300 to 500 copies per edition.
The state-owned Mozambique News Agency (Agencia de Informao de
Moambique, AIM) is the countrys ofcial news agency and falls under the
Government Information Bureau (GABINFO). In terms of Presidential Decree no.
5 of October 1995, GABINFO exercises state sovereignty over the media bodies or
institutions belonging to the public sector, such as AIM. This includes the appointment
of its director general and deciding on its annual business plans.
The main language of much of the print media in Mozambique is Portuguese, an
ofcial language that the majority of the people outside the cities can neither write nor
speak. Commercial print media are basically concentrated in the capital, Maputo. The
recent emergence of some weekly publications based in the provincial capitals, though,
indicates an increase in pluralism and some measure of departure from the old saying
that Maputo speaks and the rest of the country listens.
36
While modest circulation fgures together with prevailing high illiteracy rates are
further impediments to media accessibility, the reach and relevance of the independent
print media should not be underestimated. By exposing corruption, organised crime
and misconduct in the public administration, they make an important impact on
Mozambican society through promoting national debate and putting the spotlight on
abuses of power among some in the national political and economic elites.
4.2 broadcasting
Data provided by an Audience Research Survey in 2009
37
show that 92 per cent of
responding households own a radio set and 44 per cent a television set.
36 UNDP, Mozambique: Peace and economic growth: Opportunities for human development, National Human Development
Report, Maputo, p. 76.
37 The Steadman Group, Audience Research Survey Mozambique August 2009, Kampala 2009.
Radio
The radio network reaches approximately 6070 per cent of the population throughout
the country, with state-owned Rdio Moambique (RM) by far the most technologically
advanced and the service with the largest geographical coverage.
38
In fact, RM is the
only service to reach every province. It broadcasts in Portuguese, English and the
major local languages spoken in the respective province.
A total of eight commercial radio stations are presently on air in the national
territory.
Except for the Sociedade de Informao de Tete (SIRT Group), with a radio station
based in the northeastern province of Tete, and Radio Progresso in the southern
town of Maxixe, the other six commercial FM radio services are all based in the
capital, Maputo. They are: Radio Sociedade de Independente de Comunicao (SFM);
Radio Miramar (with headquarters in Brazil); Radio 99.3 FM; Radio Savana; Radio
Transmundial and Radio Klint (KFM). (Klint is the name of the founder, a high-
ranking Frelimo veteran who died in 2003.)
There are also two FM radios stations which belong to the countrys two dominant
political parties: Radio Indico (Frelimo) and Radio Terra Verde (Renamo).
Foreign radio stations that re-transmit their programmes from Maputo include
BBC Africa, Radio France Internationale (RFI), Voice of America and Radiodifusao
Portuguesa Africa (public radio of Portugal).
There is a growing community broadcasting sector, composed of some 59
community radio and TV stations spread throughout the country. Twenty-four of
these are sponsored by the Institute of Social Communication (ICS), a government-
funded state institution. UNESCO and IBIS, a Danish NGO, contributed to the
development of twelve community radio stations in the country. The Catholic Church
and a few community-based organisations, such as the General Union of Agricultural
Cooperatives in the so-called green zones of Maputo, helped to create and support a
further 23 stations.
UNESCO has also assisted in the development of an embryonic Community
Multimedia Centre (CMC) movement in Mozambique. These centres are installed at
already existing community radio stations in order make use of the synergies between
radio and ICT. The radio stations proft from internet connections through which
their information and programming is enriched, and the surrounding communities
enjoy the benefts of direct access to the internet, computers, email, the world wide
web, printers, copying machines and television at these centres. In combination
these facilities enhance access to information, knowledge and education, and ensure
38 J. Miller and T. James, Preliminary Report: A Country ICT Survey for Mozambique, prepared for SIDA, September 2001.
COUNTRY FACTS 1 7
networking among communities. At present there are 17 CMCs up and running in
the country.
Television
Six TV stations ofer free-to-air services. These include one foreign TV station,
the African channel of the Portuguese public station, Radio Televiso Portuguesa
(RTP Africa). However, all together these services reach only 15 to 17 per cent of the
population.
39
Televiso de Moambique (TVM) a public company that receives government
subsidies started operations in 1981. More than ten years later, Radio Televiso
Klint (RTK), a private radio and television broadcasting company became the second
operator. Subsequently, three more stations were established: Rdio Televiso Miramar
(TV Miramar) of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (Brazil), Sociedade
Independente de Comunicao Televiso (SOICO STV) and Televiso Independente
de Moambique (TIM).
TVM is the only service with a presence in all ten provinces and a range of diferent
programmes. STV, established in 2002, is the leading commercial TV station,
covering eight of the countrys eleven provinces of Maputo (city and province), Gaza
and Inhambane in the south, Manica, Tete and zambezia in the centre, and Nampula
in the north. Mozambican businesspersons established TIM in 2006 and the station
covers Maputo, Beira, Cabo Delgado and quelimane. Antonio Marcelino de Mello,
a Mozambican busisnessperson, established SIRT-TV in Tete province and SIRT is
therefore the only TV station based outside Maputo. All the other TV stations are more
or less limited to the cities of Maputo and Beira.
In addition, two private subscription television services are available: TVCabo, a
cable subscription service based in Maputo, and TVSD, a privately owned company
which is the local arm of the South African DSTV satellite subscription service.
Cable TV is only available in Maputo and Matola, ofering a total of 52 television and
fve radio channels through a metropolitan network owned by TVCabo, a subsidiary of
the state-owned Telecomunicaes de Moambique (Mozambique Telecom Company,
TDM). The company uses the same infrastructure to provide internet access to its TV
subscribers through its subsidiary, NetCabo.
39 Ibid.
Table 3: List of broadcasting services
name owner/s languages coverage Political orientation
radio
Mozambique (rM)
State Portuguese
and English
plus 19 national
languages
80% of national
territory
40
Increasingly independent
from the government
television
Mozambique
(tvM)
State Portuguese and
Xindau (in Beira
City)
80% of national
territory
41
Under strong
government control
soico television
(stv)
SOICO
Group
Portuguese 70% of national
territory
42
Independent
rtK (tv) RTK Group Portuguese Maputo City Independent
KfM radio RTK Group Portuguese Maputo City Independent
sfM radio SOICO
Group
Portuguese Maputo City Independent
tiM (television) TIM Media Portuguese Maputo, Beira,
Quelimane,
Nampula,
Pemba and Tete
provinces
Independent
tv Miramar Universal
Church of
God, Brazil
territory
Independent/religious
rtP Africa
Portugal
(television)
State/
Portugal
territory
Foreign service (for
Africa) of public TV in
Portugal
rdP Africa
Portugal (radio)
State/
Portugal
territory
Foreign service (for
Africa) of public radio in
Portugal
40 Radio Mozambiques Annual Report 2006, Maputo.
41 TVM chief engineer, Victor Mbeve.
42 STV CEO, Daniel David.
COUNTRY FACTS 1 9
Table 3: List of broadcasting services continued
type number owner/s languages Political orientation
community radio 33 Civic associations Portuguese and
local languages
Independent
local rural radio 21 Institute for Social
Communication (State)
Portuguese and
local languages
Government-
controlled
local rural tv
station
2 Institute for Social
Communication
Portuguese and
local languages
Government-
controlled
religious radio 6 Catholic Church and
United Methodist
Church
Portuguese and
local languages
Church/Independent
Political party radio 2 Indico (Frelimo) and
Terra Verde (Renamo)
radios
Portuguese Pro-Frelimo,
pro-Renamo
commercial radio 8 Private sector Portuguese Independent
Source: Author, building on fgures collected from GABINFO media registration fles
There are no specifc regulations or government policies in place to aid media
development or promote media diversity through measures such as exemptions
from taxes or import duties on newsprint. A study commissioned by UNESCO in
2006
43
indicates that the main bottlenecks for print media are newsprint costs, which
account for 70 per cent of total production costs, and inadequate distribution networks
throughout the country.
It is only the state-owned broadcasting services that reach into all provinces and
Radio Mozambique in particular dominates the media landscape. With 70 per cent
of the Mozambican population living in the rural areas,
44
and less than half of all
households being in possession of a radio receiver, access to a diverse and pluralistic
range of media is limited for the majority of Mozambican citizens.
4.3 internet and telephone
Mozambique presently has a teledensity (number of phone lines per 100 people) of
0.46,
45
one of the lowest in Southern Africa. In 2007, the fxed telephone network
extended to about 60 per cent of the territory or 72 of the countrys 128 districts.
Annual reports
46
of the national telecommunications company Telecomunicaes
43 The Cost of Press Freedom in Mozambique, UNESCO, Maputo, 2006, p. 23.
44 National Human Development Report, UNDP Mozambique, 2007.
45 Source: www.infopol.gov.mz /symposium/politica/politica.doc.
46 Source: www.tdm.mz (TDM Annual Report 2004).
de Moambique (TDM) indicate that the available capacity in telephone lines is
127 902, but the number of subscribers has been dropping since 2000. One of the
main reasons for this decline is peoples limited purchasing power, especially in the
rural areas, coupled with the rapid expansion of the mobile network.
Following the introduction of mobile services in November 1997, the country
experienced a dramatic increase in access to telecommunication services. However,
these services are still limited to urban areas or concentrated along the main roads
to South Africa, Swaziland and zimbabwe as well as those connecting Mozambican
provinces.
With the adoption of the 1999 telecommunication law, the sector was partially
liberalised. This enabled competition in the mobile sector, which, until then, had
been a monopoly operated by TDM. There are now two private mobile operators in the
country: mCel (Moambique Cellular), which is the brand name for Telecomunicaes
Mveis de Moambique (TMM), and Vodacom Mocambique owned by Vodacom
South Africa and EMOTEL. mCel was established in 1997 as a result of a joint
venture between TDM and Detecon GmbH (Deutsche Telepost Consulting GmbH), a
subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. In 2004 TDM bought the Detecon stake and it is now
the sole owner of mCel. Vodacom was awarded the second mobile licence in 2002 and
started operating in December 2003.
April 2007 fgures indicated that Vodacom had more than a million subscribers and
mCel around two million, putting the total fgure of mobile subscribers in the country
at close to three million. According to a report on digital inclusion, 21 per cent of the
population were subscribers of mobile telephony in 2008, and 111 of Mozambiques 128
districts had coverage, translating into 86.7 per cent nationally.
47
By the end of 2008 there were around 20 internet service providers (ISP) operational
in Mozambique, the most signifcant being Teledata, CIUEM, Tropicalweb, Virconn,
Emil, TDM, CFMnet, TVCabo, Intra, Dataserv, SATCOM, and GSTelecom. Internet
service providers are not subject to licensing but only need to be formally registered for
ofcial record-keeping purposes, and there are some IPSs registered with the National
Institute of Communications (Instituto Nacional das Comunicaoes de Moambique,
INCM) which are not providing any services. With the exception of Teledata, TDM and
Virconn, none of these providers has points of presence (PoPs) outside Maputo.
Listeners and viewers can access radio and TV channels via the internet, a
technology that was introduced in 2003.
The basic telecommunications network infrastructure is managed and operated by
Telecomunicaes de Moambique (TDM) owned entirely by the state. However, the
47 Digital Inclusion in Mozambique: A Challenge for All, Maputo, August 2009, p. 37. Available at: http://www.ngopulse.
org/article/digital-inclusion-mozambique-challenge-all.
COUNTRY FACTS 21
ownership of infrastructure for complementary or value-added services is open to both
the public and private sectors.
The physical infrastructure to support access to telecommunications, including
the internet, is severely underdeveloped, although it is improving. The National ICT
Policy Implementation Strategy lists a large number of short-, medium- and long-term
projects in the telecommunications sector with a total budget of US$ 144 246 000.
The fxed-line telephone and electricity networks currently cover all provincial
capitals, but still leave out a huge part of the population who live in the rural areas. The
expansion of telecommunications is closely linked to the expansion of the electricity
grid.
In 2007, the electricity grid covered 70 of the 128 district capitals. The national
electricity companys (Electricidade de Moambique, EDM) national electrifcation
plan forecasts that by 2010, coverage will have been extended to 104 district capitals.
The Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) infrastructure consists of a
national backbone covering about 79.7 per cent of the countrys territory, including all
provinces down to the district level. This network is based on a combination of diferent
technologies such as VSAT, wireless loop, copper cable and most recently a marine
fbre-optic cable along the coast linking Maputo to Beira along a thousand kilometre
stretch, with intermediate connection points in Xai-Xai, Inhambane and Vilanculos.
It is very difcult to gauge how many people actually make use of the internet.
However, there has been dramatic growth from a small base pioneered by the Eduardo
Mondlane University Informatics Centre (Centro de Informtica da Universidade
Eduardo Mondlane, CIUEM) in 1993. Present fgures (Table 4) chiefy refect access
in urban areas, while access in rural areas is largely non-existent. The number of
email subscribers is estimated at about 60 000, with more than 50 per cent of all
subscribers and users based in Maputo. An unreliable electricity supply, high costs
and lack of skills limit the use of the internet outside of the capital, even where reliable
telecommunication facilities and PoPs are available.
To address these defciencies government is embarking on a universal access
programme to support increased public access to basic telephony and internet services
at the district level. The Provincial Digital Resources Centres (Centros Provinciais de
Recursos Digitais, CPRD) under the science and technology ministry, together with
Community Multimedia Centres (Centros Multimdia Comunitrios, CMC), are
expected to be the primary implementing agencies for this programme.
Internet cafs were frst established in Maputo some years ago and are now
beginning to appear in a number of provincial capitals, despite the very high access
fees. Most ISPs charge, on average, a monthly fee of between Mozambican Meticais
(MT) 750 to 1 000 (equivalent to US$ 30 and US$ 40). This is two times higher than
the monthly subscription of Noticias, the countrys leading daily newspaper. Several
4 to 5-star hotels in Maputo, Beira and Nampula and luxury lodges along the Indian
Ocean Mozambican islands ofer free internet access to their guests.
Other technologies such as leased lines (analogue), integrated services digital
network (ISDN) lines, wireless and cable TV are also available, but much more
expensive.
Table 4: Availability of ICTs
indicators numbers year
number of subscribers to land lines 78 324 2008
number of subscribers to mobile phones 4 223 911 2008
geographical coverage of land lines 116 out of 128 Districts
(91%)
2008
geographical coverage of mobile phones (district capital) 111 out of 128 Districts
(86.7%)
2008
Penetration of mobile phones 21% 2008
isP/interconnectivity companies using tdM
infrastructure, vsAt, wireless networks, proprietary
optical fbre (estimate)
20 2008
number of subscribers to internet 24 000 2008
number of computer users 100 000 2007
number of internet users (per 1 000 people) 7 2004
Source: Digital Inclusion in Mozambique: A Challenge for All, Maputo, August 2009
With regard to connectivity, the great challenge facing Mozambique is investment in
low-cost communication and connectivity solutions in rural areas.
Several initiatives seeking to set up points of public and community access are
currently under way, with particular emphasis on communities. Such community
access points could be community radio stations, telecentres, schools (SchoolNet),
Provincial Digital Resource Centres (CPRDs) and Community Multimedia Centres
(CMCs). Progress has been made in setting up these community access points but is
not as fast as desired, one of the main constraints being connectivity.
COUNTRY FACTS 23
5 Brief history of broadcasting
The frst broadcast in Mozambique was made on 18 March 1933, pioneered by the
Gremio de Radioflos da Colonia de Moambique (the Friends of the Radio Club in
the Colony of Mozambique), a private club of Portuguese settlers based in the colonial
town of Loureno Marques (now Maputo). The radio station was named Radio Clube
de Mocambique. At the time there were just 1 400 radio receivers in Mozambique.
48

Two other private radio stations were set up in the next few years in Beira, the colonys
second capital city, including Radio Pax, an AM Catholic Church station.
Following independence, the Frelimo government abolished private broadcasting
and nationalised the three private stations to form the new, state-controlled Radio
Mozambique (RM).
Ofcially, RM was established on 2 October 1975,
49
some three months after
independence on 25 June. Its national network presently includes eleven provincial
and regional stations as well as several FM local re-transmitters of the national
channel broadcasting in Portuguese.
In 1977 the government established the Media Institute (ICS), a state-funded
agency created to promote rural development.
50
The ICS set up its frst community
radio station in 1984, when it opened a local station in the southern province of Gaza,
some 200 km north of Maputo.
Following the 1992 peace agreement, the ICS expanded its national network of
community radios to 24 stations by 2007, with fnancial and technical support from
UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Television is a much more recent mass medium in Mozambique: Televiso de
Moambique (TVM) was ofcially inaugurated on 3 February 1981, initially known as
Televiso Experimental (TVE). TVMs signal reaches all ten provinces.
From independence in 1975 up to 1990, broadcasting was a state monopoly. The
government, via the information ministry, owned and controlled the broadcaster, and
editorial policy was determined by the ruling party Frelimo through its Department
of Ideological Work.
The new democratic constitution of 1990 paved the way for the adoption of the
Press Law in August 1991.
51
Two broadcasting laws were also promulgated: Act 22/92
of 31 December 1992, which establishes the legal and technical conditions for access
to frequencies, and Act 9/93 of 22 June 1993, which provides for various forms of
ownership of broadcast media.
48 L. Loforte, Rdio Moambique: Memorias de um Doce Calvrio, CEDIMA, 2007, p. 72.
49 Act no. 16/75 of 2 October 1975.
50 Decree no. 34/97 of 31 January 1997.
51 Law no. 18/91 of 10 August 1991.
2
Media Legislation and Regulation
1 International, continental and regional standards
Article 18 of the Constitution of Mozambique (International Law) states as follows:
1. Validly approved and ratifed international treaties and agreements shall come
into force within the Mozambican legal order, once they have been offcially
published and while they are internationally binding on the Mozambican
State.
2. The norms of international law shall have the same force in the Mozambican
legal order as do infra-constitutional legislative acts (i.e. ordinary laws, the rank
of which is lesser than that of constitutional legislative acts) of the Assembly of
the Republic and the Government, according to the respective manner in which
they are received.
Mozambique is party to a number of international and regional legal instruments
relating to freedom of expression.
1.1 united nations
The following instruments of the UN are relevant to freedom of expression:
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948)
The Universal Declaration is not a treaty that is ratifed by states and thus legally
binding. However, scholars now regard it as either having itself become international
customary law or as a refection of such law.
52
In either case the inclusion of freedom
of expression in the declaration implies that even states that have ratifed none of the
relevant treaties are bound to respect freedom of expression as a human right. Article
19 of the Declaration deals with the right to freedom of expression:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (enacted by the United Nations in 1976)
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a treaty that
elaborates on many of the rights outlined in the Declaration. The Covenants article
19 declares:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of his choice.
The Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press (adopted by
the general assembly of UNESCO in 1991)
The UN Educational, Scientifc and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO) Windhoek
Declaration, like other non-treaty documents, has moral authority by representing a
broad consensus of the international community on the detailed interpretation of the
Universal Declaration and other relevant standards as they relate to the press in Africa.
The Windhoek Declaration states:
[We] declare that
1. Consistent with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
establishment, maintenance and fostering of an independent, pluralistic and
free press is essential to the development and maintenance of democracy in a
nation, and for economic development.
52 See for example, H. Hannum, The Status and Future of the Customary International Law of Human Rights:
The Status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in National and International Law, Georgia Journal of
International and Comparative Law, 287; H. J. Steiner, P. Alston and R. Goodman, International Human Rights in
Context: Law, Politics, Morals Texts and Materials, Oxford: Oxford University Press (third edition), 2007.
MEDIA LEGISLATION AND REGULATION 27
2. By an independent press, we mean a press independent from governmental,
political or economic control or from control of materials and infrastructure
essential for the production and dissemination of newspapers, magazines and
periodicals.
3. By a pluralistic press, we mean the end of monopolies of any kind and
the existence of the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines
and periodicals refecting the widest possible range of opinion within the
community.
1.2 African union
Mozambique is a member of the African Union (AU), whose Constitutive Act states
that its objectives include the promotion of democratic principles and institutions,
popular participation and good governance (article 3[g]).
The most important human rights standard adopted by the AU, or its predecessor,
the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), is:
The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (adopted 27 June 1981)
53
Mozambique acceded to the Charter and is thus bound by its provisions. Its article 9
on freedom of expression states:
Lvc: i:oivioua| s|a|| |avc t|c :ig|t to :cccivc i:o::atio:
Lvc: i:oivioua| s|a|| |avc t|c :ig|t to cp:css a:o oissc:i:atc |is opi:io:s
within the law.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) is the body
established under the Charter to monitor and promote compliance with its terms.
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa
In 2002, the African Commission adopted this Declaration to provide a detailed
interpretation for member states of the AU of the rights to freedom of expression
outlined in the African Charter. It states in its article I:
Freedom of expression and information, including the right to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of
art, or through any other form of communication, including across frontiers, is
53 Organisation of African Unity, The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, adopted 27 June 1981, Doc. CAB/
LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force 21 October 1986.
a fundamental and inalienable human right and an indispensable component of
democracy.
Everyone shall have an equal opportunity to exercise the right to freedom of
expression and to access information without discrimination.
The Declaration goes on to say in article II:
No one shall be subject to arbitrary interference with his or her freedom of
expression; and
Any restrictions on freedom of expression shall be provided by law, serve a
legitimate interest and be necessary in a democratic society.

The Declaration details how such freedom of expression should be realised. Of
particular relevance to this study is the statement regarding public broadcasting
(article VI):
State and government controlled broadcasters should be transformed into public
service broadcasters, accountable to the public through the legislature rather than
the government, in accordance with the following principles:
pub|ic b:oaocastc:s s|ou|o bc govc::co b a boa:o w|ic| is p:otcctco agai:st
interference, particularly of a political or economic nature;
t|c coito:ia| i:ocpc:oc:cc o pub|ic sc:vicc b:oaocastc:s s|ou|o bc
guaranteed;
pub|ic b:oaocastc:s s|ou|o bc aocouatc| u:oco i: a :a::c: t|at p:otccts
them from arbitrary interference with their budgets;
pub|ic b:oaocastc:s s|ou|o st:ivc to c:su:c t|at t|ci: t:a:s:issio: sstc:
covers the whole territory of the country; and
t|c pub|ic sc:vicc a:bit o pub|ic b:oaocastc:s s|ou|o bc c|ca:| oc:co a:o
include an obligation to ensure that the public receive adequate, politically
balanced information, particularly during election periods.
The document also states that freedom of expression places an obligation on the
authorities to take positive measures to promote diversity (article II), that community
and private broadcasting should be encouraged (article V) and that broadcasting and
telecommunications regulatory authorities should be independent and adequately
protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature (article
VII). The Declaration furthermore provides for freedom of access to information and
states that the right to information shall be guaranteed by law (article IV).
African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007)
This Charter highlights the importance of access to information in a democracy. It
states:
(State parties shall) promote the establishment of the necessary conditions to foster
citizen participation, transparency, access to information, freedom of the press and
accountability in the management of public affairs. (Article 2[10])
State parties shall ... ensure fair and equitable access by contesting parties to state
controlled media during elections. (Article 17[3])
54
For the time being, though, these remain noble goals. By early 2009 a number of
countries had signed the Charter but only one had actually ratifed it (Mauritania), and
it had thus not yet entered into force (which requires 15 ratifcations).
1.3 southern African development community
Mozambique is a member of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC). The treaty establishing the SADC provides that member states shall operate
in accordance with principles that include respect for human rights, democracy, and
the rule of law (article 4[c]). In addition, the regional structure has adopted several
protocols related to media and/or communications.
SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport (adopted in 2000)
This Protocol focuses on harmonising policies on culture, information and sport
by SADC member states. Article 17 outlines the following key objectives, amongst
others:
Co-operation and collaboration in the promotion, establishment and growth of
independent media, as well as free fow of information;
Development and promotion of local culture by increasing local content in the
media;
Taking positive measures to narrow the information gap between the rural and
urban areas by increasing the coverage of the mass media;
Encouragement of the use of indigenous languages in the mass media as
vehicles of promoting local, national and regional inter-communication;
54 http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/text/Charter%20on%20Democracy.pdf.
Ensuring the media are adequately sensitised on gender issues so as to
promote gender equality and equity in information dissemination.
Mozambique ratifed this Protocol and has thus formally agreed to its provisions.
Article 18 focuses on information policies, including committing member states to
create [a] political and economic environment conducive to the growth of pluralistic
media.
Article 20 enjoins member states to take necessary measures to ensure the
freedom and independence of the media, with independence of the media being
defned as editorial independence, whereby editorial policy and decisions are made by
the media without interference.
SADC Declaration on Information and Communication Technology (2001)
This Declaration focuses on telecommunications structures and promotes the creation
of a three-tier system in each country with:
Government responsible for a conducive national policy framework, independent
regulators responsible for licensing, and a multiplicity of providers in a competitive
environment responsible for providing services. (Article 2[a][i])
55
Although the Declaration does not have the same legal force as a protocol, all countries
that are party to it (including Mozambique) have made a commitment in adopting it
to abide by its provisions.
1.4 other documents
African Charter on Broadcasting (2001)
This Charter was adopted by media practitioners and international media and human
rights organisations at a UNESCO conference to celebrate ten years of the Windhoek
Declaration. Although it has not been endorsed by any inter-state structures, it
represents a consensus of leading African and other international experts on freedom
of expression and the media.
The Charter specifes, amongst other things, that there should be a three-tier
system of broadcasting (public, private and community), demands that [a]ll state
and government controlled broadcasters should be transformed into public service
broadcasters, and states that regulatory frameworks should be based on respect for
freedom of expression, diversity and the free fow of information and ideas.
55 http://www.sadc.int/key_documents/declarations/ict.php.
MEDIA LEGISLATION AND REGULATION 3 1
2 The Constitution of Mozambique
The Constitution of the Republic guarantees the individual right to freedom of
expression, the right to information and the freedom of the press. These fundamental
human rights were frst enshrined in the 1990 Constitution and expanded in the 2004
Constitution.
The Constitution also spells out the rights of the media, including (which is
unusual) their right to protect confdential sources of information. The full wording
of article 48 is as follows:
1. All citizens shall have the right to freedom of expression and to freedom of the
press, as well as the right to information.
2. The exercise of freedom of expression, which consists of the ability to impart
ones opinions by all lawful means, and the exercise of the right to information,
shall not be restricted by censorship.
3. Freedom of the press shall include, in particular, the freedom of journalistic
expression and creativity, access to sources of information, protection of
independence and professional secrecy, and the right to establish newspapers,
publications and other means of dissemination.
4. In the public media sector, the expression and confrontation of ideas from all
currents of opinion shall be safeguarded.
5. The State shall guarantee the impartiality of the public sector media, as well
as the independence of journalists from Government, the Administration and
other branches of political power.
6. The exercise of rights and freedoms provided for in this article shall be governed
by law on the basis of obligatory respect for the Constitution and for the dignity
of the human person.
The new Constitution also removed a number of limitations to press freedom contained
in the 1990 version, including the provision that the exercise of the above rights could
be limited by the requirements of foreign policy and national defence.
56
Other notable improvements are the specifc references in clauses 4 and 5 above
to the right to the free debate of ideas and opinion in the public (state-owned) media
sector, the independence of journalists in this sector from the government, the
administration and other political forces, as well as the obligation on the state to
56 Article 74 (clause 4) of the 1990 Constitution stated that The exercise of the rights and freedoms referred to in this
article shall be regulated by law on the necessary respect for the Constitution, for the dignity of the human person,
and the precepts of foreign policy and national defence.
guarantee the impartiality of the public media. According to some analysts, these
clauses were introduced in response to strong criticism from the opposition and some
civil society organisations regarding government interference in the public media
sector, especially during election periods. In the bargaining process for the approval
by consensus of the Constitution, the introduction of these clauses represented a
major achievement for the Renamo-Unio Eleitoral (Electoral Union Coalition) in
parliament. However, the Constitution fails to clearly establish how the state is to
guarantee the impartiality of the public media, namely Radio Mozambique (RM),
Television Mozambique (Televiso de Moambique, TVM) and community radio
stations under the state-funded Institute for Social Communication.
The 2004 Constitution also introduced important new provisions in relation to the
rights of political parties to coverage by the two public broadcasting entities RM and
TVM. The relevant article also guarantees the rights of civil society organisations and
trade unions to be heard on the public broadcasting services. The degree of access to
airtime by political parties and civil society, however, is to be determined by a specifc
law which has not yet been approved.
Article 49 of the Constitution says that:
1. Political parties shall, in line with their degree of representation and criteria
prescribed by law, have the right to broadcast time on the public radio and
television services.
2. Political parties that have seats in the Assembly of the Republic but are not
members of Government shall, under the law and according to their degree of
representation, have the right to broadcast time on public radio and television
services in order to exercise their right of reply and the right to respond to the
political statements of the Government.
3. Trade unions, professional organisations and organisations representing social
and economic activities shall also be guaranteed broadcast rights, according to
criteria prescribed by law.
4. During election periods, candidates shall have the right to regular and equitable
broadcast time on public radio and television stations of national or local
coverage, under the terms of the law.
However, these important constitutional provisions have not yet been implemented
since the promulgation of the new Constitution in January 2005, pending approval of
a specifc regulatory law as mentioned above. It is expected that the future broadcasting
law now being drafted will build on these policy guidelines.
The electoral legislation package approved in July 2007 for the 20082011 electoral
cycle (municipal, provincial and general elections) includes a specifc clause on
election coverage by the public media which says:
Whenever public media institutions publish information pertaining to the electoral
process, they should guide themselves by criteria of absolute impartiality and
accuracy, avoiding distortion of the matters to be published and any form of
discrimination among the different candidates.
57
The Constitution also establishes the Supreme Council for the Media (Conselho
Superior da Comunicao Social, SCSC). The SCSC is an independent statutory media
council to regulate the professional conduct of the media and adjudicate complaints
against them. It also plays an advisory role in the issuing of broadcast licences and
participates in the appointment of directors-general to the two state broadcasters.
The new constitution indeed protects freedom of expression and the media and
is thus in line with the provisions of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
Expression in Africa. This is acknowledged by Reporters Without Borders, whose
Index on Media Freedom 2007 ranks Mozambique in a favourable 73rd position out
of 166 countries.
At the same time this ranking shows that there are still quite a number of defcits
when it comes to the realisation of these constitutional rights.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) annual report on the state of
media freedom and freedom of expression in Southern Africa in 2007
58
exposes a
new tactic as an attempt to silence the media namely the award of exorbitant sums
as compensation in court cases, much more than the media could possibly pay,
demanded by public fgures who allege damages to their reputation when the media
publish stories exposing corrupt practices and other forms of misconduct, especially
in the public administration.
To illustrate this, the report cites a high-ranking ofcial in the interior ministry
who sought compensation of MT 500 000 (about $US 20 000) from the editor of
the electronic daily TribunaFax in February 2008 for alleged libel and defamation,
a criminal ofence in the Mozambican Media Law (see section 4.3 of this chapter).
However, the court only sentenced the editor to a fne of MT 45 000. Similarly,
the Attorney General of the Republic in April 2008 brought a case against the
independent zambeze weekly, in which he claimed fnancial compensation of around
57 Articles 204 and 175 of Law no. 7/2007 of 26 February 2007, on the election of the President of the Republic and the
Assembly of the Republic, and Law no. 18/2007 of 18 July 2007, on Municipal Elections.
58 So This is Democracy? Report on the state of media freedom, and freedom of expression in southern Africa in 2007.
US$ 10 000 from the newspaper for infringing his reputation. In February 2009 the
Supreme Council of the Judiciary decided to drop the case, following intense protests
in the media.
The murder of media entrepreneur and investigative print journalist Carlos Cardoso
in November 2000, and recorded cases of intimidation of media workers by political
or security forces,
59
demonstrate that powerful sections in Mozambican society pose
a violent and determined threat to the democratic principles of media freedom and
free expression. It is the independent print media that most often fnd themselves in
the line of fre. In addition to judicial persecutions, a case of violence occurred on 22
July 2007 when the weekly magazine Independente was attacked by six armed men
who seriously injured one of the papers security guards and stole twelve computers.
The assailants locked journalists on the premises in the bathroom, but did not harm
them physically. The papers director, Salomao Moyana, and media analysts in Maputo
believe this unusual attack was made to silence or intimidate the publication. All these
incidents have a chilling efect on the work of journalists and undermine freedom
expression and the media in Mozambique.
The public in the country obviously understands the importance of a free media.
For their annual reports on the state of press freedom in the country, the Mozambican
chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, MISA-Mozambique, conducts
surveys on how the public perceives the media.
60
The results of the 2007 survey are
as follows: 72.8 per cent of the people interviewed thought that all media, regardless
of their opinions, had the right to exist; 52.7 per cent were of the opinion that the
media should be able to publish all stories without facing any threats; and 80.7 per
cent thought that citizens should be active in questioning and debating the role and
activities of the media.
However, civil society organisations (CSOs) in Mozambique are still in their infancy,
and the impact of their interventions in crucial domains of governance and democracy
is universally weak, according to a report on the state of CSOs in the country entitled
Index of Civil Society in Mozambique, launched in July 2008 in Maputo.
61
Media organisations such as the National Union of Journalists (Sindicato Nacional
de Jornalistas, SNJ) and MISA-Mozambique, on the other hand, have been active
in promoting the rights to freedom of expression and reporting on any violations.
Other CSOs like the Centre for Public Integrity (Centro de Integridade Pblica)
62

59 See MISA, So This is Democracy? State of media freedom in southern Africa 2006, pp. 4748.
60 MISA-Mocambique (2005, 2006, 2007), Relatrio Anual sobre o Estado da Liberdade de Imprensa 2004, 2005, 2006,
Maputo.
61 In ndice da Sociedade Civil em Mocambique, 2007. FDC, July 2008. Available at: http://www.undp.org.mz/en/what_
we_do/poverty_and_hiv_aids/publications/indice_da_sociedade_civil_em_mocambique_2007.
62 http://www.integridadepublica.org.mz/.
and the Human Rights League (Liga dos Direitos Humanos)
63
have also been vocal
in denouncing infringements of these rights and have provided legal protection to
victims.
The examples set out above and there are many more clearly indicate that in
spite of the constitutional principles and guarantees of freedom of expression, the
political, economic and cultural environment in which society as a whole is embedded
still poses serious obstacles to the full exercise of these fundamental rights.
3 General media laws and regulations
Since 1991, when the Press Law was passed, the government has introduced a number
of media laws in addition to earlier legislation approved before the democratic
Constitution of 1990 or inherited from the Portuguese civil and penal codes. Some of
these laws are presently under review.
The government has launched a process for the drafting of a broadcasting bill aimed
at establishing a specifc legal framework to regulate the ever-growing broadcasting
industry in the country. It is also conducting a review of the Press Law of 1991, in
order to bring it into line with the new Constitution of November 2004 (including the
removal of the limitation on press freedom due to national defence and foreign policy
considerations). Two civil society organisations, MISA-Mozambique and the National
Union of Journalists, were invited to form a task force to undertake the work. The task
force was established in January 2008, with no representation from political parties.
3.1 the Mozambican Press law
Although this piece of legislation is called the Press Law, it is in fact a general media
law which covers the entire media sector, whether public or private, print or broadcast,
as well as the cinema and any other forms of audiovisual communication disseminated
to the general public.
64
The law defnes the principles that regulate the activities of
the media and provides for the rights and duties of journalists. It makes no mention,
however, of community radio or any other forms of community media.
Article 2 of the Press Law guarantees freedom of expression and information as
well as journalistic independence and protection of sources, in the same terms as does
the Constitution. Article 3 provides for the right to information, which is defned as the
63 http://www.ldh.org.mz.
64 Note: In the Draft Revised Press Law (December 2007) matters pertaining to regulation of broadcasting, cinema
and the High Council on the Media have been removed, with a suggestion for the government to prepare specifc
legislation for each these areas.
ability of each citizen to inform him/herself and to be informed of relevant facts and
opinions, as well as to publish information and express opinions through the press.
Article 11 spells out the functions of the public media and enjoins them to provide
impartial, objective and balanced coverage. Their functions are described as follows:
a) To promote the access by citizens to information throughout the entire
country;
b) To ensure impartial, objective and balanced news coverage;
c) To refect in a balanced way the diversity of ideas and currents of opinion;
d) To develop the use of Mozambican languages.
Here again, the 2004 Constitution further strengthened the principle of independence
of the public media by explicitly stating that this independence is in relation to the
Government, the Administration and other branches of power.
According to article 11 the state media comprise the national radio, national
television, the national news agency and other companies and institutions created to
serve the public interest. State-owned Noticias and Domingo or any other public print
media are not included in the defnition of state/public media.
Section 3 of article 6 says that the state may acquire interests in any media
organisation not falling within the public sector, and subsidise or provide any other
form of assistance where the public interest requires it to do so. What may constitute
such public interest is not defned in any way anywhere in the Press Law or in any
other applicable legislation.
This provision inter alia allows the government to support failing media or to
intervene in other ways in order to enhance media diversity in the country.
65
The
section has attracted much criticism from the media organisations involved in the law
review process. They say it could distort market trends and endanger the independence
of the private media. Thus the task force has agreed to remove this provision from the
new text even though it has never been used up to now.
3.2 registration of print media
In Mozambique, the print and broadcast media are strictly regulated. Article 19
(section 1) of the Press Law establishes that before publication, all the mass media
must be registered. However, publications and other audiovisual material produced by
state bodies, companies, organisations, educational and research establishments can
65 SADC Media Law. A Handbook for Media Practitioners. The Republic of Mozambique. An overview of media law and
practice in Mozambique, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Johannesburg, 2006, p. 37.
be exempted from compulsory registration at the request of the interested parties.
Registration of all media print and broadcast, private and public is administered
by the Government Information Bureau (GABINFO). The bureau partially replaced
the former ministry of information, which was abolished after Mozambiques frst
multiparty elections in 1994. GABINFO was created by Presidential Decree in October
1995 and reports directly to the prime minister. The prime minister appoints the
director of GABINFO based on nominations by the Council of Ministers. In addition,
GABINFO also exercises policy oversight over public-sector media institutions.
Detailed legal requirements for registration are listed both in the Press Law and in
specifc decrees setting out conditions for the operation of all kinds of media with the
exception of the internet. In spite of all the bureaucratic demands to be complied with,
registration is a simple administrative process for purposes of ofcial record keeping,
with the applicant receiving the registration letter within a period of fve days and at
no cost.
Sections 1 and 2 of article 22 of the Press Law deal with the refusal of registration
and state as follows: Registration shall only be refused when the requirements
envisaged in the declaration or the legal pre-requisites for operation are not met,
and refusal of registration shall take the form of an order which clearly explains the
reasons for the refusal. Up to now no refusal of registration has ever occurred.
3.3 limitations on foreign- and cross-ownership
Section 5, article 6 of the Press Law states: Only Mozambican institutions and
associations, as well as Mozambican citizens who are resident in the country and in
full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, may be owners of information organs
and journalistic enterprises. Foreign investment or shareholding is limited to 20 per
cent of the capital stock. Directors and editors must be of Mozambican nationality and
reside in the country. There has not been much debate on the limitation of foreign
ownership in national media companies and the clause has been maintained in the
draft revised Press Law, although more foreign investment would be needed to allow
for the further development and expansion of the broadcasting industry including the
introduction of the latest technologies.
Regarding cross-ownership, sub-paragraph 8 of article 6 says: In order to ensure
the right of citizens to information, the state shall follow an anti-monopolistic
policy, avoiding concentrated ownership of the mass media. No practical regulatory
measures have ever been put in place in order to give efect to this clause and media
concentration in Mozambique is not really an issue. All media are economically weak
and only the SOICO Group (Sociedade Independente de Comunicao, or Independent
Communication Group) owns and runs a number of diferent media organisations
(STV television, SFM Radio and O Pais newspaper).
3.4 the supreme council for the Media
The Supreme Council for the Media (Conselho Superior da Comunicao Social,
CSCS) is a supposedly independent statutory body established to guarantee the right
to information, to freedom of the press and to independence of the media, as well as
the exercise of broadcasting rights and the right to reply.
66
Sections 3, 4 and 5 of article 50 of the Constitution establish the functions of the
CSCS as follows:
3. The Superior Council for the Media shall issue opinions prior to Government
decisions on the licensing of private television and radio stations.
4. The Superior Council for the Media shall participate in the appointment and
dismissal of directors-general of public media organisations, under the terms
of the law.
5. The law shall regulate the organisation, functioning and other powers of the
Superior Council for the Media.
In terms of article 36 of the Press Law, the CSCS regulates the ethical and professional
conduct of the media, through seeking rigour and objectivity in the exercise of
professional activity in the press area.
The Constitution and the Press Law repeatedly require that the CSCS act or issue
opinions according to the law, which is supposed to describe in detail the powers
and functioning of the organ. However, no such law has ever been enacted since the
ofcial launch of the CSCS in 1992, and so the councils deliberations and decisions
are not based on clear and publicly known principles and guidelines.
An Inter-Ministerial Diploma no. 86/98 of 15 July 1998
67
lists the following broad
functions of the CSCS:
68
L:su:c t|c cc:cisc o t|c :ig|t to i:o::atio: a:o t|c :ccoo: o t|c p:css.
Cua:a:tcc t|c i:ocpc:oc:cc a:o i:pa:tia|it o t|c :coia o:ga:isatio:s o t|c
public sector, as well as the autonomy of its professionals;
66 Section 1, article 50.
67 No. 86/98 of 15 July 1998. This was a joint Ministerial Diploma from the ministries of state administration, justice,
labour, and planning and fnance, aimed principally at establishing the functions and administrative costs of the
CSCS.
68 The substance of this Ministerial Diploma has, however, been implicitly revoked by the 2004 Constitution, which, in
its article 50, reduces the CSCS to a mere organ on discipline and consultation.
L:su:c t|c :ig|t o acccss to b:oaocasti:g b po|itica| pa:tics. a:o t|c :ig|t to
reply referred to in Articles 12 and 33 of the Press Law;
L:su:c :cspcct o ct|ica| :o::s b t|c :coia
These ethical norms are not specifed and the CSCS has not established any
consultation mechanisms with journalists or approached them to discuss a code of
conduct in which such ethical norms would be defned and agreed upon.
Article 3 of the Diploma deals with the powers of the CSCS in relation to public
complaints:
1o i:vcstigatc co:p|ai:ts :aoc b t|c pub|ic i: :c|atio: to t|c pc:o::a:cc o
any media organisation;
1o occioc upo: co:p|ai:ts about t|c :ig|t o :cp| a:o t|c b:oaocasti:g :ig|ts
of political parties;
1o c:su:c t|at ou::a|ists co:p| wit| t|ci: ct|ica| outics.
1o c:su:c co:p|ia:cc wit| :cga:o to :u|cs govc::i:g aovc:tisc:c:ts
The eleven-person body is composed of two members appointed by the state president
including the president of the CSCS and fve elected by the Assembly of the
Republic according to the strength of their parliamentary representation (presently
three are Frelimo and two Renamo members). Three members of the journalism
profession are delegated by their respective professional organisations, selected by
the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) through its Executive Secretariat, and media
enterprises or institutions are represented by one member, selected by the Association
of Media Companies (Associao de Empresas Jornalsticas, AEJ).
While initially, under the provisions of the Press Law (1991), the Council included
a representative from the Judicial Commission, this is no longer the case. In fact the
new Constitution (2004) places the organ under stronger political control, through
increased representation from parliament. This makes the Council heavily dependent
on the state president and the ruling party which dominates parliament. Of the eleven
members, seven are political appointees and only three are from the media. There is
also no other broader civil society representation.
Both journalists and media owners have consistently contested the modus operandi
and deliberations of the CSCS in response to complaints laid against them by public
fgures in relation to allegations of defamation.
No records of the Councils recent activities could be assessed for this research:
members failed to approve the report covering the second period of the organs
mandate (20042007). According to the vice-chair of the Council, Leandro Paul, the
disagreement among members was about a number of issues, including fnancial
accounts.
69
The poor performance and lack of public visibility of the CSCS may
also be a refection of its limited credibility, analytical powers and public relations
capacity.
3.5 government regulation of advertising
The government has introduced a code of rules governing advertisements through
Decree no. 65/2004 of 31 December 2004. This was the result of a public debate
spearheaded by the Associaao das Empresas de Publicidade (National Association of
Advertising Companies).
Section 5 of the Decree prohibits any advertisement which by its form, object or
goal ofends the values, principles and fundamental institutions entrenched in the
Constitution. The derogatory and ofensive use of public or private institutions,
national symbols or religious or historic personalities is also prohibited.
The roots of this specifc stipulation go back to practices from the former socialist
regime period, when the (now defunct) state-run advertising company, Intermarket,
used national heroes and national icons for social marketing campaigns on subjects
such as public health, general education, etc. Following this example the newly created
mobile telephony provider, Moambique Celular (mCel) ran extensive marketing
campaigns using national icons such as the frst state president of Mozambique,
Samora Machel, to advertise its brand. The idea was to associate mCel with nationalist
values in opposition to its recently established competitor, Vodacom, owned by
Vodacom South Africa and Mozambican EMOTEL. This campaign started a public
debate and consensus was reached that the use of national symbols and/or historic
personalities in advertisements should not be allowed.
The Decree also prohibits the incitement to violence or any illegal activity,
undermining human dignity or any fundamental rights, the unauthorised use of
image or voice, words or ideas belonging to someone else, and the use of obscene
language, image or gestures in advertisements.
This was in response to many complaints from the general public about the
proliferation of adverts carrying content that was considered ofensive to commonly
accepted social ethics and/or for violating peoples copyrights through the unauthorised
use of their images, voices, words or ideas.
69 Leandro Paul, vice-chairperson of the CSCS interviewed by the author in Maputo on 21 July 2008.
3.6 Media self-regulation
There have been several attempts by the media to introduce self-regulatory mechanisms.
On the eve of the 1998 municipal elections, the national community radio network,
through its Coordination Unit,
70
drew up a ten-rule code of conduct for elections
coverage. The code was adopted after discussion seminars held from district to
provincial level and signed by all stakeholders including the community radios
under the state-run Institute for Social Communication (ICS). The code called on
community radios to contribute actively to voter education and refrain from selling air
time to political parties and candidates. A process to monitor compliance was put in
place and the fnal report shows that the code helped small community radios in the
rural areas to protect themselves from being drawn into political disputes among the
competing sides.
71
In preparation of the municipal elections of 2003 and the general election of 2004,
17 editors representing the countrys leading mainstream media houses signed a code
of conduct for elections coverage. The code called for impartial and balanced coverage
of the electoral process and for journalists not to accept bribes or act as communication
advisors for political parties or candidates.
The Mozambique chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) then
spearheaded a process for the establishment of a new code of conduct for the coverage
of municipal elections in November 2008 and parliamentary and presidential elections
in October 2009, in partnership with the National Union of Journalists. Around 20
editors representing diferent media institutions, both public and private, signed the
code and pledged adherence to it by their respective organisations. For the frst time a
Technical Monitoring Group set up to document media performance in a professional,
systematic and objective manner, in compliance with the agreed ethical principles,
produced a report that was later discussed and approved by the editors.
4 Other laws with an impact on media and freedom of expression
4.1 the struggle for the right to information
Mozambique inherited from Portugal a state philosophy based on opaque bureaucratic
systems and secrecy around issues of public interest. An array of laws and departmental
70 In April 2004, this Coordination Unit spearheaded the creation of and was replaced by the National Forum of
Community Radios (FORCOM).
71 A. Ales, UNESCO/UNDP Media Development Project Report. November 2003: Participation by Community Radios in
Civic Education and Electoral Coverage. Maputo. Particularly p. 29 for the ten general rules of conduct.
practices regarding national security, introduced during the 16-year civil war, are still
on the statute books and have not been replaced by laws that would give efect to the
right to information clause in the constitution.
This practice of ofcial secrecy gets worse as one moves away from the main cities
of Maputo, Beira and Nampula and into provincial capitals and districts where a large
defcit in the culture of information in public institutions provides scope for rumor-
based news in some of the local media.
72
With a view to establishing access to information legislation, MISA-Mozambique,
assisted by other NGOs and government entities, led a two-year countrywide debate
during which a draft bill was developed on Access to Ofcial Information. Various
Mozambican NGOs, such as the National Group on External Debt, the Human
Rights League and the National Union of Journalists, as well as academics, played
an active role in the process. The campaign culminated in the ofcial submission of
the draft bill to parliament in November 2005 for debate and possible adoption by the
legislature.
Up to the time of writing this report, however, parliament had not included the
draft bill in its agenda and it has never been debated. Given parliaments apparent
apathy, MISA is now considering a change in strategy and intends to directly lobby the
head of state, President Armando Guebuza.
The fact that the culture of secrecy in the public administration is still very strong and
that constitutional provisions alone do not guarantee the rights of citizens was vividly
illustrated during a much publicised controversy in December 2006 over suspected
mismanagement of the Cahora Bassa dams water reserves during heavy foods that
devastated the zambezi Valley in that year. A number of national environmental NGOs
requested that the public hydroelectric company, HCB, provide detailed information
on the volume of water the dam had released into the zambezi River during the rainy
season. They based their request on the citizens right to information, as contained
in section 1 of article 48 of the Constitution. When the company did not comply with
the request, one of the NGOs, Justica Ambiental (Environmental Justice), asked the
Maputo City attorney-generals ofce for assistance. The ofce sent an ofcial letter to
HCB urging the public company to immediately provide the requested information.
HCB, however, ignored the order.
Speaking at a national conference on the Right to Information and Good
Governance held in Maputo in April 2006, the general secretary of the National
Union of Journalists, Eduardo Constantino, said that access to ofcial sources of
information is the main barrier to efective freedom of the press in Mozambique.
72 T. Mrio, Mozambique: 15 Years of Press Freedom, Domingo, Maputo, 6 August 2006.
The lack of enabling legislation on access to ofcial information encourages public
entities to close their doors to journalists and other investigators, under the pretext of
honouring confdentiality and keeping state secrets.
4.2 laws on state secrets
Law no. 12/79 of 12 December 1979 provides for the protection of state secrets. It
was introduced in a revolutionary environment followed by a prolonged civil war
(19771992), but it is still in force. The law was designed to protect a one-party state.
Therefore its defnition of state secrets is rather loose, ambiguous and open to
subjective interpretations by public entities.
73
Within the terms of its article 1, the law
aims to protect state secrets in relation to all documents containing classifed facts and
information, with the following being the defnition of classifed documents, as set
out in article 4:
Classifed documents are those which contain military, political, economic,
commercial, scientifc, technical or any other data or information the release of
which may put at risk or may harm, counteract or disturb the security of the state
and of the people, or the national economy.
Under the terms of article 2, the director of Servio Nacional de Segurana Popular
(National Department of Peoples Security, SNASP),
74
is the person in charge of
establishing the necessary instructions aimed at ensuring protection of state secrets
as provided for in this law.
The law is not media-specifc, but its provisions do have a direct impact on the
operations of the media. They impose tight restrictions on freedom of information
by blocking access to ofcial documents and data containing information of public
interest. The most signifcant problem is the absence of any exemptions or specifc
provisions to set out in detail the reasons that would justify the withholding of
information, the level of harm applicable that would substantiate such withholding
and how diferent interests will be balanced before something is withheld.
Article 10 provides that non-compliance with this law which leads to crimes against
national and state security shall be decided upon and punished under the terms of
article 23 of the law on crimes against state security (Law no. 19/1991 of 18 August).
73 MISA, Draft Bill on Access to Ofcial Sources of Information, Maputo 2005.
74 As part of the Rome Peace Accords that brought about peace in 1992, the National Department of Peoples Security
(SNASP), defned as a political police, was abolished and a new, non-partisan State Information and Security
Department (SISE) created in 1993. However, the laws on state secrets (Law no. 12/79 of 12 December 1979) and
on crimes against the people and the popular state, which establish the penalties for infringement, have not been
repealed and are still in force.
Disclosure of any unauthorised information that is legally protected is punishable
by imprisonment for three months up to two years if the information disclosed
is classifed as confdential, for two to eight years if the information disclosed is
classifed as secret, and for eight to twelve years if the information disclosed is
classifed as a state secret.
Article 29 of the Press Law provides that:
consent shall not be given for access to offcial sources of information in cases
concerning material that is sub judice, to facts and documents regarded by the
authorities with jurisdiction as military or state secrets, or to those which court orders
render secret or confdential, or those concerning the private lives of citizens.
Lawyers argue that this article creates serious confusion in legal interpretation
by lumping state secrets together with information protected for the purpose of
upholding a persons right to presumption of innocence.
75
4.3 defamation as a criminal offence
Defamation of certain high ranking ofcials is considered a crime against state security
under article 22 of the law on crimes against state security. In terms of this article,
the publication of information which may be regarded as ofensive to the reputation
of the President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the
members of the Council of Ministers, the judges of the Supreme Court and the judges
of the Constitutional Council as well as the secretaries-general of political parties, is
considered a crime against state security, subject to one to two years imprisonment.
Articles 41 to 49 of the Press Law deal with ofences described as abuse of press
freedom, which include defamation. Article 42 states:
1. Willful occurrences or actions that damage interests protected by law and
which are consummated through the publication of texts or the broadcast of
radio or television programmes or the publication of images through the press
shall be considered a crime of abuse of press freedom.
2. The normal criminal law, with the special provisions envisaged in the present
chapter, shall be applicable to press crimes [i.e. crimes of abuse of press
freedom].
75 T. Hunguana, A Liberdade de Imprensa em Moambique, Demos, 14 September 2007. Defamation in the Press
Law is defned within the terms of the Portuguese colonial Penal Code of 1886, not yet revised in Mozambique since
independence in 1975.
It needs to be pointed out that the normal criminal law referred to here is the Penal
Code, a tome that is 122 years old and was introduced in September 1886 by the
Portuguese (colonial) government, based on Napoleonic imperial laws designed to
protect the reputation of public fgures. Although it has been revised several times in
Portugal since the establishment of democracy in that country in 1974, this Penal Code
has remained unchanged in Mozambique since independence in 1975. In 2005, the
government initiated a process for the revision of both the Penal Code and the Penal
Procedure Code through a special government commission the Unidade Tcnica de
Reforma Legal, UTREL.
76
It is a complex piece of work, requiring time and devotion,
said the justice minister, Esperana Machavela, in a public debate on the status of
justice in Mozambique at the Polytechnic University in Maputo in June 2007. The
process was still under way at the time of writing.
In its article 47, the Press Law provides protection against the publication of
ofensive facts about an individuals private or family life. Such protection against
possible defamation extends specifcally to the President of the Republic, a member
of government, a member of parliament and other public authorities or a foreign head
of state or his representative in Mozambique. The article expressly says that proof
that the alleged facts are true shall not be admitted in such cases. The task group
reviewing the Press Law has proposed that this clause be scrapped.
The crime of defamation in terms of the existing Press Law is punishable by a
prison sentence of up to two years, plus a fne. Other penalties prescribed can include
suspension of the publication concerned (article 48). Journalists taken to court for
abuse of press freedom in the form of defamation may use recorded or printed material
to prove their innocence. If they are found guilty they can be imprisoned for up to two
years and be fned an amount as fnancial compensation to the person ofended. In
other words: crimes of abuse of press freedom can be punished three times over (and
not alternatively) by prison terms, fnes and suspension of publication.
4.4 other provisions
Article 483 of the Penal Code has a provision against public incitement to crime.
Article 174(4) defnes as a criminal act any incitement to political confict through
violence or hate.
In terms of article 28 of the Press Law, a publication or a broadcasting institution is
not permitted to carry material containing pornography, hate speech, racist discourse
or other elements that might violate the right of citizens, disturb the civil order or
76 Documents on UTREL and the review process of Mozambican legislation can be accessed at http://www.utrel.gov.mz.
encourage criminal acts. Non-compliance with this requirement can result in the
suspension of the media outlet, following a court decision (article 51). However, no
such court fnding has ever been made.
5 Jurisprudence
MISA-Mozambique noted in their National Report on the Status of Press Freedom
in 2006
77
the growing tendency to take journalists and media organisations to
court when they promote public debate on matters of public interest, and warned
that this may very easily transform judges into disguised agents of censorship. The
organisation also deplored the trend for institutions or individuals aggrieved by their
portrayal in the media to resort to the courts rather than making use of the right to
reply envisaged in the Press Law (article 33). According to the report, seven journalists
from diferent independent newspapers and local commercial radio stations have been
sued by local public servants for the publication of allegedly defamatory information.
In most of these cases, the journalists involved had written articles blowing the
whistle on corruption in state and other public entities. All seven accused were initially
sentenced to jail sentences, ranging from three to six months, but none have in fact
gone to jail, as the judges decided to suspend the sentences or impose fnes instead.
In September 2003, a precedent for the live broadcast of court proceedings was
created in Mozambique at the start of the case against the six men charged with the
murder of Mozambiques top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, in November
2000. At the time, Cardoso had been investigating of the biggest fnancial scandals in
the country, involving bank fraud of US$ 14 million.
Under pressure from society at large and the media, Judge Augusto Raul Paulino
of the Maputo City Court ruled that the entire proceedings could be broadcast live. His
ruling elicited much criticism from more conservative members of the judiciary, as
well as the accused and their lawyers.
In its review of Judge Paulinos decision and sentence, the Supreme Court not only
confrmed the severe sentences of almost 30 years imprisonment imposed by the lower
court on the group of six convicted assassins. It also came down frmly on the side of
the public nature of Mozambican justice. The Supreme Court found that journalistic
coverage of trials involving crimes of a public nature, and the live broadcast of trial
sessions, are not forbidden by law and in cases of clear public interest, are justifed by
the right of citizens to information.
77 Relatorio do Estado da Liberdade de Imprensa em Mocambique 2006, MISA-Mocambique, Maputo, August 2007.
In August 2007, however, parliament decided that no live broadcast coverage of
court cases was to be authorised in the future. To that end, it approved a new law
which expressly prohibits radio and television services transmitting sound and images
of court proceedings, either live or edited. Article 13 of this law says that to safeguard
the material truth and the legally protected interests and rights of those involved in
court cases, the production and public transmission of images and sound of trials is
prohibited.
The media in Mozambique immediately expressed their extreme disappointment
with the decision to block them from covering court hearings and asked their
professional bodies to take urgent action. MISA and the National Union of Journalists
sent a letter to President Armando Guebuza, asking him not to sign the bill into law
until the section on media coverage of court hearings was revised. The president
accepted a moratorium on the promulgation of the new law, which he instead sent back
for verifcation to the Constitutional Council (Court).
The Constitutional Council found that the law was not unconstitutional insofar as
it does not violate the constitutional principle of public court hearings simply by not
allowing journalists to record sound and images for public consumption. Article 65
(section 3) of the Constitution establishes that [c]riminal trial hearings shall be public,
except insofar as it is prudent to exclude or restrict publicity in order to safeguard
personal, family, social or moral privacy, or for material reasons of trial security or
public order.
This example shows that the application of constitutional provisions in line with
international and African standards on freedom of expression still faces serious
political obstacles. Having perfect constitutional provisions may be of limited impact
if these are not translated into ordinary legislation to guide judges and institutions of
public administration in their day-to-day decisions.
6 Conclusions and recommendations
Mozambique is an emerging multi-party democracy, with the 2004 Constitution
guaranteeing freedom of expression and the media. This is in line with the Declaration
of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and other international documents.
In reality, however, the political, economic and cultural environment still poses serious
obstacles to the full exercise of these fundamental rights.
Mozambiques Press Law restricts and in some cases penalises the dissemination of
information by the media. It also contains provisions which contradict the Declarations
principles on self-regulation of the media, among others by the establishment of the
Supreme Council for the Media (CSCS), which now even enjoys constitutional status
after having been included in the new basic law of 2004. The media must take part
of the blame in this regard because they never really attempted to introduce self-
regulation in Mozambique as was done in other countries in Africa apart from two
short-lived experiments.
Mozambique still sufers from the colonial heritage of an extreme climate of
secrecy which is the main barrier to efective freedom of information and freedom
of the press. The lack of access to information held by the state clearly contradicts the
intentions and provisons laid down in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
Expression in Africa.
The major threat to media freedom presently is the excessive use of provisions
regarding so-called abuse of press freedom or defamation both criminal and civil.
recommendations
The Press Law should be reviewed in its entirety in light of the new
constitution.
There should be no special ofences of defamation and insult under the Press
Law.
Cases of defamation should be dealt with under the general civil law which
is applicable to all citizens and not only to the media. Special protection of
public personalities (through insult laws) is not appropriate in a democratic
society such laws should be scrapped.
The Assembly of the Republic should give renewed consideration to the draft
Access to Information Bill that MISA-Mozambique prepared and submitted
to parliament in 2005.
The Assembly of the Republic should revise the law on state secrets in order
to limit it to strictly necessary measures indispensable to ensure public safety
in a democratic society.
The purpose and role of the Supreme Council for the Media should be
revisited even though it is now a constitutional body. If the review arrives at
the conclusion that the Council does not serve any meaningful purpose, it
should be closed down and replaced by a self-regulatory complaints body set
up by the media themselves.
The media fraternity should seriously consider setting up a voluntary self-
regulatory body and develop a code of professional standards in consultation
with journalists and media houses and acceptable to all against which to
adjudicate complaints received from the public.
GABINFO should be stripped of its role of exercising state sovereignty over
the public media.
The development of laws in regard to article 49 of the Constitution, which
gives political parties and organisations special broadcasting rights, should
be closely monitored to secure the independence of broadcasters and to
ensure that other sectors of society are not discriminated against.
The limitation on foreign investment in the media should be reviewed to
bring it into line with the needs of the industry.
3
The Broadcasting Landscape
1 Radio Mozambique and Television Mozambique
The state/public broadcaster consists of two companies, Radio Mozambique (RM) and
Television Mozambique (TVM). Also included in this sub-sector is the Institute for
Social Communication (ICS) which operates a network of 24 local radio stations for
the promotion of rural development. Long before the advent of so-called community
radio stations in other African countries, the Mozambican state established these local
stations to assist farmers with information and to address other local development
issues in areas far away from the capital.
Radio Mozambique is the countrys main mass medium. Its services comprise a
national channel that broadcasts 24 hours a day in Portuguese from headquarters
in Maputo and carries national and international news, programmes and other
information on general events, as well as ten provincial stations which function
autonomously and broadcast in diferent national languages from the provincial
capitals. In addition, RM operates the Rdio Cidade Maputo and Beira (Maputo and
Beira City stations) and an English channel (Maputo Corridor Radio).
Although presently only 47 per cent of the countrys population are able to
understand, speak and write Portuguese, this is the countrys ofcial language
according to the Constitution (article 10). It is also the only language used within the
public administration, in parliament and in court proceedings. However, article 9
of the Constitution also establishes that [t]he State shall give due regard to national
languages as a cultural and educational heritage, and shall promote their development
and increasing use as languages that convey our identity. The Press Law similarly
calls for the public broadcasters to develop the use of national languages (article 11).
In line with this aim RM has been progressively introducing national languages in
its provincial/regional stations since the early 1980s. At present RM broadcasts in 21
diferent languages.
Each provincial/regional station uses at least two local languages apart from
Portuguese and has its own decentralised programme grid, focusing on coverage
of regional current afairs and on specifc topics or subjects such as HIV/AIDS
prevention and therapy, agriculture and rural development, reform activities of the
public administration and the like. The provincial stations also serve as important
carriers for public service announcements on major local or national events, such as
voter education and early warnings on foods or other natural disasters.
No systematic and reliable surveys on advertising market share have been carried
out in Mozambique over the past 15 years, but Radio Mozambiques own assessment
is that it receives 60 per cent of the share of all national advertising and public service
announcements.
78
TVM was started in 1981 and is accessible countrywide. It operates one national
channel that broadcasts in Portuguese for 18 hours a day. It has also established
provincial windows which run for fve hours a day in the central city of Beira, the
countrys second largest city, and in Nampula and zambezia, the two most populous
provinces. These windows ofer 15 minutes of local news every day, including in some
local languages. TVM is a poorly equipped station with limited reach and impact,
mostly due to lack of access to electricity in the rural areas and the relatively high cost
of TV sets.
The second largest public television broadcaster is the Portuguese foreign service
channel, RTP Africa, which has ofces in Mozambique.
For more details see chapter 6.
2 Commercial/private broadcasters
A total of fve commercial TV stations and eight commercial radio stations are
presently on air in Mozambique.
78 RM Annual Report 2006, p. 23.
THE BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE 5 3
Table 5: Commercial/private broadcasters
name owner/s location starting year Political
orientation
stv (2001) SOICO Group Maputo 2002 Independent
tv-Miramar (1998) Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God
Maputo 1998 Independent
sirt-tv (1997) SIRT Tete Province 2002 Independent
tiM (2007) Media Group Maputo 2006 Independent
Ktv (1991) RTK Maputo 1991 Independent
sfM SOICO Group Maputo 2002 Independent
radio Miramar Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God
99.3 fM Communications Group Maputo 2007 Independent
KfM RK Group Maputo 1991 Independent
sirt radio SIRT Group Tete Province 2002 Independent
radio Progresso Progresso Co. Inhambane Province 2002 Independent
radio capital Transworld Network
(Methodist Church)
radio savana Mediacoop Maputo 2009 Independent
Source: Author, built on GABINFOs registration records
STV, owned by SOICO (Sociedade Independente de Comunicao, or Independent
Communication Group) and established in 2002, is by far the most dominant
commercial TV station, covering eight out of the countrys eleven provinces. According
to company information, STV reaches up to 40 per cent of the countrys population.
79

The station is TVMs major competitor for audience and advertising market shares.
TV-Miramar, owned by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Brazil,
broadcasts mainly Brazilian soap operas and pop music. According to the stations own
survey, it covers up to 20 per cent of the population,
80
but its footprint is to increase
soon to 40 per cent, with transmitters currently being installed in four provinces in
the northern and central regions.
79 SOICOs own survey, sourced by the author in an interview with the stations general director, Daniel David, in
Maputo on 17 February 2008.
80 TV-Miramars own survey, sourced by the author in an interview with the stations CEO, Wanderson Mattos, in
Maputo on 19 February 2008.
TIM (Televiso Independente de Moambique Independent Television of
Mozambique) is the countrys newest TV station. It was on air initially for 18 hours
but has expanded its transmission time to 24 hours a day from September 2008.
According to news reports
81
its owner, Bruno Morgado, intends selling 60 per cent of
the stations capital stock to a Portuguese businessman, Pais do Amaral, the founder
and former owner of Portuguese Televiso Independente (TVI) based in Lisbon. This
would be illegal under section 7 of the Press Law, which allows for a share of foreign
capital of up to 20 per cent only.
SIRT TV (Sociedade Independente de Radio e Televiso Independent Company
of Radio and Television of Tete) is a channel which broadcasts in the northeastern
province of Tete. It is owned by a local busisman person, Antonio Marcelino de
Mello.
KTV, owned by the RTK Group (Radio and Television Klint) was the frst private TV
station to be launched in 1991, but has often been of air due to frequent breakdowns
attributed to poor maintenance and poor management, especially after the death of its
founder in 2005. Carlos Klint had also been a high-ranking Frelimo Party veteran.
Radio Savana started broadcasting in 2009 and is owned by the Mediacoop Group,
the company that also publishes the Savana weekly and the electronic newssheet
Mediafax.
The owners of major national commercial/private radio and TV stations are people
from the business world, including some defectors from the public broadcasting
sector who seek to run proftable media businesses. The director general of STV, for
example, is the former fnancial director of TVM. Others have state and ruling party
connections. The director of SIRT is a senior Frelimo member and a former governor
of Tete Province, and the director of TIM is the son of a former (now deceased)
minister of industry and trade. The founder and frst director general of RTK was a
veteran Frelimo military communications strategist who had become a well-known
businessman.
With no regulation establishing local content quotas and faced with pressures from
shareholders to maximise proft, commercial broadcasters in Mozambique tend to be
driven by advertisers demands and opt for cheap programming with mass appeal. For
example, all private channels with no exception broadcast their own two-hour song
contest programmes at least three times a week. Viewing ofered by the private TV
broadcasting sector is generally dominated by Brazilian soap operas and similar series
from the USA and other recreational programmes such as the European Football
Champions League competition. The percentage and quality of local content, in the
81 F. Mbanze, Mediafax newssheet of 24 January 2008 and Mocambique para todos online newspaper (http://macua.blogs.
com/moambique_para_todos/2008/01/empresrio-portu.html).
form of current afairs programmes, is generally low. Two stations, KTV and TIM,
broadcast chat shows and music programmes for up to a third of their transmission
time.
Most of these cheap programmes are produced and presented by generally
inexperienced young people a further limiting factor to diverse and high quality
programming.
The impact of private radio stations is still very limited. Most FM stations target
the Maputo market. Their programming and editorial policies are generally youth-
oriented, with live debates on diverse social issues like HIV/AIDS prevention, for
example, music competitions and brief news services.
Among owners of commercial broadcasters who exercise intense infuence on
content are two Brazilian companies: the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and
Rede Globo. While the frst provides the material for up to one-third of TV and Radio
Miramars transmission time in the form of religious broadcasts and commercials, the
latter dominates both public and private sector prime time programming with popular
Brazilian soap operas, known as telenovelas.
The two national mobile telephony companies, Moambique Celular (or mCel)
and Vodacom, are the main advertisers and sponsors of cultural and sports events
with live broadcast coverage on both public and private channels. This has led to the
proliferation of a new technology afecting programming formats and context the
use of sms routing to attract listeners and viewers to vote on reality shows, song
contests and quiz shows, as a new revenue source. One immediate consequence is
that programme formats are becoming increasingly similar, most of them being
recreational and youth-centred.
No specifc regulatory mechanisms, including on local content quotas, have been
adopted to promote a diverse, independent private broadcasting sector in Mozambique.
There are also no public service remit obligations included in the licensing conditions
of these broadcasters, which would force them to provide at least a set minimum of
content that addresses social, economic and political development and governance
issues.
While the number of TV stations is relatively high for a poor country like
Mozambique, programme diversity is still to be achieved. According to Eduardo
Sitoe, a political scientist with the Eduardo Mondlane University, the emergence of
a plural, private media in Mozambique in terms of ownership has not yet translated
into a diversity of quality content and programming.
82
In his opinion, with much less
fnancial and technical resources, the private print media has greatly contributed to
82 E. Sitoe, The role of the media in the national debate on the revision of Electoral Laws in 2005, Relatorio do Estado da
Liberdade de Imprensa em Moambique, MISA, Maputo, 2007.
diversity in the media sector as opposed to developments in the broadcast sector. One
reason for this, the academic points out, is the fact that the independent print media
was basically created by experienced editors who had left State media, while pioneers
in the national broadcast industry are businesspeople with projects that are essentially
proft-driven.
It is therefore evident that with regard to all private broadcasters across the board,
further eforts need to be made in order to meet the principles laid down in the
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, which calls for states to
encourage a diverse, independent private broadcast sector.
3 Community and other forms of broadcasting
Although the Press Law does not recognise community broadcasting as a separate
sector for the purposes of licensing, a dynamic array of local, not-for-proft, community-
based media has emerged in Mozambique since 1993.
There are three distinct kinds of community broadcasters one group falling under
the authority of the state, a second comprising stations established and supported by
the Catholic Church, and a third initiated by various international donors including
UNESCO and the UNDP, as well as national NGOs.
3.1 state-owned community broadcasting
The state-owned group consists of a network of 21 local rural radio and four TV stations,
controlled by the Institute for Social Communication (ICS), a mass communication
organ created by the government in 1977 to promote rural development. The ICS in
turn falls directly under the Government Information Bureau (GABINFO), which
appoints the Institutes director general.
Government Decree no. 1/89 of 27 March 1989 defnes the ICS as a state entity
established to pursue the following functions:
a) The conception, production, diffusion and evaluation of informative and
educative materials in support of projects and programmes of political,
economic, social and cultural development, especially for rural communities.
b) Participation in the execution of integrated and sectoral development projects
and programmes, aimed at improving the living conditions of the population in
general and of rural communities in particular, with priority given to the areas
of health, education, agriculture, water, construction, basic technologies and other
activities aimed at elevating the cultural and social level of the people.
Contrary to the concept of community radio as defned by the African Charter on
Broadcasting and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa,
the network of local rural broadcasting stations under the jurisdiction of the ICS is the
property of the state and centrally managed by the Institute through its director general,
assisted by provincial delegates. The provincial delegates are public functionaries who
manage ICS local ofces and stations and sit on Provincial Government Councils.
Professor Helge Rnning, in a study conducted for UNESCO and published in April
2008, says that it is clear that those (radios) organised by the ICS to quite some degree
must be regarded as a form of state broadcasters. ICS radios use material that they
receive from ICS headquarters in Maputo.
83
The stations broadcast mainly current afairs and development programmes. At the
beginning of each year, the ofce of the director general in Maputo issues a programme
format type or model which lists the main content components and corresponding air
time to be allotted to each of them: current afairs, agrarian development, primary
health care (including HIV/AIDS) and so on. The provincial delegates are expected to
draw up specifc programme grids for the stations under their jurisdiction, based on
the national format model.
3.2 catholic radio stations
It was the Catholic Church that frst established community-oriented radio stations
from 1993 onwards. Radio Encontro, owned by the diocese of Nampula, was the
frst to go on air, followed by Radio Nova Paz, Radio Pax and Radio Maria, owned
by the dioceses of quelimane, Beira and Maputo respectively. Although under the
jurisdiction of local dioceses, these stations are managed by representatives from the
local communities, including women and youth, and they are active members of the
National Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM). While being bound by the Catholic
Church faith, these stations ofer a broad spectrum of topics and programmes, giving
access to voices of poor and rural communities, and they are clearly independent in
much of their programming.
84
83 H. Rnning, The Media Development Situation in Mozambique: A study undertaken for UNESCO, April 2008,
Maputo, p. 49.
84 Ibid.
3.3 non-state community radios
After the frst democratic multi-party elections in 1994, a non-state community radio
movement emerged, dominated by civil society organisations, including those at
community level. This movement was inspired, sponsored or fnancially supported
by various bodies. Under the auspices of the UNESCO/UNDP Media Development
Project, fnanced by some of Mozambiques bilateral donors, in this case the Nordic
countries and Ireland, eight community radios were established between 1998 and
2006. All of them are supposed to comply with international principles on the
freedom and independence of the media, including governance of these stations by
elected community representatives and the production of programmes by community
volunteers with the assistance of a small number of full-time staf.
Detailed research and consultation with local communities were undertaken before
their launch to establish the need for such stations. The prime intention was to give
local communities a voice and to create an alternative in the rural areas where there
was no other media present apart from Radio Mozambique (which also had far more
limited coverage at that time) and therefore no diversity of information.
These stations have continued to operate under direct community control, with
civic associations as their legal personae, even after the UNESCO/UNDP project came
to an end in 2006. Widespread fears that they would not be able to survive fnancially
and could end up falling under the control of the ICS or simply die did not materialise.
Some stations have even expanded their coverage capacity and potential for long-term
sustainability through mobilisation of diverse funding sources,
85
including UNICEF,
SIDA and the Scaling-up Initiative of the Swiss-funded Community Multimedia
Centres (CMC), started in 2006. This initiative covers three African countries, Mali,
Mozambique and Senegal, as a follow-up to the World Summit on the Information and
Communication Society held in Geneva in December 2004.
However, most of these stations, installed in locations served by poor infrastructure
and sufering from a lack of trained staf, are faced with technical problems that
stem from weak preventive maintenance and repair capacity. In addition, structural
problems beyond the control of local communities, such as poor electricity quality, put
their technical sustainability at permanent risk. As a result, some stations have been
of air for periods of one to two weeks before a technical rescue operation could be
undertaken.
86
Other substantial community broadcasting initiatives in the second half of the
85 Ibid., p. 51.
86 For a description of the problems facing community radios in Mozambique see among others Creating Sustainable
Community Radio Stations a major challenge, http://www.mediamoz.com/CR/CR_sustainable.htm.
1990s were spearheaded by the MIRAC (Media in Rural Community and Civil Society
Empowerment) project, implemented by the Danish NGO, Ibis, with European
Union funds. This project supported the establishment of four community radio
stations in the northern province of Niassa, including Radio Comunitaria Ngauma,
Radio Comunitaria Miramar-Mechanhelas, Radio Comunitaria Muembe and Radio
Comunitaria Massangulo. In addition, the Austrian North-South Cooperation
Institute enabled the establishment of the Buzi Community Radio station in the
central province of Sofala, and Oxfam-America helped to set up Radio Ntanya, owned
by the Association of Women in the Mass Media (AMCS).
The programming of all these non-state radio stations (those established by the
Catholic Church as well as those started with funding from international donors)
includes news bulletins on local events, current afairs programmes in the form
of live debates and public participation through telephone call-ins, voter education,
information and education on HIV/AIDS prevention and antiretroviral therapy,
early warnings on natural disasters (foods and cyclones), sports and recreation.
87

The community radios actively engage communities and give them a voice in their
programmes through, for example, letters, live debates, taped interviews and phone-in
slots.
Concerns have been raised that the dependency on their fnancial backers could
impinge on the independence of these community radio stations an essential
criterion for being classifed as such. While that may have been a valid concern at the
time these stations were created by donors (though never donor-driven given that
the stations themselves have editorial control), it is no longer the case. These stations
now chase the support of various donors, just like any other community radio station
in southern Africa.
3.4 impact of community radio
The national dynamic of local community broadcasting culminated in the creation of
the National Community Radio Forum (Frum Nacional das Rdios Comunitrias,
FORCOM) in April 2004. The Forums statutes are based on democratic principles,
especially concerning the free election of community radio governing bodies. In
April 2008 a total of 43 community radios were FORCOM members, according to the
network secretariats membership registration data. The objective of the network is to
coordinate activities of common interest, in particular to ensure the sustainability of
community broadcasting.
87 Communication for Empowerment in Mozambique, United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), Maputo, 2008.
Together, the non-state and non-commercial local radio stations reach an audience
of over one and a half million people in the rural areas, often in places where no other
media exist, according to data from UNESCO (2006).
88
Their relevance lies in their
use of local languages and the fact that they speak about day-to-day problems as they
are understood and solved locally.
ICS-run radio and TV stations were among the founding members of FORCOM,
but in November 2006 the ICS decided to withdraw all stations under its control from
the umbrella body, alleging lack of transparency in the Forums management system.
To others, however, it appeared that the ICS stations were not able to measure up to
the principles set out in the Forums statutes.
89
During the general elections of 2004,
for example, all ICS-run stations withdrew from the Code of Conduct for Elections
Coverage by Community Radios. The Code had been drawn up in consensus by all
community radios and called on them to abstain from supporting any political party
and instead concentrate on voter education for their respective communities.
The fnal report of the UNESCO/UNDP Media Development Project on the impact
of community radios in rural areas of Mozambique underlines, among other results,
the following:
90
Generally, all the interviewees, including local community leaders, members
of management committees, local representatives of public administration
institutions as well as young volunteers, stress the role of community radio in
facilitating communication on local events and peoples day-to-day questions.
They all say the radio is helping people to save money for transport to
communicate with relatives in separate and remote villages.
Public administration institutions have been improving provision of quality
public services because the civil servants fear criticism from the radio.
The radio has created great opportunities for young people to learn journalism
and use their free time for useful purposes.
Traditional leaders say the radios have contributed to increase peoples self-
esteem, as they can listen to their voices and their music and day-to-day life
stories.
One major obstacle for the further development of community radios in Mozambique
is the lack of any specifc provision for their registration in the Press Law. The law
is silent on how local communities or small organised groups of people should go
88 Strengthening Democracy and Governance through the Development of Media in Mozambique. Final Report, UNDP,
Maputo, September 2006, p. 13.
89 FOROMs Report to its Second General Assembly, Chimoio (Manica), November 2005, p. 9.
90 Ibid., p. 17.
THE BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE 61
about applying for a broadcasting licence. Local communities wanting to establish
a community radio need to frst form an association in terms of the law on national
associations.
91
This is a complex legal process beyond the reach and implementation
capacity of poor rural communities.
A draft Radio and Television Bill, published by GABINFO in May 2010, in its
section 8 on classifcation according to the ownership lists community-based and
religious broadcasting services, among others. In its section 9 (classifcation by
goal) it defnes community broadcasting services as those services whose stations are
located in communities. (For more information see chapter 10.)
The draft as well as the Press Law do not defne community as a legal person that
can exercise ownership and powers of authority in its own name. However, a useful
precedent may exist in terms of the defnition of a local community as contained in
article 1 of Law no. 19/97 (the Land Law). A defnition of a community as a legal person
is urgently required in order to make viable the principle of the three-tier broadcasting
system (public, commercial and community), based on the criterion of equitable
access to the airwaves, as established by the African Charter on Broadcasting and the
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
4 Concentration of media ownership
Article 6 of the Press Law establishes in its section 8 that in order to ensure the right
of citizens to information, the state shall follow an anti-monopoly policy, avoiding
concentration of ownership in the mass media. However, no policy or specifc
regulation to prevent cross media ownership has been put in place in the country.
The Sociedade Independente de Comunicao (SOICO), for example, owns four
media outlets: STV, SFM, Fama Magazine and O Pais, a weekly newspaper and its
online version, O Pais Online. The two broadcasters, STV and SFM radio, share one
news service, and the information they carry is also often republished by O Pais
newspaper. This means that SOICOs multiple media outlets do not necessarily result
in greater diversity of content.
The same goes for Radio Savana which is owned by the Mediacoop Group, which
also publishes a weekly and an electronic newssheet.
91 Law no. 8/91 of 10 August 1991.
5 Technical standard and accessibility of services
Among all national broadcasters, both private and public, only Radio Mozambique
(RM) broadcasts on both AM and FM frequencies. RM dismantled all 21 of its old SW
transmitters and replaced them with FM transmitters.
All commercial and community broadcasters transmit only on FM.
RM has the largest footprint in the country through its 14 channels (national and
provincial, with nine FM repeaters installed in some provincial capitals and districts
where the terrain is particularly difcult). According to its own survey
92
RM covers
70 per cent of the national territory during the day and up to 100 per cent at night.
However, the RM signal still does not reach a number of large shadowed zones,
especially in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala.
As far as population coverage is concerned, however, since the rural majority of the
Mozambican population live on the outskirts of district capitals where most signals are
received, it can be concluded that RMs population coverage is larger than its territorial
coverage would suggest.
Most commercial broadcasters, both radio and TV, are based in Maputo, and cover
only the capital.
The signal quality of RM broadcasts is not consistent. This refects the public
broadcasters lack of capacity and fnancial resources which impede modernisation.
You either have resources to invest for the same technology for all channels at
once or in none, says engineer Custdio Languane, Radio Mozambiques technical
administrator.
93
The public television service (TVM) covers only the capital Maputo and the main
provincial capitals, Beira, Nampula, quelimane and Pemba. In the rest of the country,
reception is only possible through satellite dishes, which makes the service accessible
to small local elites only. TVM lacks transmission equipment of both sufcient
quantity and quality to extend its footprint to the provinces.
While availability of electricity in the rural areas has improved signifcantly over
the last ten years, with the grid now covering 70 of the 128 district capitals, people
in large areas of the country still live in darkness. The quality and reliability of
electricity supply, where it is available, are still rather poor, with frequent oscillations
and black-outs, especially in the districts. This poses a permanent risk to the safety
of broadcasting equipment, in particular in the rural areas where quick and reliable
repair capacity is difcult to fnd.
RM uses both digital and analogue equipment in its studios. It is generally
92 RM Annual Report 2006.
93 Engineer Custdio Languane interviewed by the author in Maputo on 30 August 2008.
operational and sufcient to meet the companys present needs, according to
engineer Custdio Languane. Most of the broadcasters six production studios at
the headquarters in Maputo are fully digital, while the equipment in the provincial
stations is mostly outdated, although in good condition. The microphones in use are
of good quality and resolution.
In the near future, RM plans to set up a computer network for audio processing and
broadcasting that is to be independent from the one used by the various departments
within the company for general word processing purposes. RM is also looking at the
integration of all provincial stations into the network and the establishment of digital
audio transmission lines.
TVM is poorly equipped and its equipment is generally old. Production facilities
are partially digital at their headquarters in Maputo. According to the chairperson of
the companys Administrative Council, Simao Anguilaze, their investment priority
right now is production equipment. We do not even have enough microphones and
departments fght over recording and editing studios, even in the headquarters in
Maputo,
94
he says. The situation is even worse in the provincial stations in Beira,
Nampula and quelimane.
Regarding the technical quality of their production equipment, the commercial and
community broadcasting sectors are in a much more advantageous position. While
stafed with younger technicians, who are relatively less experienced, their facilities
are generally of better quality and quantity than those of the public broadcaster and
they all operate with digital equipment.
Article 5(1) of the African Commissions Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
Expression in Africa determines that States shall encourage a diverse, independent
private broadcasting sector.
One immediate measure envisaged in this article is the introduction of regulatory
mechanisms that will actively promote such diversity and ensure a robust and
sustainable independent private broadcasting sector. However, in Mozambique no
such regulatory mechanisms have been put in place and diversity is just happening
or not, as the case may be by default.
Furthermore, there is no regulation to establish local content quotas and to promote
the use of local languages, to ensure the provision of a range of information and ideas
94 The chairperson of TVMs Administrative Council interviewed by the author in Maputo on 19 February 2008.
to the public, and pluralistic access to the media and other means of communication,
including by vulnerable or marginalised groups, as demanded in the Declaration.
The public broadcaster Radio Mozambique is by far the dominant service and
ofers a variety of programming through its national channel and ten provincial
centres, broadcasting in 21 local languages.
The commercial broadcasters, concentrated around the capital Maputo, do not
provide a diversity of quality content but rather tend to become mere pop music
stations, or dominated by poor quality reality shows run by inexperienced young
people working under precarious technical conditions. Regulation of the sector is
poor, and there is no public service remit built into the licence conditions of these
broadcasters.
On community broadcasting the African Commissions Declaration on Freedom
of Expression states that it shall be promoted given its potential to broaden access by
poor and rural communities to the airwaves. While the community radio sector has
been playing an important role in expanding access to information to underprivileged
segments of the population in the rural areas, specifc legislation is lacking to address
critical issues such as enabling communities to establish a legal persona, or granting
tax exemptions for equipment importation and other possible fscal benefts. Overall,
the community radio sector also has no efcient mechanisms in place to ensure
production and distribution of content that is locally generated and refects the needs
and aspirations of local populations.
A Broadcasting Bill was initiated by government in January 2008 with the
involvement of all national media associations: the Association of Journalistic
Enterprises (AEJ), the National Union of Journalists (SNJ), the Editors Forum (Frum
Nacional de Editores, Editmoz), the National Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM)
and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Mozambique).
recommendations
To expand TVM and RM transmitter systems so as to give efect to the right
of access to information for the entire population;
To promote diversity and pluralism in the broadcasting sector, by setting up a
three-tier broadcasting system (public, commercial and community);
To put in place specifc legislation to protect and promote the development of
genuine community media, including community radio;
To establish an independent broadcasting regulator that will ensure that
broadcasting in Mozambique ofers programming diversity. This could
be done by imposing a public service remit obligation on commercial
broadcasters through their licence conditions;
To transform the Institute of Social Communication (ICS) into a public
broadcasting entity with an independent board representing the rural
communities it serves. Like all other broadcasters, it should fall under the
future independent broadcasting regulator.
4
Digitalisation and its Impact
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations agency tasked
with coordinating global telecommunications and services, has set a deadline of 17 June
2015 for broadcasters in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Islamic Republic of
Iran to migrate to digital television broadcasting technology, on both the transmission
and the reception side. The ITU deadline refers only to the digitalisation of television
broadcasting. Deadlines for the digitalisation of radio have not yet been determined.
The ITU sees the digitalisation of broadcasting as a means of establishing a
more equitable, just and people-centred information society, leapfrogging existing
technologies to connect the unconnected in underserved and remote communities
and close the digital divide.
95
The switch-over from analogue to digital broadcasting will expand the potential for a
greater convergence of services, with digital terrestrial broadcasting supporting mobile
reception of video, internet and multimedia data. Digitalisation of television is seen
as a means of enhancing the viewers experience by enabling better quality viewing
through wide-screen, high defnition pictures and surround sound, and interactive
services. It also allows for innovations such as handheld TV broadcasting devices
(Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld, or DVB-H), and will mean greater bandwidth
for telecommunication services.
96
Importantly, is will also allow for the creation of
many more television and radio channels through greater spectrum efciency.
95 Digital broadcasting set to transform the communication landscape by 2015, June 2006, http://www.itu.int/
newsroom/press_releases/2006/11.html.
96 Ibid.
1 Preparedness for switch-over
As of January 2010, no ofcial government plans had been announced publicly for the
migration of the broadcasting sector from the old analogue to the new digital system.
The national regulator, the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique
(INCM) initiated a very timid switch-over programme in November 2007, through the
drafting of a paper on Regulation of Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting and a Proposal
for the Implementation of Digital Broadcasting. Both were submitted to the two
public broadcasting operators (RM and TVM), to private service providers and to the
Government Information Bureau (GABINFO).
Basically, the Proposal seeks to outline strategies for the shared use of digital
transmission facilities and so abandons the model whereby each operator puts up
its own transmission network. It recommends that companies be established which
serve as network distributors (the so-called multiplexers). The current radio and
television operators would only be responsible for producing content and sending it to
the multiplexers, which will in turn take over distribution of this material at the local,
regional or national level.
In July 2008, the transport and communications ministry, through the National
Institute of Communications, published a Reference Document on the digital
broadcasting migration process. The document points out that the transition from
analogue to digital broadcasting constitutes the most important challenge the
broadcasting industry presently faces and establishes the main guidelines and steps
that the government and other relevant stakeholders are expected to consider for the
development of the transition strategy.
The Reference Document envisages the creation of a Multi-stakeholder Commission
for the Implementation of a Digital Broadcasting Migration Process tasked to oversee
the process, defne the steps to be taken and provide guidance to all sectors of society
that are to get involved.
It is suggested that the Commission should comprise representatives from the
ministries of transport and communications, fnance, science and technology, and
trade and industry, as well as from the National Institute of Communications, the
GABINFO, the broadcasting sector and consumers.
The digital migration strategy should consider the following objectives:
to analyse the potential economic impact of the migration process for the
various stakeholders, especially on the consumers;
to analyse migration forms, transition and economic coexistence among the
various existing service modalities, so as to ensure viability of projects;
DIGITILISATION AND ITS IMPACT 69
to stimulate the production of local content;
to promote the production of equipment and/or transmission and reception
accessories in the country, including set-top boxes (conversion units);
to plan and work out a timetable for the migration process;
to identify the concrete benefts that will derive from the migration process.
Currently no broadcaster in Mozambique is prepared to migrate from analogue to
digital. The frst and main obstacle is the scarcity of fnancial resources. Other factors
are a general apathy regarding change, fear of the socio-economic impact of migration,
and resistance to the idea of separating content production from signal distribution.
Mozambique, however, must urgently refect on its overall strategy for digitalisation
and take the appropriate decisions as regards the timetable for introducing digital
broadcasting, the organisation of the multiplexers and transmitter operators, and ways
of reducing costs for both operators and users that result from the introduction of the
digital system.
The absence of a clear government policy on the technological migration may
translate into services becoming inaccessible for many consumers. While they can
keep their old TV sets they will need to acquire an additional piece of equipment to
convert the digital signal into analogue, known as a set-top box (STB). STBs available
on the market in the frst half of 2008 were priced at about US$ 75, which is more
than the statutory minimum monthly wage for Mozambican workers a high price
for most citizens.
Ways will have to be found to lessen this fnancial burden. Some countries have
chosen to subsidise such conversion equipment either directly or by reducing customs
duties on it. Agreements could also be reached with local STB manufacturers to allow
a cut in prices.
A national transition policy is badly needed now, but the Government does not
seem to be taking this as a serious challenge, warns Daniel David, the director general
of the SOICO Group.
97
2 Convergence
Convergence is already under way in Mozambique, as it is now possible to listen to
Radio Mozambique on computer, to access internet through television or mobile
97 Daniel David, director general of the SOICO Group, interviewed by the author in Maputo on 18 February 2008.
phone, to make a phone call to a landline through a computer or to check TVM news
headlines on their internet website.
Both commercial and public TV operators have introduced features such as text
messaging (short message service, sms) for interaction with the public.
Currently such services are not regulated. The government contracted a consultancy
company in April 2007 to develop ICT legislation for Mozambique. The process is
being coordinated by the technical unit of the ICT Policy Commission, the Technical
Unit for the Implementation of Science and Technology (UTICT). Parliament,
however, failed to approve the legislation in 2009.
These interactive technologies have introduced a new competitive element to the
broadcasting industry with a potentially negative impact on the smaller state, private
and community broadcasters. Features such as sms interaction and chats (through
which viewers send messages to each other and/or to the presenter and vote for their
favourites in song contests) on TV reality shows are very attractive to young viewers.
As such they provide new sources of revenue with the potential to skew audience
and market share to the detriment of smaller broadcasters who cannot yet aford this
technology.
Technological convergence is also taking place at community level, in particular the
Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) based at many community radio stations.
The basic concept is for them to be used to establish a chain that links the radio
listener in the most remote area at one end to the capacities of the internet at the other.
The listener can receive information in his or her own language and can contribute
to the local radio programmes, while information produced by the community radio
can be disseminated nationally and internationally via internet, and material drawn
from the internet and other external sources can enrich the stations programming.
A production, training and desk help centre to promote technical convergence at
community level, the Centre for Community Communication and Information, or
CAIG, was established in 2006 at the Eduardo Mondlane University Informatics
Centre (CIUEM).
Mozambique is not ready for digital migration and the pace of convergence is slow.
Therefore, a policy for digital migration should be developed as a matter of urgency.
Steps need to be taken to:
Involve civil society organisations as well as government entities, the Supreme
DIGITILISATION AND ITS IMPACT 7 1
Council for the Media (CSCS), the broadcasting industry and the private
sector in the process so that a nationally agreed policy can be put in place;
Mandate the regulator to develop a digital regulatory framework to create
certainty around the licensing process after the fnalisation of the policy;
Subsidise set-top boxes for the majority of consumers who cannot aford them
so that large segments of the Mozambican population will not to be denied
access to information.
5
Broadcasting Legislation and Regulation
1 Regulatory mechanisms
The law provides for a four-tier system of broadcasting including a public broadcasting
service sector, a private broadcasting sector, a mixed public and private sector as well
as a cooperative sector.
Decrees no. 18 and no. 19, both of 16 June 1994, establish Radio Mozambique
and Television Mozambique as public service sound and television providers. The
government appoints the boards of directors of each institution, the chairpersons of
the boards and their CEOs.
Decree no. 9/93 of 22 June 1993 provides for the participation of the other three
sectors. Operators are allowed to broadcast only if they are established as a legal entity,
that is if they are incorporated as companies under commercial law or established
as not-for-proft organisations under the law governing civic associations. Section 3
defnes broadcasters in the cooperative sector as collective, not-for-proft organisations.
There is no specifc provision on community broadcasting. Community broadcasters
are therefore deemed to fall under the cooperative sector (and in practice are treated
as such).
Decree no. 11/94 of 8 September 1994, issued by the transport and communications
ministry, regulates the process through which the National Institute of Communications
(INCM) grants broadcast and radio communications network licences.
The regulatory system for broadcasting in Mozambique is thus fragmented, with
four diferent institutions being involved. These are the Government Information
Bureau (GABINFO), the National Institute of Communications (INCM), the Supreme
Council for the Media (CSCS) and the Council of Ministers.
Two bodies play central roles in broadcasting regulation in general: GABINFO,
which handles the administrative registration of all media, both print and broadcasting;
and the INCM, which is responsible for the inspection of technical equipment at
the stations as well as their respective transmissions and protection against radio
frequency spectrum interference. The INCM is also the regulator of the post and
telecommunications sector and in charge of ICT regulation.
Neither of these institutions is independent from the government. GABINFO is a
department of the prime ministers ofce and the INCM reports to the transport and
communications ministry. Its president is appointed by the Council of Ministers as
is the case with all public companies in Mozambique. GABINFO and the INCM are
directly accountable to the respective ministries under which they fall.
There are no published national communications or broadcasting policies in
Mozambique. The INCM therefore works on an ad hoc basis, as a technical unit
that assists GABINFO in making technical inspections for the purpose of frequency
allocation, as the need arises. The INCM does not operate in an open manner, for
example, consulting with industry stakeholders before taking major decisions.
GABINFO and the INCM give recommendations on granting broadcasting licences
to the Council of Ministers, which has the fnal say in approving such licences. No
case of refusal has ever been reported by any organisation in the private, mixed or
cooperative sectors.
The fourth player involved in broadcasting regulation is the Supreme Council for
the Media (CSCS). As the Council is a constitutional body, it enjoys constitutionally
guaranteed independence from the state and, theoretically, has a higher legal standing
than GABINFO and the INCM.
Sections 3 and 4 of article 50 of the Constitution give the CSCS the following
functions in respect of broadcasting regulation:
a) The Supreme Council for the Media shall issue opinions prior to Government
decisions on the licensing of private television and radio stations;
b) The Supreme Council for the Media shall participate in the appointment and
discharge of directors-general of public sector media organisations, in terms of
the law.
While both the Constitution and Ministerial Diploma no. 86/98 of 15 July 1998 confer
on the CSCS some functions characteristic of a regulatory authority with oversight
over the broadcasting and the print media in general, the body has not played any
BROADCASTING LEGISLATION AND REGULATION 7 5
meaningful role in the domain of broadcasting since its creation in 1998. This
includes providing opinions on pending licence decisions as well as participation in
the appointment of broadcasting directors. The CSCS has in no single instance in
practice been involved in or consulted about a broadcasting licence.
98
According to
GABINFOs director, Felisberto Tinga, this is because the powers and functions of the
CSCS still need to be regulated by a specifc law, as stipulated by the Constitution.
In his study of 2007, Berger states that the CSCS is limited in that its powers
are limited to advising government and mere participation in appointment and
dismissal of the leadership of the state media. It is therefore not a regulatory body, but
rather a moral force (of uncertain infuence).
99
2 Licensing of broadcasting and enforcement of licence conditions
The process to be followed by broadcast media when applying for administrative
registration, licensing and frequency allocation is technically simple, but rather
convoluted in view of the many laws and institutions involved.
Six diferent legal instruments are in place that regulate licensing and frequency
allocation:
Law no. 18/91 of 10 August 1991, which provides for the framework for
licensing the print and broadcast media and other matters;
Presidential Decree no. 4/95 of 16 October 1995, which creates the Government
Information Bureau, a technical advisory unit under the prime ministers
ofce;
Ministerial Diploma no. 86/98 of 15 July 1998, which establishes the
organisational status of the Supreme Council for the Media (CSCS);
Decree no. 22/92 of 31 December 1992, which sets out the legal and technical
conditions for access to frequencies;
Ministerial Diploma no. 11/94 of 8 September 1994, which regulates the
process through which the National Institute of Communications (INCM)
grants broadcast and radio communications network licences;
Decree no. 9/93 of 22 June 1993, which provides for the participation of
private and cooperative enterprises in the broadcasting sector.
98 From 1998 to 2006 the author, in his capacity as the national coordinator of the UNESCO/UNDP project on
Strengthening Democracy and Government through Development of Media was directly involved in the process
of creating eight community radios in Mozambique. The CSCS played no role whatsoever in the registration and
licensing of these stations. These important decisions were solely in the hands of GABINFO, the INCM and fnally the
Council of Ministers.
99 G. Berger, Media Legislation in Africa, Grahamstown, 2007, p. 64.
In a combined interpretation of these fve legal instruments, any body, person or group
intending to start broadcasting activities in Mozambique is required to complete the
following eight steps:
1. Register as a legal entity under the Commercial Law or the Law of Civic
Associations;
2. Establish the media outlets editorial policy, in terms of the Press Law;
3. Produce a (technical) radiation study, establishing the medias coverage area,
in terms of Decree no. 22/92 of 31 December;
4. Obtain administrative registration from GABINFO;
5. Obtain a frequency from the transport and communications ministry,
through the INCM, the institution responsible for approving the necessary
technical conditions to guarantee adequate quality of broadcasting signals;
6. Provide information regarding the sources of income that constitute the
capital of the media outlet, as well as the fnancial resources needed for
its management, and information about the origin and nature of direct or
indirect subsidies;
7. Get a positive opinion from the Supreme Council for the Media; and
8. With all of the above in place, obtain a broadcasting licence, known as Alvar,
from the Council of Ministers, based on a joint favourable recommendation
from GABINFO and the transport and communications ministry.
In terms of section 16 of Decree no. 9/93 of 22 June 1993, the Council of Ministers
grants a broadcast licence for a period of ten years. These licences are renewable.
According to section 18 of the same decree, broadcasting entities must commence
transmission within one year from the date of the granting of the licence.
Article 4 of the Press Law sets public interest obligations for all broadcasting
sectors:
a) Consolidation of national unity and the defence of national interests.
b) The promotion of democracy and social justice.
c) Scientifc, economic, social and cultural development.
d) Timely access of citizens to facts, information and opinions.
e) Raising the level of social, educational and cultural awareness of citizens.
f) The education of citizens about their rights and duties.
g) The promotion of dialogue between public powers and citizens.
h) The promotion of dialogue between the cultures of the world.
No local content quotas are set for the private and cooperative sector. However, decrees
18/94 and 19/94, which create RM and TVM as public broadcasting companies,
include a clause on the promotion of Mozambican languages.
In terms of section 22 of Decree no. 9/93, a licence may be suspended (by the
transport and communications ministry through the INCM and GABINFO) if:
the broadcaster does not respect any of the objectives, limits or conditions
which the broadcast permit is subject to;
the broadcaster refuses to adopt the necessary measures to eliminate technical
disturbances originated by a transmission, after being notifed to do so;
the broadcaster obstructs the action of inspection agents.
Section 23 provides that a broadcasting licence can be cancelled by a competent entity
(presumably the same entity that grants it, i.e. the Council of Ministers) whenever the
following occurs:
non-compliance with the suspension measures, and
the suspension of the entity three times within a period of three years.
No efective monitoring procedures to ensure compliance with licence conditions have
been put in place. GABINFO is primarily responsible for monitoring such compliance
but apparently lacks the necessary institutional capacity to do so. Following the 1992
peace accord a number of companies and individuals had received broadcasting
licences but did not use them for more than ten years. In 2005, GABINFO published
an announcement in the newspapers calling for licence owners who were not using
their allocated frequencies to report to the institution for the purposes of updating its
records. This indicates that GABINFO failed to maintain a proper database, let alone
check adherence to licence conditions.
The body did show efciency in one isolated case, however, when it ordered the
suspension of a community radio in the northern province of Nampula in 2003,
on the allegation that it lacked a broadcasting licence. The station had been on air
for several years under an ofcial provisional licence for an undefned experimental
period. The local municipal council was the main sponsor of the station in partnership
with the state-funded Institute for Social Communication. In the 2003 municipal
elections Frelimo lost its majority in the municipality of Nacala to the opposition
Renamo, which straightaway claimed control over the radio. This is when GABINFO
realised that the station had been on air for several years without a proper licence

and ordered its closure until completion of the registration and licensing process. The
station eventually reopened some fve months later.
The lack of clear legal provisions regulating access to and use of the broadcasting
spectrum, implemented by an independent regulator, obviously gives room for
regulatory decisions which may be politically motivated.
3 Complaints systems
Since its establishment in 1998, the Supreme Council for the Media (CSCS) has
received very few complaints against broadcasters from the public, political parties
or any other organisations. Most complaints are about alleged defamatory stories in
the print media. The few cases brought against electronic media relate to elections
coverage by the two public broadcasters, RM and TVM. The opposition party Renamo
and the Electoral Union coalition complained to the CSCS in 1999, accusing both
stations of favouritism towards Frelimo in their coverage of the campaign for that
years presidential and parliamentary elections. One unusual complaint, also during
the 1999 general elections, came from RM itself: in a letter sent to the chair of the
CSCS the station alleged that Renamo ofcials had been trying to corrupt the
stations editorial staf through bribes.
100
In clause 7, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa says:
Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcasting or
telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately protected
against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature.
In Mozambique there is no independent authority regulating the areas of broadcasting
or telecommunications. The mechanisms for legal registration of the media and
allocation of broadcasting licences are under the control of the Council of Ministers,
being advised by three diferent entities GABINFO, the National Institute of
Communications (INCM) and the Supreme Council for the Media (CSCS). Both
GABINFO and the INCM are government institutions and report directly to the prime
ministers ofce and the transport and communications ministry respectively.
100 See Relatrio de Mandato do Conselho Superior de Comunicao Social, 2004. CSCS, Maputo, p. 29.
Article 2 of the same clause of the Declaration states:
The appointments process for members of a regulatory body should be open and
transparent, involve the participation of civil society, and shall not be controlled by
any particular political party.
In terms of the constitution, the appointment process for members of the CSCS is not
open and transparent and leaves room for the institution to be frmly controlled by the
ruling party (see chapter 2).
The same clause further states:
Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or
telecommunications should be formally accountable to the public through a
multiparty body.
Neither the CSCS nor the INCM are in any form accountable to the public. When its
second mandate period expired in 2007, the CSCS failed to publish its end-of-mandate
report, as its members could not agree on the content of the document, including the
bodys fnancial accounts.
Clause 5 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa
establishes that:
an independent regulatory body shall be responsible for issuing broadcasting
licences and for ensuring observance of licence conditions;
licence processes shall be fair and transparent, and shall seek to promote diversity
in broadcasting.
In Mozambique three institutions, none of them independent from the government,
are involved in the issuing of broadcasting licences. The fnal decisions are made by
the Council of Ministers, based on criteria established by the ministers and unknown
to the public.
recommendations
In the new broadcasting legislation, the role of the INCM, GABINFO, the CSCS
and the Council of Ministers in relation to broadcasting regulation should be
scrapped. These functions should be taken over by a statutory independent
regulatory authority, based on the standards set by the Declaration of
Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
To this end, the Constitution of 2004 will have to be partially amended,
to allow for the dissolution of the CSCS and to enshrine the principle of
independent broadcasting regulation under a new independent licensing
authority.
The independent broadcasting and communications regulator will issue
licences for public, commercial and community broadcasters.
The new broadcasting legislation should also include systems and mechanisms
for public accountablity and for dealing with complaints from the public.
In view of the convergence of communications technologies it is recommended
that the government start strategising towards the establishment of an
integrated independent broadcasting and communications regulator.
6
Radio Mozambique and
Television Mozambique
1 Legal framework
Two entities make up the state/public broadcasting sector: Radio Mozambique (RM)
and Television Mozambique (TVM).
In 1994 the government approved Decrees no. 18/94 and 19/94, through which the
two institutions were transformed from state broadcasters into public companies.
In terms of these decrees, RM and TVM are public companies endowed with
administrative, fnancial and patrimonial autonomy, that is with legal powers to
administer their assets and property.
As public companies they are constituted and managed in the same way as public
utilities like those providing water or electricity. Their roles, functions and statutes
within the public administration apparatus follow the same guiding law: Law no. 17/91
of 3 August 1991, which institutes and defnes the composition of public companies in
Mozambique. Section 2 of article 10 of this law says:
The Council of Ministers appoints and dismisses the Chairperson of the
Administrative Council. The Minister in whose portfolio the company falls appoints
and exonerates the remaining members of the Administrative Council.
101
101 Since the abolishment of the information ministry in 1994, the Government Information Bureau (GABINFO), under
the prime ministers ofce, appoints three members of the Administrative Council of both RM and TVM, and the
fnance ministry appoints one.
Section 3 of the same article stipulates the inclusion of a representative of the fnance
ministry in the administrative council as obligatory. The law does not clearly establish
the criteria for the appointment of board members, saying only that their selection
shall be based upon criteria of recognised technical and professional capacity.
The Council of Ministers appoints the chairs of the Administrative Councils of both
public broadcasters, who double up as chief executive ofcers; the fnance ministry
and GABINFO appoint three board members between them, and a ffth member is
elected by the employees of the two broadcasters. Thus neither RM nor TVM are really
independent legal entities, capable of ensuring a public broadcasting service that is
independent from the government and from commercial interests and solely striving
to serve the interest of the public. The dependency of the administrative councils and
the CEOs on the government of the day is obvious and strong.
The efect of this dependency on the operations of the broadcasters is all the more
immediate because the Administrative Council is not just a supervisory body but also
involved in management to some extent. Council members exercise their mandate full-
time and each of them is attributed supervisory functions over specifc areas of activity
within the company. They are all appointed for a renewable period of three years.
The Administrative Council is assisted by directors of departments who make up
the Executive Directorate. These departments are: information (i.e. the editor-in-chief),
programming, production, administration and technical services. The chairman of
the Administrative Council also presides over this Executive Directorate in its day-to-
day functions, meetings and implementation processes.
A Fiscal Council verifes whether the accounts of the Administrative Council are
being properly managed and in compliance with the law. It also advises on issues such
as the meeting of company targets and the fnancial efciency of the management. The
Fiscal Council has no powers to approve or reject expenditure, apart from advising and
ensuring that there are no deviations from the set objectives and corresponding fnancial
resources. It is composed of three members, all appointed by the fnance minister.
Members of both RM and TVMs Administrative Councils who were interviewed
in the course of this research are of the view that the present governing structures of
the public broadcasters are inadequate. The chairperson of TVM, Simo Anguilaze,
suggests that separate and distinct functions should be attributed to the Administrative
Council and the Executive Directorate. He advocates a model in which the Executive
Directorate is the companys management body, under an independent Administrative
Council that is accountable to the public, just like the system governing the South
African Broadcasting Corporation.
102
102 Chair of the Administrative Council of TVM, Simo Anguilaze, interviewed by the author in Maputo on 19 February
2008.
RADIO MOzAMBIqUE AND TELEVISION MOzAMBIqUE 83
The Constitution in its article 48 protects freedom of expression and opinion, the
editorial independence of journalists and the impartiality of the public media. The
relevant clauses read as follows:
4. In the public sector media, the expression and confrontation of ideas from all
currents of opinion shall be guaranteed.
5. The State shall guarantee the impartiality of the public sector media, as well as
the independence of journalists from the Government, the Administration and
other political powers.
As part of the public sector media provided for in article 11 of the Press Law, RM and
TVM have the same responsibilities as all other public media. Section 2 of this article
lists as their main functions:
a) To promote the access of citizens to information;
b) To guarantee impartial, objective and balanced news coverage;
c) To refect, in a balanced fashion, the diversity of ideas and currents of opinion;
In addition, section 3 establishes that in the areas of radio and television, the public
sector media shall also:
a) conceive and undertake balanced programming, taking into consideration the
diversity of interests and preferences among the audience;
b) promote communication for development;
c) through producing and broadcasting programmes on national achievements,
promote culture and creativity so that these occupy increasing amounts of
broadcasting time.
Section 4, article 11 of the Press Law establishes in rather vague terms the principle
of editorial independence by stating that [t]he mass media in the public sector shall
carry out their duties free from interference by any outside interest or infuence that
may compromise their technical and professional quality.
The 2004 Constitution introduces important new provisions in relation to the
rights of political parties and civil society to coverage by the two public broadcasters.
Article 49 of the Constitution says:
1. Political parties shall, in line with their degree of representation and criteria
prescribed by law, have the right to broadcast time on the public radio and
television services.
2. Political parties that have seats in the Assembly of the Republic but are not
members of Government shall, under the law and according to their degree of
representation, have the right to broadcast time on public radio and television
services in order to exercise their right of reply and the right to respond to the
political statements of the Government.
3. Trade unions, professional organisations and organisations representing social
and economic activities shall also be guaranteed broadcast rights, according to
criteria prescribed by law.
4. During election periods, candidates shall have the right to regular and equitable
broadcast time on public radio and television stations of national or local
coverage, under the terms of the law.
However, these important constitutional provisions have not yet been implemented
since the promulgation of the new Constitution in January 2005, pending approval of
a specifc regulatory law as mentioned above. It is expected that the broadcasting law
now being drafted will give efect to these constitutional requirements.
The electoral legislation package approved in July 2007 for the 20082011 electoral
cycle (municipal, provincial and general elections) includes a specifc clause on
election coverage by the public media:
Whenever public media institutions publish information pertaining to the electoral
process, they should guide themselves by criteria of absolute impartiality and
accuracy, avoiding distortion of the matters to be published and any form of
discrimination among the different candidates.
103
2 Profles of RM and TVM
2.1 radio Mozambique
Presently, Radio Mozambique (RM) broadcasts in 21 diferent languages daily:
Portuguese as the countrys ofcial language, 19 national languages and English (for
its external services directed mainly to the diaspora in neighbouring countries).
103 Articles 204 and 175 of Law no. 7/2007 of 26 February 2007, on the election of the President of the Republic and the
Assembly of the Republic, and Law no. 18/2007 of 18 July 2007, on municipal elections.
RM broadcasts on 14 channels:
Nine provincial/regional channels
The National Channel
Maputo City Radio
Beira City Radio
Maputo Corridor Radio (English)
RM Sports
Their profles and target audiences are as follows:
The provincial stations: Radio Mozambique is the most infuential medium for
promoting the use of diverse national languages in the country. Each of the nine
provincial stations uses at least two local languages apart from Portuguese and has
its own decentralised programme grid focusing on coverage of regional current
afairs and programmes on specifc subjects such as HIV/AIDS prevention and
treatment or agriculture and rural development, as well as open debates on topics
like public administration reform, corruption in the public administration, etc. The
provincial stations also serve as important channels for the transmission of public
announcements on major local or national events, such as voter education spots or
early warnings on foods and other natural disasters.
The National Channel: This Portuguese language channel is defned as a channel
covering issues of general interest for all citizens at national level, and one that strives
for excellence in providing public service radio. It is focused on news and presents an
hourly news bulletin. The channel promotes active citizenship through live debates
with call-in facilities, during which civil society voices can be aired and citizens can
interact with public authorities at various levels. It also broadcasts educational and
cultural programmes. The national channel seeks to promote Mozambican history,
cultural identity and moral values. In addition, it seeks to keep Mozambicans living
abroad connected to their country via its website.
Maputo City Radio (Radio Cidade): This is a Portuguese language FM channel
dedicated to a young audience and covering the urban areas of Maputo and Matola.
Its programming focuses on common problems of the youth and frequently asked
questions, issues concerning students such as professional training and access to
employment opportunities, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, as well as sports and
moral values. It also promotes classical music for enthusiasts during a late night slot.
Beira City Radio (Radio Cidade da Beira): This is an FM channel also dedicated to
young people and covering the urban areas of Beira. It also broadcasts in Portuguese
only.
Maputo Corridor Radio: This is the English service of RM. It broadcasts from noon
to midnight on FM, covering Maputo City, its suburbs and the segment of the Maputo
Development Corridor that links Mozambique to South Africa. This channel promotes
especially Mozambican and African music. Its hourly news bulletins focus mainly on
domestic events and the southern African region. Students who would like to learn or
improve their English language skills are part of the stations target audience.
RM Sports: This is the countrys only channel exclusively dedicated to national
and international information on sports, broadcasting in Portuguese. It was created
in 2003 to extend the broadcasting space for the promotion of sports, including live
transmissions of important national and international sporting events. RM Sports
is on air 20 hours a day, from 05h00 to 24h00, and it targets sports practitioners,
trainers and sports enthusiasts in general.
2.2 television Mozambique
According to its programming policy document, TVM broadcasts informative,
recreational and cultural programmes, in response to the needs and aspirations of
the population.
104
It is not clear, however, how TVM establishes what the needs and
aspirations of the population may be: in the words of the companys chairperson,
Simo Anguilaze, no audience research has been done for several years.
TVM operates a single channel for 24 hours a day. It also has provincial windows
broadcasting up to fve hours a day in Beira, Nampula and zambezia. These windows
ofer daily news services of 15 minutes on local events. The national channel provides
general programming and four 30-minute news bulletins a day: in the early morning,
at noon, in the early evening and late at night. There are a number of weekly, one-hour
live debates on various national and international political, economic and cultural
topics. TVM also broadcasts educational programmes, including a distance education
series. Brazilian soap operas and European premier league football matches dominate
the recreational component of the stations programming.
So far TVM broadcasts mainly in Portuguese and thus does not promote language
diversity as stipulated in section 2(4) of the Press Law.
TVMs plans to launch a commercial channel in 2009 did not materialise.
104 Available at www.tvm.co.mz.
3 Organisational structures of RM and TVM
The existence of the two separate entities, Radio Mozambique and Television
Mozambique, is due to historical reasons: RM was established frst following
independence in 1975, when all private radio stations then active in the country were
nationalised. TVM started its operations only in 1981.
In 1995, the government set up a task group to look at options for merging the
two companies into a single national broadcasting entity. However, the fndings of the
group regarding the respective advantages and disadvantages of either option were
not conclusive and the government decided to keep RM and TVM as two separate
companies.
Both RM and TVM have similar structures with three organisational levels: the
Administrative Council, the Executive Directorate and the Provincial Delegations
(stations).
The Administrative Council is the top structure, headed by a chairperson who is
also the CEO. The Council is composed of fve members, each of them responsible
for a specifc focus area: (i) administration and fnance; (ii) production (institutional
development and editorial afairs); (iii) commercial and advertising; (iv) technical
department; and (v) public relations and marketing. Occasionally, some of the lines
of command seem to be blurred: from 2005 to 2007, for example, one and the same
member of RMs Administrative Council looked after the afairs of both the editorial
and the advertising department.
The fve members of the Executive Directorate are appointed by the chairperson of
the Administrative Council to whom they are directly accountable. The Directorate is
responsible for day-to-day management and implementation. The provincial delegates
(managers of provincial stations) also account directly to the chairperson of the
Administrative Council, through a liaison ofcer in the chairpersons ofce.
Attached to the two 1994 decrees, which transformed the state broadcasters into
public companies, is an editorial policy. Article 4 (section b) of this policy states
that the station should contribute to the elevation of the civic consciousness of the
population, through ensuring the possibility of free expression and confrontation of
diferent currents of opinion, through stimulating creation and free expression of
thought and of the cultural values that express the national identity. While the policy
reafrms the principle of the editorial independence of journalists established by the
Press Law, in reality this independence is jeopardised and highly vulnerable to outside
interference given the two bodies organisational structure.
The government plays an active role in ensuring that the state broadcasters are
aligned to ofcial policies and priorities and give high visibility to government
activities, among others through extensive coverage of the public appearances of
the state president. This includes even purely ceremonial activities such as the
presentation of credentials of newly appointed ambassadors at the presidential ofce.
Government instructions on priority events to be covered are given to both TVM and
RM through GABINFO. This is generally done through ofcial notes that GABINFO
sends to national radio and television for immediate publication, in terms of article
13 of the Press Law.
This direct government infuence notwithstanding, independent surveys conducted
by international organisations such as the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
through its African Media Barometer,
105
the Carter Center and others
106
have found
that RM in particular has displayed greater editorial independence than, for instance,
the two state-owned newspapers, Noticias and Domingo. The Carter Centers report on
the general elections of December 2004, for example, says RMs coverage of political
parties and candidates was balanced.
107
According to the EU election coverage report,
TVMs newscasts slightly favoured the state president, government and Frelimo over
the opposition with a total of 53 per cent of air time.
108
In his study of April 2008,
Helge Rnning corroborates these fndings by saying:
To a certain degree it may be maintained that government has infuence over
particularly TVM, to a much lesser degree over RM, which more or less operates
according to internationally accepted perceptions of public service standards.
109
RM is by far the biggest media organisation in the country. It employs 433 staf members
of which 164 are journalists, including those working in indigenous languages in the
provincial stations. However, according to Benedito Djedje, the administrator for the
administration and fnance department, RM is clearly understafed.
110
TVM is a smaller operation and still in the process of expanding its presence
in the provinces. Four regional managers are responsible for the running of local
ofces established in Beira, Nampula, Pemba and quelimane. Just like RM, TVM is
seriously understafed, according to its chairperson and CEO, Simo Anguilaze. It
has 316 employees, 57 of them in the editorial department, responsible for news and
programme production.
105 Relatorio da Segunda Roda do African Media Barometer Mocambique, Ilha da Inhaca, 21 a 22 de Julho de 2007,
MISA-Mozambique, Maputo, July 2007.
106 United States Department of State, 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Mozambique, 11 March 2008.
UNHCR Refworld, available at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=47d92c1fc.
107 Observing the 2004 Mozambique Elections. Special Report Series, October 2005, www.cartercenter.org.
108 Ibid.
109 H. Rnning, op.cit., p. 27.
110 Benedito Djedje, Radio Mozambiques administrator for administrative and fnancial afairs, interviewed by the
author in Maputo on 12 February 2008.
Additional posts are subject to budgetary approval by the fnance ministry under
the three- or fve-yearly contracts between the government and the two broadcasters.
If insufcient state funding is granted, the companies are expected to mobilise other
resources to cover the salaries of additional employees, primarily through increasing
revenue from advertisements.
Candidates applying for posts in the editorial department are expected to have a
secondary school academic certifcate the equivalent of twelve years of schooling.
This is a standard requirement in most public institutions in Mozambique.
At RM, a series of professional training activities in news gathering and reporting,
as well as on specifc subjects such as elections coverage, HIV/AIDS or on women
and children, were carried out during 2007/2008 with the assistance of external
organisations, among them the Southern African Research and Documentation
Centre (SARDC) with funding provided by Swedens SIDA and the Irish Embassy in
Maputo.
A few in-house training courses were also organised in recent years, targeting
junior journalists, especially at provincial level. These short-term training activities
were carried out by RMs own trainers. According to fnal evaluation reports, the
participants and managers found the courses very useful and they had much more
impact than formal training seminars which take place classroom-style in external
venues.
Unlike RM, TVM has not been able to attract much outside assistance for the
training of its editorial staf because of its image as a state-controlled broadcaster.
Since its creation in 1981 it only received some basic technical support, including staf
training, from the Portuguese public television company, Radioteleviso Portuguesa
(RTP). UNESCO supported TVMs eforts to train a frst group of women video editors
and studio managers in 2006.
111
The salary structure of the two state/public broadcasters can be divided into four
main areas: editorial, technical, administrative and top management. Table 6 indicates
RM and TVM monthly salaries for mid-career professionals and top managers as
compared to those paid by other broadcasters.
The table clearly shows that salary levels other than those of top management
are below the living wage of US$ 2 000. This leaves the editorial staf vulnerable to
practices which are incompatible with journalistic ethics: in order to earn additional
revenue they often serve as media ofcials or advisers to government departments
111 Relatorios de Formacao no processo de Trabalho. Escola da Radio Mocambique/UNESCO, Maputo, 2006.
or any other public institutions and political parties, especially during election
periods.
112
There is not much competition for qualifed staf among the various broadcasters
because salary conditions in the public and private broadcasting sectors are fairly
similar. One advantage for journalists in the public sector is job stability, as compared
to the more volatile situation in the still emerging private broadcasting sector.
113
Table 6: Broadcasting salary structures
state/public broadcasters other (private) broadcasters
editorial staff MZ Meticais 30 000 (US $1 200) MZ Meticais 25 000 to 35 000
(US$ 1 000 to US$ 1 400)
technical staff MZ Meticais 20 000 (US$ 800) US$ 600 to US$ 1 000
Administrative staff MZ Meticais 20 000 (US$ 800) US$ 800
top management MZ Meticais 80 000 (US$3 200) MZ Meticais 100 000 (US$ 4 000)
Source: RMs Department of Administration and Finance, information supplied to author on 22 May 2008
4 Attitudes within RM and TVM
In the course of this research the author interviewed six senior managers from
RM and TVM, namely the chairperson of TVMs Administrative Council, Simo
Anguilaze; RMs administrator for administration and fnance, Benedito Djedje (who
was also the broadcasters acting chairperson when interviewed by the author in
February 2008); RM and TVM directors of information (editors-in-chief) as well as
RMs administrators for the production and technical departments. Five mid-career
journalists from the two broadcasters were also interviewed.
The responses of senior managers to questions about the nature of public
broadcasting and its role in society generally show a solid understanding of the
concepts of public broadcasting and editorial independence of journalists, which they
said they respected.
112 Having this practice in mind, the Code of Conduct for Elections Coverage that MISA-Mozambique and the National
Union of Journalists jointly developed in 2003 calls for journalists not to serve as press ofcials or press advisers to
political parties electoral ofces.
113 A report from the labour ministry which assessed the level of compliance of media houses with the new Labour
Law (approved by parliament in May 2007) reveals difcult working conditions in a number of media institutions
in Mozambique. According to the report, an unspecifed number of journalists work under short-term precarious
contracts or no valid contracts at all. See Noticias, Maputo, 15 May 2008.
When comparing their understanding of public broadcasting to organisational
reality, both top managers and journalists are critical of the status quo and vocal in
calling for substantive changes in policy and attitude from the government.
RMs fnancial administrator, Benedito Djedje, defned public broadcasting as
broadcasting that serves the interests of all citizens with no discrimination of any
kind. He described the public as the countrys entire population.
However, Djedje was not clear on how the public could hold a public broadcaster to
account. He also expressed his disappointment with what he described as governments
imposition on our development plans, through severe cuts to our budget proposals.
In general, editors and journalists in both state/public broadcasters say they enjoy a
satisfactory level of independence in their editorial activities.
114
When asked how their
stories were selected for the main evening news bulletin, one mid-career journalist
from TVM, Bento Neves, said this was done in planning meetings held every morning
in which all journalists were asked to propose subjects to cover, apart from receiving
agenda assignments. The main selection criteria is relevance of the subject, he said.
However, journalists from both RM and TVM said the only statutory democratic
structure that allowed for open debate in the newsroom on editorial matters the
editorial councils have not been active for many years. These editorial councils were
established by the Press Law (article 10) as fora of open debate on editorial matters
between editors and journalists in the newsrooms. Each newsroom is expected to
defne the composition and specifc competencies of its editorial council and elect its
members. The councils main aim is to discuss editorial priorities and approaches and
solve conficts on editorial matters between editors and journalists in the day-to-day
working process.
While the state/public broadcasters have enjoyed editorial independence in general
since 1994, fears have been expressed that this might increasingly be curtailed and
that the government may be exercising indirect political control.
Some reporters from both state/public broadcasters claim there have been
attempts to restrict the organisations editorial independence, either through inviting
commentators who would not be very critical of the government, or through selecting
subjects that were not likely to put the image of the government at risk. TVM
information director, Armindo Chavana, denies the allegation. In his view, some
journalists expect their reporting to be used unedited and see any form of editing as
censorship.
On 5 February 2008, riots and unrest erupted in Maputo in protest against the
increase in fares on public minibuses. One editor from RM, who asked not to be
114 The author interviewed the following journalists in Maputo from 12 to 19 February 2008: Ricardo Dimande, Leonel
Matias (RM) and Armindo Chavana and Elio Jonasse and Bento Neves (TVM).
identifed, told MISA-Mozambique he had received instructions from his superiors
to cancel a previously announced live debate on the riots and replace it with a debate
on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Bayano Valy, a researcher with the Southern African
Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) in Maputo, commented on this issue
as follows: What seemed to have happened was that once again the public media
avoided complying with one of its obligations: to inform the public on matters of public
interest. And I think that these events were of public interest.
115
Radio Mozambiques information director, Ricardo Dimande, strongly denied the
claim that censorship of public discussion about the riots had taken place. At a National
Conference on Broadcasting held in Maputo on 28 April 2008 he said: Sometimes
reporters impose censorship on themselves, based on imaginary political risks.
On the question of whether, if requested, RM would give over an hour for a special
government broadcast by the state president or prime minister, the acting chairperson
of RMs Administrative Council said the management would comply with such
an order. It is in the companys statutes that public service radio should transmit
government communiqus or other ofcial information when asked to, as a matter
of priority. Article 13 of the Press Law imposes a duty on public media institutions to
publish ofcial notices of the government in their entirety and with due prominence.
Further, the public broadcaster is obliged to broadcast free of charge ofcial public
statements of the state president in their entirety and with maximum urgency.
The chairman of TVMs Administrative Council said civil society had not shown
any particular interest in playing a specifc role in regard to the station, beyond the
establishment of the Public TVM Forum.
The Public TVM Forum is an annual live roundtable debate during which the
Administrative Council presents a brief summary of the past years activities and the
key focus areas of the current year. After this presentation viewers can call in and
make suggestions and/or voice complaints. Members of civil society organisations,
including academics, are also invited to participate in the programme and to question
the members of the Administrative Council. There is no formal system to monitor the
implementation of the recommendations made by the public.
Radio Mozambique also interacts with civil society organisations in a formal
manner once a year, to hear ideas from the public in the preparation of new programme
grids. A 90-minute call-in programme is broadcast during two Saturdays in January
for listeners to interact with the RMs Executive Directorate. The system is informal,
in the sense that it is not statutory and the recommendations made are not binding on
the broadcaster, according to Djedje.
115 http://nulliusinverba-bv.blogspot.com/2008/02/cobertura-das-violentas-manifestaes.html.
RM and TVM, while described by the law as public broadcasters, are essentially state-
controlled broadcasting companies. Both are supervised by a board and managed
by chief executive ofcers appointed by the government. This is contrary to the
benchmarks set by the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa
which calls for the public broadcasters to be governed by a board which is protected
against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature.
Despite these serious shortcomings in terms of governance structures and
appointment procedures of top ofcials, the content broadcast by the two organisations
nevertheless refects some of the important hallmarks of a public broadcaster:
equitable party-political coverage in general, the right of reply for political parties, the
inclusion of civil society and the public in discussion programmes, and the protection
and exercise of a relatively high level of editorial independence. In order to strengthen
these positive characteristics and build on these achievements, the organisational
structures of RM and TVM need to be changed so as to ensure the independence of
both public broadcasters in the future.
The roles of the (supervisory) Administrative Council and the Executive Directorate
as well as the managers of the provincial stations must be clearly defned and distinct
from each other to avoid overlap of responsibilities and the blurring of lines of
command. The Administrative Council should be functioning as a board representing
the public that protects the public broadcasters against any undue infuences,
provides broad policy guidelines and appoints and supervises the top management.
Clear internal policies should be put in place with a view to ensuring the editorial
independence of editors and producers. The Editorial Councils, as fora for open debate
on editorial matters in the newsrooms, need to be re-activated as part of the systems
created to safeguard consistent practice of editorial independence.
Top management fgures in both RM and TVM could be instrumental in driving
these reform processes as they are critical of the status quo and vocal in calling for
substantive changes of policy and attitude on the part of government. They are clearly
in favour of a concept of public broadcasting that is accountable to the public.
recommendations
New broadcasting legislation should transform Radio Mozambique and
Television Mozambique into genuine public broadcasters based on the
standards set by the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in
Africa.
The legislation must ensure that the constitution and composition of the
governing bodies of the public broadcasters are defned in such a way as
to protect them against external interference, particularly of a political or
economic nature, and make them accountable to the public rather than the
government of the day.
Persons who are ofce bearers with the state or leading members of political
parties or have a fnancial interest in broadcasting should not be eligible to
become members of the board.
A board will replace the present Administrative Council and its members
should be nominated by the public with parliament making fnal appointments
after interviewing short-listed candidates at public hearings.
The chief executive ofcer should not be a member of the board. S/he should
head and form part of the Executive Directorate, and thus fall under the
control of the board.
The board will be responsible for general policy and strategic guidelines, and
appoint and exercise oversight over the Executive Directorate. The Executive
Directorate will be in charge of day-to-day management, and accountable to
the board.
7
Funding of RM and TVM
1 Main sources of funding
In line with the provisions of their founding legislation (decrees 18 and 19 of June 1994)
both RM and TVM derive the bulk of their funding from endowments by the state. In
2009 the state subsidy accounted for 60 per cent of their total budgets, according to
information provided by the company managers. The two companies were expected to
make up the 43 per cent shortfall through their own income generation activities.
Apart from the state subsidy, RMs revenue sources include a monthly fee of 12.00
MT per month (the equivalent of US$ 5.76 per year) paid by households as an add-on to
their electricity bills and an equivalent annual radio fee payable on motor vehicles. The
combined revenue from these radio fees covered up to 30 per cent of RMs budgeted
expenses in 2007, with the remaining 13 per cent being collected from advertisements
and sponsorships.
The national electricity company (Electricidade de Moambique, EDM) forwards
the fees collected from electricity bills to the fnance ministry. The ministry sets the
amount of this fee as well as that of the vehicle fee, which it collects through its normal
tax collection system. RM has no control over nor information on the total amounts
collected by the EDM.
Public television does not beneft from these fees, and TVM is therefore heavily
dependent on advertising revenue in addition to the state subsidy. In 2003 the
government abandoned a process aimed at establishing either a separate TV fee or
an increased joint radio and TV fee because of electoral reasons. According to an
ofcial source at GABINFO who asked not to be identifed,
116
the Frelimo government
feared that the electorate would punish it at the ballot box for introducing a new
tax obligation. According to the same source, a consultancy company that had been
contracted to undertake a study on the introduction of a TV fee had proposed a joint
TVM/RM fee to be collected through the already existing system, that is as an add-on
to EDM electricity bills.
No recent and credible data are available on total spending on advertisements in
Mozambique, but when Televisao Independente de Moambique (TIM) was established
in 2006 it released a feasibility study
117
which estimated the size of the market to be
in the region of US$ 7.5 million. In that year TVM claims to have collected some
US$ 2 million and RM some US$ 1.2 million in advertising revenue.
118
This would
give the two state/public broadcasters a combined share of nearly half of the national
advertising market. However, these advertising fgures have not been confrmed by
independent research.
At a MISA-Mozambique Conference on Broadcasting held in Maputo in April
2008, the CEO of commercial station STV, Daniel David, raised the issue of public
broadcasters competing for advertising with the commercial sector: When state-funded
broadcasting companies also compete for a share of the advertising market, it means
that the sustainability of the commercial sector is at risk. TVMs chairperson, Simo
Anguilaze, replied that the subsidy the broadcaster received from the government was
far from sufcient to enable it to live up to its social responsibilities.
Eduardo Namburete, a media scholar and opposition (Renamo) member of
parliament, said that government needs to clarify its vision of the public broadcasting
sector and accept its responsibility for funding public service radio and television.
Competition for sponsorship and advertisements between the public and the
commercial broadcasters is particularly ferce over Brazilian soap operas and
European Premier League Football matches, as well as music concerts and song
contests sponsored by the two mobile phone companies, mCel and Vodacom.
Two UN agencies, UNICEF and UNDP, sponsor programmes for children as well
as on HIV/AIDS and rural development on both RM and TVM. Other major sponsors
include the national ports and railways company, CFM, and the National Council on
HIV/AIDS (Conselho Nacional de Combate ao SIDA, CNCS). Journalists from RM
and TVM produce these programmes with full editorial independence, according to
editors-in-chief Ricardo Dimande and Armindo Chavana.
119
The law provides for the state to make funds available to the two state/public
116 GABINFO source interviewed by the author in February 2008.
117 Projecto daTelevisao Independente de Mocambique. Projecto de Estudo de Viabilidade, Maputo, 2006, p. 23.
118 RMs Benedito Djedje and TVMs Simo Anguilaze, interviews op. cit.
119 RMs Ricardo Dimande and TVMs Armindo Chavana, interviewed by the author in February 2008.
FUNDING OF RM AND TVM 97
broadcasters on the basis of a contract concluded on a specifc programme of action
covering a number of areas for a period of three to fve years. In the case of RM, for
instance, the contract for the period 20062010 is based on the following six areas:
(a) thematic plan;
120
(b) plan for technical development; (c) investment plan; (d) plan
for (technical) maintenance and supply; (e) plan for development and management
of human resources; and (f) fnancial plan. Each broadcaster submits its draft
programme with area plans and budget to the fnance ministry, through GABINFO,
every three years.
The fnance ministry takes the fnal decision on the weighting to be accorded
to the diferent area plans and the respective budget amounts to be allocated, after
discussions with the Administrative Councils and GABINFO. The fnance ministrys
fnal decision is essentially based on its discretional powers to determine budgetary
priorities, according to funds available, says Benedito Djedje. The funds are disbursed
annually.
According to Djedje the government has often failed to meet its obligations. There
was a gap of eight years, from 1998 to 2006, during which the government did not
sign any programme contracts with either of the two state/public media companies,
and only guaranteed the payment of wages and other running costs (communications,
electricity, transport, ofce consumables and a few other things). There has been no
ofcial explanation as to why the government had decided not to allocate the required
subsidies as stipulated by law, Djedje added.
Due to the lack of funds during this period, no investment plans could be considered,
including for the replacement and modernisation of production and transmission
equipment. Instead, the government urged the two state/public broadcasters to
increase their income collection through a more aggressive commercial approach.
TVMs chairperson, Simo Anguilaze, says: In reality there is no system of funding
for public broadcasting in Mozambique. In his view the system has collapsed, because
it is rather unpredictable and can not be relied upon.
On its own terms, though, and without having much regard to the broadcasters
programme priorities and budgets, the government signed an extraordinary fve-
year contract with RM, and a three-year contract with TVM in 2006. The fnance
ministry just decided to cut our budget by 20 per cent and said we should increase
our commercial revenues to fll in the gap, says Djedje. He deplores the fact that the
present set-up of their governing structures leaves the companies very vulnerable,
especially in relation to the fnance ministry. When the fnance ministry decides to
cut down our budgets there is no place we can appeal to, he says.
120 See chapter 8.
TVMs Anguilaze added that the fnance ministry had determined priorities in
the budget which were diferent from those identifed by the company. The ministry
simply decided that we must give priority to infrastructure, while we are facing
a severe crisis as regards production equipment. Because of this decision by the
minister, TVM will now, up until the end of the contract period in 2010, be investing in
infrastructure rather than the necessary replacement of the old production equipment,
as the company had envisaged.
Their dependence on highly unpredictable state subsidies, especially in the case of
TVM, leaves the state/public broadcasters very vulnerable to commercial interests and
the preference of advertisers for popular, recreational material rather than informative
and educational programmes. One immediate consequence is that prime time viewing
(18h0020h00 and 21h0023h00) consists almost exclusively of entertainment and
sports programming. Any in-depth reporting or live debates carried by TVM are
broadcast only between 22h00 and midnight.
Our channel has lost its identity as public service television, said Chairperson
Anguilaze. At the time of writing, the company was considering opening a new,
commercial channel to subsidise the public arm of TVM and thus give it greater
freedom in its editorial decisions.
Parliament plays no specifc role in regard to the state/public broadcasters, apart
from discussing their budgets like those of any other public company.
2 Spending
Given the unpredictability of the bulk of their income, the two broadcasters control
over spending can hardly be expected to be systematic, nor is it easy to research. We
almost do our spending control on a daily basis, says RMs Benedito Djedje. Neither
of the two companies agreed to disclose overall fgures on income and expenditure in
the course of the present research.
The only fgures available show that nearly half of RMs expenditure for salaries
goes to the editorial department and a little more than a third to administration.
FUNDING OF RM AND TVM 99
Table 7: Radio Mozambique net salaries 2008
editorial department MT 28 872 073.79 US$1 154 882.95 44%
Administrative department MT 24 372 562.76 US$ 974 902.51 36%
technical department MT 13 375 415.68 US$ 535 016.63 20%
grand total MT 66 620 052.23 US$ 2 664 802.09 100%
Source: Radio Mozambique
Article VI of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa says:
Public broadcasters should be adequately funded in a manner that protects them from
arbitrary interference with their budgets.
At the two state/public broadcasters in Mozambique there are no reliable,
predictable or sustainable funding mechanisms in place. Such mechanisms are
essential to protect public broadcasters from arbitrary interference by political and
commercial interests.
In addition, decisions on investment priorities and budgets in respect of RM and
TVM are made by the fnance ministry and it decides what the main development
priorities will be, regardless of the views of the two broadcasters.
recommendations
Sustainable and reliable funding mechanisms should be considered and put
in place.
There should be an annual broadcasting fee payable by owners of television
sets to help fnance both broadcasters, rather than taxing the poor persons
media, radio, and leaving the rich persons media, television, untaxed. The
vehicle radio fee should remain.
As the public broadcasters will continue to be dependent on state subsidies,
at least in part, efective mechanisms must be developed to ensure that these
subsidies are provided in a reliable and independent manner.
To determine the amounts of the broadcasting fees and the state subsidies
required, the setting up of an independent panel of experts should be
considered. This panel will set and from time to time adjust the requisite
amounts and recommend these for adoption by the legislature. The
broadcasters will list their perceived needs to the panel, the experts will
make their own assessment and then come up with their recommendation.
The fee and subsidy amounts should be decided upon by parliament and not
by the executive.
8
Programming
1 Programme/editorial policies and guidelines
1.1 radio Mozambique and television Mozambique
The legal statutes that establish Radio Mozambique (RM) and Television Mozambique
(TVM) as public service sound and television providers (Decrees no. 18 and no. 19,
both of 16 June 1994) include editorial policies. According to the general editorial
guidelines, the broadcasters main functions are:
a) To promote the access of citizens to information in the entire country;
b) To guarantee impartial, objective and balanced news coverage;
c) To refect, in a balanced fashion, the diversity of ideas and currents of
opinions;
In addition, the programming guidelines state that the broadcasters shall:
Conceive and undertake balanced programming, taking into consideration the
diversity of interests and of preferences among the audience;
Promote communication for development;
Through producing and broadcasting national achievements, promote culture
and creativity so that these occupy increasing amounts of broadcasting time.
The statutes also guarantee editorial independence:
The mass media in the public sector shall carry out their duties free from interference
by any outside interest or infuence that may compromise their independence, and
shall be guided in their activity by standards of high technical and professional
quality and creativity.
In addition to these general editorial policies, prescribed by law, the two state/public
broadcasters are bound by a set of thematic plans as part of the programme-contracts
they sign with the government every three years to get funding from the state budget
(see chapter 7 for details). These thematic plans generally refect the governments
priority areas for the period in question.
For example, RMs thematic plan signed for the period of 20062010
121
establishes
the following objectives:
a) To contribute to the awareness of the Mozambican population in the fght
against HIV/AIDS, malaria, cholera, tuberculosis and other endemic diseases,
with a view to improving their quality of life;
b) To provide civic education to strengthen the sense of citizenship among the
population;
c) To provide formal and informal education, particularly distance education,
through transmission of knowledge designed to assist the intellectual
development, personality formation and acquisition of skills and capacity by
citizens;
d) To publicise the national programme to combat poverty;
e) To promote public sector reform;
f) To disseminate legislation relevant to the lives of citizens and the functioning of
the state apparatus;
g) To combat corruption;
h) To provide coverage of the main activities of the sovereign organs of the
nation.
122
These objectives refect mostly the priority areas identifed in the countrys poverty
reduction strategy, known as Plano de Aco para a Reduo da Pobreza Absoluta or
PARPA (Plan of Action for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty).
123
The thematic plan,
121 The programme-contract periods may vary between 3 and 4 years.
122 See Contrato-Programa entre o Governo e a Radio Mocambique (RM-EP). Maputo, Dezembro de 2006, p. 5.
123 See PARPA II at : www.portaldogoverno.gov.mz/docs_gov/programa/fo_parpa_2 - 55k.
PROGRAMMING 1 03
then, is the general outline of the main topics the broadcaster is expected to address
through its various programmes in a given period of time.
A Code of Conduct (or Editorial Statute) lays down the following professional and
ethical principles for journalists at Radio Mozambique:
a) Credibility and rigour: facts included in the news and programmes should be
double checked, based on reliable and diversifed sources;
b) Independence: No journalist shall be allowed to take leading functions in
political parties, government, private companies or any other institution, such
that can undermine his/her independence and create conficts of interest.
c) Political participation: No journalist or programme producer shall take part in
political campaigns of any political party or political candidates.
d) Prior to engaging in political party activities, journalists and programme
producers are required to suspend their professional activities until their
political activities have ceased.
e) Privacy and reputation: names or other identity references of people or
institutions with alleged involvement in crimes or any other illegal activity shall
not be disclosed without irrefutable proof.
f) Mistakes and corrections: Any imprecision or erroneous information shall be
corrected without delay.
There is a history behind the emphasis this code places on the strict separation of
activities as a journalist and as a party political activist: for a long period of time,
managers of RM provincial delegations (provincial stations) used to be members
of or advisers to the provincial governments. As a result, most of them were seen
campaigning for Frelimo during electoral periods. Following criticism by colleagues
from other media institutions and due to an increasing awareness of issues concerning
media ethics, RM managers ofcially banned this practice in 1999, before that years
parliamentary and presidential elections.
TVM does not have a Code of Conduct of its own.
Taken as a whole, these programme and editorial policies and guidelines, both
statutory and developed by the broadcaster itself, comply with the principles of public
broadcasting as established in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression
in Africa. This is so in particular with regard to Radio Mozambique. TVM, on the
other hand, still faces serious challenges in a number of areas, especially when it
comes to the envisaged:
Access to a wide range of information and ideas from various sectors of
society (especially because of its very limited use of national languages);
Contributing to economic, social and cultural development by providing
a credible forum for democratic debate: as TVMs CEO, Simao Anguilaze
has underlined (see chapter 6), TVM, being ill-funded, tends to sacrifce its
programming policy as a public broadcaster in order to meet the demands of
advertisers, whose commercial interests may be at odds with public interest
programming;
Provision of local content.
1.2 commercial broadcasters
Commercial broadcasters, such as the stations owned by the Sociedade Independente
de Comunicao Televiso (SOICO) Group (STV and SFM Radio) and TV Miramar, do
not have comprehensive editorial guidelines/policies that would ensure a systematic
and coherent programming profle.
The SOICO Group has put in place an editorial code for all the companys media
organisations, including the two broadcasting stations and O Pais newspaper. The
document attempts to capture the most important principles of freedom of expression
and the press, as well as the right to information as enshrined in the Constitution of
the Republic and the Press Law:
1. SOICO is an independent communication company that integrates diverse
pluralistic media organisations with the main objective of ensuring the publics
right to information;
2. SOICO respects the constitutional rights and duties on Freedom of Expression
and Freedom of Information.
3. SOICO makes a rigorous distinction between news and opinion, and upholds
the right to report on, interpret and relate facts and events freely.
4. SOICO is guided by criteria of journalistic rigour and independence, with
respect to all opinions and beliefs.
5. SOICO respects the protection of independence and protection of sources and
it shall not in any circumstances breach this principle.
6. SOICO upholds the right to express its own opinions in its media organs, on
news events and facts, through editorials, while always fully respecting the
law.
7. SOICO fully complies with the Press Law and the guidelines in this Editorial
Code as well as those emanating from its Management.
124
124 Estatuto Editorial da STV (STV Editorial Policy document).
PROGRAMMING 1 05
TV Miramar operates mainly as a local branch of the Brazilian TV Record company,
and most of its programming comes from its headquarters in So Paulo. The station
policy guidelines are limited to two paragraphs, which read:
TV Miramar is a complete channel that transmits some culture, based on practices
inherited from the customs and traditions in which television is produced in
Brazil.
125
TV Miramar reproduces the attractions broadcast by the Brazilian national TV Record
network as well as some locally produced (Mozambican) programmes. Besides
viewing programmes that are popular in Brazil, TV Miramars audiences can also
view exclusive programmes directed to those living in Mozambique.
2 Programme schedules
Radio Mozambique (RM) broadcasts in 21 languages daily: in Portuguese, the
countrys ofcial language, in 19 national languages and in English.
The National Channel is RMs predominant radio station. It broadcasts fve-minute
news bulletins every hour and ofers a number of current afairs programmes, totaling
three and a half hours per day every weekday:
Jornal da Manh , 06h0008h00 (morning journal). This programme
includes 30 minutes of live debate, called caf da manh (morning cofee)
with a special invited guest speaker, and public participation via sms, e-mail
and telephone. The caf da manh is one of the most popular radio spaces
promoting open citizen participation on governance issues.
RM Jornal , 1st edition, 12h3013h00: This is a general, national mid-day news
and current afairs service that updates listeners on the most recent events of
the day, both national and international. It also includes a selection of main
news stories coming from the stations provincial stations. There are two
further similar updates later in the day:
RM Jornal, 2nd edition , 07h3020h00
Ultimo Jornal , 23h0023h30.
125 http://www.redemiramar.co.mz/empressa.htm
In addition, RMs National Channel broadcasts more than six hours of weekly current
afairs programmes in a variety of formats, from phone-in talk shows to in-depth
interviews and reporting:
Panorama Politico (political panorama): a 60-minute magazine on topical
national political issues.
Questo de Fundo (in-depth analysis): a 60-minute magazine on a selected
burning issue. The programme includes in-depth interviews with leading
public fgures and independent analysts.
Linha Directa (direct line), every Saturday morning: a 120-minute live debate
on a specifc subject of national or international impact. It includes calls-in
from all over the country.
Parlamento (Parliament): a 60-minute programme which focuses on the
weeks main issues debated in parliament. It ofers excerpts of debates and
live broadcasts.
Economia e Desenvolvimento (economy and development): a 60-minute in-depth
magazine on development issues, at national, regional and international level.
This programme also targets listeners involved in small enterprises and the
countrys large informal sector.
Raizes Mocambicanas (Mozambican roots): a 60-minute cultural magazine
programme. It is a combination of news and reports as well as talk elements
on all kinds of Mozambican cultural expressions, including literature, visual
arts, song and dance, and diverse traditional practices and beliefs.
RM Desporto (sports radio): a 20-minute daily programme on national and
international sports events.
Regarding coverage of national and local issues there have been complaints that the
national service of RM tends to be too Maputo centred, and that, for instance, populous
northern provinces like zambzia and Nampula receive too little attention.
126
2.2 television Mozambique
TVM operates a single channel for 24 hours a day. It also has provincial windows
broadcasting up to fve hours a day in Beira, Nampula and zambezia. These windows
ofer daily news services of 15 minutes on local events. The national channel carries general
programming and a considerable amount of daily news and current afairs services:
126 See Luis Loforte, TV e Rdio: uma anlise comparativa, in: MISA-Moambique (2006) Relatrio anual sobre o estado
da liberdade de imprensa, 2005.
PROGRAMMING 1 07
Bom dia Mocambique (Good Morning Mozambique), a daily, 120-minute
morning news and current afairs show, broadcast from 07h0009h00. The
programme seeks to brief viewers on the main ongoing or upcoming national
and international events of the day as well as ofering a weather forecast.
Jornal da Tarde (noon journal), a 15-minute news service.
Jornal Nacional (national journal), the main, 30-minute daily news service
from 20h0020h30.
Ultimo Jornal (late night journal), a 15-minute news wrap-up around 23h00.
TVMs schedule contains a large number of programme slots where a wide range of
issues from current afairs and international politics to legal and health matters to
entertainment and human interest stories are being dealt with in diferent formats,
many of them inviting listener participation.
Espao Pblico (public space): a daily 45-minute live programme on current
afairs. This is one of the most popular, open fora for the audience to express
their opinions on a variety of current issues of national interest.
Ver Mocambique (Mozambique panorama): a 30-minute in-depth reporting
programme fve days a week. It refects a wide spectrum of peoples day-to-
day problems, challenges and achievements as reported and produced by
TVM provincial stations.
Polos de Desenvolvimento (development poles): a 30-minute weekly in-depth
magazine with the main objective of monitoring the implementation of the
governments poverty reduction plan (PARPA). The programme focuses
on development initiatives at district level and refects the viewpoints and
concerns of rural communities in relation to these activities.
Em Defesa da Vida (in defence of life): a weekly 55-minute talk show on
health issues such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria with the aim
to disseminate information on prevention and treatment and mitigate the
impact of HIV/AIDS. The programme also gives space for people living with
AIDS to share their experiences.
Justia e Ordem (justice and order): a weekly 55-minute talk show programme,
in which a leading member of the Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados)
provides expert advice on legal issues in response to concrete problems
afecting ordinary citizens. The programme also deals with general issues
of public interest raised by other media, such as allegations of corruption in
the public administration or misuse of public funds. It takes a pedagogical
approach, seeking to enhance the audiences sense of citizenship.
Quinta a Noite (Thursday evening): a weekly 55-minute talk show where a
number of guests with diferent viewpoints discuss a specifc topic on the
national agenda, such as elections, governance monitoring, civil society
activities and the like. The audience is also invited to participate through
phone calls or sms messages.
Africa Magazine : a weekly 30-minute programme that aims to capture the
most important issues on the continents agenda, from elections to civil wars
and the fght against poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The programme
builds on excerpts from other African TV news reports and invites specialists
to provide comment and interpretation for the beneft of the audience.
A semana (the week): a 30-minute talk show in which guest speakers with
diferent points of view analyse a selected set of topics that have dominated
the countrys agenda during the week.
TVM also broadcasts a number of educational, cultural and childrens programmes:
Telescola (television school): a 15-minute daily talk show that aims to provide
additional support to secondary school students on science subjects, such as
mathematics and physics. The presenter interacts with students by telephone
and sms messages.
Mais Jovem (younger people): a 90-minute youth show with a mix of music,
talk and information on diverse national cultural events.
Prilim-Pim-Pim : a 90-minute childrens talk show on Sundays. The programme
is a mix of childrens live musical performances, talk, games and information.
Mozinhas Talento (small talented hands): a 55-minute childrens programme
that aims to stimulate childrens artistic talent in the felds of painting and
sculpture. The programme is broadcast twice a week.
Mocambique em Concerto (Mozambique concert): a 90-minute cultural
programme, combining live musical performances by Mozambican musicians
with talk show elements and phone-ins from viewers.
Danas e Instrumentos Tradicionais (dances and traditional instruments):
a bi-weekly 30-minute magazine programme that aims to research and
disseminate knowledge on the countrys musical diversity, focusing on
grassroots dances and musical instruments.
Ressonncias (resonances): a 30-minute faith based programme in which
groups representing diferent Christian churches present gospel songs. The
programme is broadcast every Sunday morning.
Moz Jazz : a bi-weekly 90-minute music show in which jazz music
PROGRAMMING 1 09
performances around the world are presented, including short talk segments
with musicians and experts.
The schedule includes three sports programmes throughout the week:
Moambola : a 90-minute programme of national football league matches. It
combines live match broadcasts on Sundays with commentary from reporters
and experts.
Agenda Desportiva (sports agenda): a 30-minute Monday evening programme
with reports on Sundays sport events and talk segments on the weeks
upcoming events.
Bola ao ar (ball on the air): a 55-minute weekly magazine programme of news
and game commentary covering diferent sports codes other than football,
from all over the country.
In addition TVM ofers recreational serials and Brazilian popular soaps, the
telenovelas such as Malhao, a daily 90-minute youth comedy serial that TVM has
been broadcasting for several years now. The show is set in the day-to-day environment
of Brazilian secondary school boys and girls and includes some educational sketches
on youth sexuality, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and the like.
While the programme schedule contains a diversity of genres and formats, the
popularity of some of these oferings is rather questionable. As a rule, the topics
discussed or covered are related to state/government initiatives, including conferences
and national campaigns. For instance, throughout 2009, TVM organised a series of
special programmes focused on the President of the Republic, who opened various
events in Maputo and in the provinces, in connection with long celebrations of the 40th
anniversary of the death of Eduardo Mondlane, the founding president of Frelimo.
These events included extended live transmissions of mass rallies and symposia at
the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre, where the achievements of
Frelimo were celebrated all of this clearly in anticipation of the campaign for the
October 2009 presidential and legislative elections.
Throughout July 2009, TVM also broadcast a series of 55-minute interviews with
government ministers every week, allegedly to question them on the fulfllment of the
governments programme at the end of its fve-year term. Neither the opposition nor
civil society were given space to engage with the 24 ministers who appeared on the
screen during these special programmes.
1 1 0 PUBLI C BROADCASTING IN AFRICA: MOzAMBIqUE
Another problem is that all phone-in talk shows are broadcast from Maputo and
therefore dominated by the countrys limited literate, political and economic elites, or
by young people, thus leaving the interests and concerns of the majority of population
in the rural areas unattended. Also, because of TVMs limited production capacity,
most programmes are repeated at least once during the week, which makes the
stations programming profle monotonous and rather unattractive.
2.3 radio sfM
Radio SFM was launched in 2001 as a youth-centered station. Its programming
mainstay is music. Every hour, the station broadcasts two to three minutes of news
fashes in the form of headlines taken from newspapers, especially Noticias and some
faxed or electronically distributed newssheets. It does not ofer any original news or
current afairs services of its own.
Twice a day (at 11h00 and 19h00) Radio SFM broadcasts 15 minutes of street
reporting focusing on day-to-day events in Maputo city and covering mainly cultural
and entertainment issues such as book or music CD launches or live musical
performances.
2.4 stv
Beginning with the introduction of a new programme schedule in April 2009,
obviously in preparation of the upcoming general elections in October that year, STV
has shifted from its predominantly commercial programming, dominated by song
contests, popular Brazilian soap operas and internet games, to some public interest
orientation. The station now ofers about eleven hours of public interest programming
every week, including news and current afairs services in Portuguese.
The station ofers two news bulletins daily: 30 minutes at 13h00 and 35 minutes
at 19h55 fve minutes before the start of the state broadcaster TVMs main news
service.
The stations public interest oferings include the following:
Estado da Nao (state of the nation): This 90-minute slot is perhaps STVs most
popular talk show programme. It has been designed as a hard talk show devoted to
monitoring governance, in which the anchor confronts a panel of representatives from
public institutions, experts or authoritative specialists with diferent approaches on a
specifc topic with members of the public. The general public panel is made up of any
interested person who wishes to express his/her views on the topic under discussion.
More than 30 people usually participate in each programme, recorded in a cinema
PROGRAMMING 1 1 1
studio. Topics discussed range from elections coverage to cultural policies to public
security and organised crime. Estado da Nao made a signifcant contribution to
voter education during the 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections, by serving
as an open forum for the diferent political parties to engage with the public on their
political manifestos. Some of the STV debates were taken up by newspapers and radio
stations, where the opinions expressed were further discussed.
Pulsar da Nao (pulse of the nation): a 55-minute weekly in-depth reporting
programme focusing on governments 7 million Meticais (the equivalent of about
US$ 300 000) initiative. Through this programme, the government makes annual
cash transfers in that amount to each district to promote rural micro credit for the
fnancing of small income generation and employment creation projects in rural areas.
Pulsar da Nao seeks to monitor the implementation and impact of this initiative.
Palavra de Mulher (womans word): a 55-minute weekly programme that seeks to
empower women through highlighting their achievements in diferent social and
entrepreneurial spheres. By giving active women a platform and a voice to tell their
success stories, STV makes an important shift from the usual womens programmes
approach, where they were too often presented only as passive victims of domestic
violence or of sexual harassment at the work place.
Opinio Pblica (public opinion): a 55-minute daily live discussion programme that
deals with a wide range of subjects afecting peoples lives, mostly issues of social
and cultural interest or practical matters like enrolment processes at the beginning
of the school year, cholera prevention and treatment in the rainy season, prevention
and combating of bush fres in the hot season or responses to natural disasters that
frequently hit the country. Specialists from the diferent felds are invited to provide
information and advice and engage with viewers through telephone calls.
Mocambique em Aco (Mozambique in action): This is a long-running development
communication programme which forms part of the companys corporate social
responsibility initiative. Through this project, the station promotes social mobilisation
around a range of activities such as the planting of fruit trees in schools, campaigns
to promote the registration and vaccination of children, environmental education, the
voluntary cleaning and painting of degraded buildings, etc. The activities are covered
extensively in the form of pre-recorded programmes of between 15 and 30 minutes.
Fest Coros (choir festival): gospel song contests involving thousands of people from
diferent Christian congregations and broadcast live for 55 minutes per show from a
national cultural centre in Maputo. They last for up to three months every year.
2.5 tv Miramar
More than 70 per cent of TV Miramars programming is made up of Brazilian
entertainment content, including dance contests, comedies and live musical
performances.
The station ofers a total of about two hours of news and current afairs daily:
Bom dia Moambique (Good Morning Mozambique) at 08h00: a 55-minute
programme that seeks to brief the audience on the top national and
international news of the day as well as the weather. It includes a morning
media review which basically relays the most relevant news stories from
the countrys daily newspapers, especially Noticias, as well as some faxed
newssheets and the states AIM news agency. The international section is
essentially made up of copy and paste stories from the Brazilian TV Rede
Record, Miramars mother station based in So Paulo.
Miramar Noticias (Miramar news) at 09h00: A 15-minute headline news
service highlighting a selected set of morning events mainly in Maputo.
Jornal da Miramar (Miramar journal) at 18h00: A 30-minute evening service
covering both national and international news. National news and current
afairs are essentially made up of social interest stories, as opposed to those
covering the government agenda or sourced from government ofcials.
These typically include stories on the fuctuation of prices for basic goods in
the informal market, meetings of civil society organisations or the scarcity of
public transport when students leave school in the evening.
Madzungula ya Miramar (Miramar news) at 19h45: This 30-minute evening
news and current afairs service is the frst of its kind in an indigenous
national language (Xi-Rhonga, spoken in Maputo City and Maputo Province)
and is thus a great challenge to state/public TVM, which has not yet
introduced any indigenous language services on its national channels. The
programme is a translated version of Jornal da Miramar with the original
sound bites being sub-titled.
In addition, TV-Miramar carries about three hours of public interest programming
during the week.
Conversando com Matusse (dialogue with Matusse): a 55-minute live programme
every morning from Monday to Friday focusing on public health issues,
including HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The presenter interacts with
PROGRAMMING 1 1 3
the audience via telephone. Here again TV Miramar makes a diference, as it
is the only television station that broadcasts a live phone-in talk show using
Xi-Rhonga. The show attracts mostly mothers in the suburbs of Maputo,
who ask questions and express their views on how the pandemic and other
illnesses afect their lives and that of their families as well as on a variety of
other issues of social interest or general interest, complaints on poor service
ofered by public health institutions, especially hospitals, and the like.
Voz do Povo (peoples voice): a 55-minute live discussion programme twice a
week in the evening on topical political, social and economic issues high on
the countrys agenda. This also includes phone-ins from the audience.
Perguntas e Respostas (questions and answers): a daily 55-minute live
edutainment programme in which specialists provide legal or medical
advice in response to questions sent in by the audience.
Passando a Limpo (making it clearer): a 30-minute live debate on Sunday
evening with independent analysts and commentators who present contending
views on some of the major events of the past week. This programme was
initially broadcast on TVM under the title A Semana (the week) and started
during the 2009 general election campaign. In September 2009 the group
of commentators decided to ofer their services to TV Miramar instead, in
protest against TVMs decision to cut the programme down to 15 minutes,
allegedly to give space to European Championship football matches.
3 News and current affairs
For the purposes of this survey the main news and current afairs programmes on
Radio and Television Mozambique as well as on commercial stations STV and TV
Miramar were monitored over a week each in April and May 2009. Looking at the
topics covered, the kinds of sources used and the sequencing of items will allow for
a more informed assessment of the nature of these programmes and the weight they
give to professional criteria of newsworthiness, diversity and independence.
RM-Jornal, Evening Edition (19h3020h00 daily) is RMs second most important news
and current afairs service (after the two-hour long morning journal) and was chosen
for this assessment as the format most easily comparable to that of other stations. The
programme covers national and international stories political, economic, social and
cultural. It starts of with a fve-minute national and international news summary,
followed by a 25-minute current afairs service with sound bites and contributions
from the provincial stations, and ends with sports news.
Items on or related to ofcial institutions such as government, parliament, the
ruling party, opposition parties, the security forces (military/police), the judiciary
and the courts feature most prominently. In the week under review stories relating
to government accounted for 15 per cent and those on parliament for just under 10
per cent. About 8 per cent of stories dealt with civil society organisations. Coverage
of opposition parties constituted just 2 per cent of stories.
127
Stories on individual
citizens make up a signifcant percentage up to 25 per cent of RMs news coverage,
especially on social issues of relevance to local communities, which are fed into the
national channel by RMs provincial stations.
Generally, RM news and current afairs services follow a standardised model with a
predictable sequence: (1.) National government activities or related news. This includes
the ofcial agenda of the President of the Republic and activities of cabinet members.
(2.) Provincial government activities or related news. (3.) Topics of national impact,
related to poverty/development, public health, agricultural production, education and
others. (4.) Events of cultural interest, such as festivals, concerts, book launches and
others. And fnally, (5.) Sports news. The two last mentioned categories usually make
up less than 10 per cent of overall content.
The evening Jornal contains seven to eight items of two to three minutes duration
each, with an intro read out by the editor/presenter. Reporters/writers present their
own stories, which are generally pre-recorded and include sound bites from the
diferent sources or interviewees. The provincial stations are kept online for the
duration of the programme and this allows local contributors to interact with the editor
and report their stories live on air.
In some cases, the Jornal includes brief live interviews with experts in the studio
or from any provincial delegation or a conference venue. Commentators may also be
invited to give their views on a controversial topic.
RM reporters try to present contextualised stories, either through providing
background information or by airing contending views with sound bites. Reporters
and editors also make analytical comments on controversial issues, especially where
prejudice, ignorance or harmful beliefs are involved. For example, a reporter from the
zambezia provincial station produced an in-depth report on the killing of three people
127 It should be noted that opposition parties in Mozambique up to now has meant basically Renamo, as the rest of the
opposition political parties have only been active for less then two months during electoral periods.
PROGRAMMING 1 1 5
accused by neighbouring villagers of locking up the rain.
128
Such views are rooted
in ancient African beliefs. In his interview with the people concerned, the reporter
pedagogically led them to understand that rainfall does not depend on a persons will,
and that their behaviour was criminal.
3.2 tvM
TVMs main news bulletin Jornal Nacional (20h0020h30) has a very similar
structure: seven or eight stories of about three minutes each, including sound bites,
with the presenter doing the intros and each reporter presenting his/her report. The
programme is dominated by coverage of the activities of the President of the Republic,
government ministers, provincial governors and other ofcials. These stories are
covered as separate items and are invariably placed at the top of the line-up, in strictly
hierarchical sequence: the President of the Republic, government ministers, provincial
governors and other government ofcials. Such stories account for approximately 35
per cent of all Jornal Nacional air time. During the week under review, for example,
the state president was covered every day as were 12 government ministers, provincial
directors and district administrators, all in separate items, either delivering speeches
or launching public services campaigns.
The ruling party (Frelimo) was in second position in regard to both quantity and
order of placement of stories in the programme, occupying 5 per cent of the journals
time, followed by parliament with 1 per cent. Civil society organisations also accounted
for 1 per cent of airtime. No news or voices from the opposition parties were aired
during the week monitored.
The journal also includes news on cultural and sports events, which usually make
up between 5 and 7 per cent of total air time. News on ordinary people, other than
those related to cultural and sports events, is rarely reported. On average, 15 to 25 per
cent of air time is used for advertisements (fve to seven spots).
Most stories are poorly edited, especially speeches by government ofcials. TVM
reporters rarely give adequate context and background information or provide space
for contending views, so as to give the audience a broader understanding of the
reported subject.
128 As result of severe hunger caused by prolonged droughts, local people in Nicoadala district in zambezia Province are
accusing the state of locking up the rain and only giving it to better of farmers. In mid-February three people were
killed and six injured after being accused of diverting the rain. One farmer was quoted by the Sunday newspaper
Domingo as saying: In the farm over there, something is growing, but on mine, nothing. How is it that my neighbour
can eat and I cant?
3.3 stv and tv Miramar
STVs and TV Miramars main evening news services both focus on human interest
stories such as crime, sexual transgressions or any other type of social misconduct.
Both stations open their news bulletins by calling the viewers attention to a
news story with a popular appeal, to be developed later on during the programme.
Next comes a summary of the news of the day as national and international news
headlines.
During the week monitored in April 2009, news and current afairs sources
distribution for TV Miramar was as follows: 48 per cent of the reported news stories
were based on ordinary people as primary sources of information. This includes daily
occurrences in the suburbs of Maputo, such as street crimes, car accidents and trafc
jams. News stories originating from or on government and parliament accounted
for 16 per cent of overall news time and those originated from or on civil society
organisations 24 per cent. Two per cent of total news time were dedicated to stories
about the opposition parties. Although with slight variations, STV followed basically
the same distribution pattern: 43 per cent from or on ordinary people, 25 per cent from
or on government and parliament, 19 per cent from or on civil society organisations.
Stories from or on opposition parties made up 13 per cent of total news time.
A typical top news story on both STV and Miramar was the one on a man who
allegedly raped three young boys in one of Maputos most populous suburbs poorly
researched, with no evidence to support the rape allegation. For several days, STV
explored a dispute between a church and two of its pastors who had been expelled
from the congregation and left homeless after serving for 15 years. Each day, the story
was followed-up as a national human drama, with details on the reporters various
unsuccessful attempts to hear the church leaders explanation for their decision as
well lawyers opinions.
In general, the stories on both stations are rather unbalanced. The justifcation
that attempts to hear the other side of the story were unsuccessful is common
practice where a person or institution is accused of any malpractice but not granted
an opportunity to defend themselves. For example, in the case of a judicial dispute
over a house, STV extensively reported the opinions of a family that had been ordered
to leave the house. The family spokesperson accused the magistrate of corruption,
alleging that he had received money to infuence his decision. The story ended with
the reporter on camera in front of the magistrates house, saying that his eforts to hear
him did not succeed.
PROGRAMMING 1 1 7
4 Audience research
In February 2009 the Steadman Group conducted a large-scale study of audience
behaviour and attitudes towards radio and television broadcasters in Mozambique,
with a sample size of 1 200.
129
According to the research, 92 per cent of households own a radio and 44 per cent a
colour television set. Forty-nine per cent of respondents own a mobile phone, with the
majority in the urban areas (76 per cent) compared to 27 per cent in the rural areas.
Twelve per cent of the households surveyed have access to a computer (25 per cent in
urban, 7 per cent in rural areas).
Ninety-two per cent of the respondents listened to radio yesterday or during the
past seven days compared to 55 per cent for television. The fgure for newspapers is
only 27 per cent.
When asked for their main sources of information, 70 per cent cited radio, 45 per
cent television, 8 per cent newspapers and 2 per cent the internet.
4.1 radio
Eighty-nine per cent of the respondents mentioned local news as the type of
programme they mostly listen to on radio, followed by local music (58 per cent).
Health programmes and African news also have a signifcant audience of 50 per
cent and 52 per cent respectively. Asked about the kind of programmes they would like
to listen to more, 59 per cent mentioned local news, 30 per cent local music and 31
per cent health programmes.
When asked what subject matter they would like hear more about on radio, 75 per
cent of the listeners mentioned education, 64 per cent health and well-being, 52 per
cent the environment, 44 per cent childrens issues and 43 per cent womens issues.
43 per cent of the respondents strongly agree or somewhat agree with the view
that state radio stations are independent from the government, i.e. programming
content is not infuenced by the government of the day, compared to 51 per cent for
commercial broadcasters.
When asked whether they strongly or somewhat agree with the statement that
radio stations provide accurate information that I trust and believe, 57 per cent of
respondents replied in the afrmative in regard to state radios, compared with 62 per
cent for commercial radios.
129 The Steadman Group, Audience Research Survey, Mozambique, Kampala, August 2009.
4.2 television
Respondents were asked to indicate their favourite TV stations regardless of whether
these were public or commercial/private. The state TVM was named by the majority,
36 per cent, followed by the most well-known commercial TV stations STV-SOICO TV
(14 per cent) and TV Miramar (3 per cent). Forty-two per cent either did not answer the
question (due to a lack of TV reception) or had no favourite station.
Local news tops the favourite programmes on television with more than 60 per
cent of respondents listing them as such, followed by local music (40 per cent) and
international news (38 per cent).
5 Feedback and complaints procedures
Neither RM nor TVM have any formal procedures in place to encourage and facilitate
feedback and to deal with complaints or suggestions from the audience. Over the past
few years, though, both RM and TVM have organised sporadic and informal public
opinion consultations in one form or another.
RM, for example, has established an annual public opinion consultation forum, the
Seminarios de Linguistica e Radiodifuso (seminars on language and broadcasting)
where practitioners and invited scholars discuss the status of and trends in the national
broadcasting sector. On some occasions, sister broadcasters from other Lusophone
African countries are invited, in particular Angola and Cape Verde, to share their
own experiences with Mozambican colleagues. However, these seminars tend to be
mere public relations exercises, since their conclusions and recommendations are not
binding on the stations programming policies.
When preparing a new annual programme grid, RM also organises live discussion
panels made up of selected active listeners, combined with phone-in contributions,
where listeners express their views and suggest topics for the next programming
year. The active listeners group is made up of a list of the most frequent phone-in
programme callers and members of a few selected civil society organisations, and thus
heavily skewed towards Maputo-based listeners.
In the case of television a Forum TVM is held in preparation of the stations new
annual programme schedule, usually in February. There are no objective criteria for
the selection of guests who are expected to represent and voice the audiences views,
and again their suggestions and recommendations are not binding.
PROGRAMMING 1 1 9
In general, the programme outputs of Radio Mozambique fulfll one of the main
objectives of public broadcasting by providing a wide range of information and ideas
from various sectors of society and credible fora for democratic debate. Opening up
their channels for listeners and viewers to take part in discussions by sms and email
(via cell phones) allows audiences in remote areas not yet covered by the landline
telephone network to also express their views.
RMs live debate programmes such as the morning show Caf da Manh and
Saturdays Linha Directa, where the public is encouraged to engage with government
and other national fgures and opinion leaders, contribute to the free fow information
and ideas and help to create a sense of citizenship.
Television Mozambiques news and current afairs programmes, on the other
hand, are dominated by coverage of the activities and points of view of government,
thus fuelling the perception that TVM is not a public broadcaster but a mouthpiece of
government.
Mozambiques leading commercial television stations are mainly entertainments
stations. The law does not prescribe any public interest programming obligations for
commercial broadcasters or require them to carry a minimum percentage of locally
produced content. As a result they often prefer to purchase foreign programmes at
a cheaper cost rather than producing material in-house or commissioning it from
independent local producers.
While they do ofer a signifcant amount of news, current afairs and other public
interest programmes, their news and current afairs services tend to be biased,
unbalanced and superfcial. In many cases, the stories presented are poorly researched,
with an exaggerated emphasis on human drama and aimed at attracting audiences.
recommendations
As recommended in chapter 6, a new public broadcasting law should be
passed to transform RM and TVM into real public broadcasters.
A broad consultation process should be initiated to develop guidelines or
regulations to promote a wide range of content that serves the needs and
interests of diferent audiences. Media content, in particular that of television
stations and commercial radio stations, should address the interests not only
of urban elites, but also of the urban and rural poor, minorities and other
marginalised groups.
In general, public broadcasters should introduce more informative
programmes with in-depth reporting rather than only studio-based debates
with invited specialists. Such programmes should tackle subjects such as
poverty/development challenges, governance and citizenship. Edutainment
programmes in the form of general knowledge contests could also be
introduced targeting mainly secondary school students and teenagers.
TVM in particular should refect the interests and needs of all segments
of society. It also must urgently introduce more national languages in its
programming and further expand its footprint in the provinces.
RM should expand its coverage of national and local issues from its present
narrow Maputo-centred focus to the rest of the country, for example the
populous northern provinces of zambzia and Nampula.
Editorial guidelines provided for in the founding legislation for RM and TVM
as well as the guarantee of editorial independence contained in the Press Law
should be put into practice.
TVM should develop a code of professional and ethical standards.
Civil society should set up mechanisms to monitor the adherence of RM and
TVM to their own guidelines and public broadcasting principles.
Both RM and TVM should establish a system to enable the public to complain
about breaches of such codes.
Policies should be developed on incentives for commercial television
stations to produce more programmes of public interest. To this end the
new broadcasting legislation should establish public interest programme
requirements for commercial broadcasters and make provision for dedicated
public grants and subsidies in order to promote a greater diversity of services
and encourage programming of public interest. Such monies should be
allocated according to set criteria, following a fair and transparent process
overseen by an independent body.
9
Perceptions of and Expectations towards
RM and TVM
1 Civil society
In the course of this survey representatives from the following civil society organisations
(CSOs) were interviewed: the Observatorio Eleitoral (elections observer body), a
coalition of seven CSOs that has been monitoring national and regional electoral
processes since 2003; the Christian Council of Mozambique, a network of 18
evangelical churches which, together with the Catholic Church, have been active in
the peace process and post-confict reconciliation in the country; the Group-20 (G20),
a platform of the countrys most representative CSOs; as well as the countrys two
most active media organisations: the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and MISA-
Mozambique. Independent analysts and media experts were also interviewed.
In general, CSOs make a clear distinction between Radio Mozambique (RM) and
Television Mozambique (TVM). They regard RM as fairly balanced and generally
independent from political or commercial infuences, while TVM in their view is
under visible government control.
For example, Sheik Abdul Carimo,
130
vice-chair of the Islamic Council of
Mozambique and spokesperson for the Observatorio Eleitoral, considered RMs
editorial policy as balanced and inclusive, since the broadcaster often features live
debates on diverse public interest topics with the participation of opposition parties, the
130 Interviewed by the author in April 2009 in Maputo.
ruling party and representatives from diferent civil society organisations. In contrast
to RM, there is a strong political control and censorship on TVM. This, he says, is
refected both in the type of topics selected for open debates and the people invited to
participate. He also considered TVMs programming to be targeted at urban elites,
with little content of interest for ordinary citizens. Sheik Karimo also expressed his
concern over TVMs programming policy on religious issues. He mentioned TVMs
religious programmes such as Ressonancias (in which Christian churches present
gospel songs) as well as the stations live religious service transmissions at Christmas:
As a public station, TVM should not favour one religion and ignore others.
Reverend Dinis Matsolo,
131
general secretary of the Christian Council of Mozambique
(CCM), said the state/public broadcasters still refect most of the countrys recent past
of a single party regime. He also made a clear distinction between RM and TVM, and
considered RM a source of pride for Mozambique because of the quality of its services
and for reaching those communities living in the most remote areas of the country.
By covering the daily lives of rural communities, RM counters the tendency of most
other media to cover predominantly the activities of public fgures. In his view RM is
a real Mozambican radio station which also strives to value the national culture and
traditions. TVM on the other hand, he said, still needs to improve its programming
as a public broadcaster, because it is dominated by externally produced material or
events. We are very critical in this regard, as we do not see much national content on
TVM. A point of concern is the preponderance of popular Brazilian soap operas: We
are worried that these telenovelas do not ensure protection of children and youth and
family values.
The executive director of the G20 and member of the National Electoral Commission,
Paulo Cuinica,
132
also said that the state/public broadcasters in Mozambique are still
concentrating too much on covering the activities of public fgures. In his view there
is too much coverage of political speeches rather than reporting on general public
interest issues. He praised RM, however, for promoting live debates where CSOs
and individual citizens can express their views on a diverse range of topics. These
programmes, he said, greatly contribute to the creation of a sense of citizenship, by
giving people space to discuss burning national issues openly among themselves and
with government or parliamentary representatives: When people can participate in
live debates through telephone calls it means there is no censorship, no editing .
Faruco Sadique,
133
a media expert with extended working experience in the feld
of community radios and community multimedia centres in Mozambique, said that
131 Ibid.
132 Ibid.
133 Interviewed by the author in Maputo in July 2009.
PERCEPTIONS OF AND EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS RM AND TVM 1 23
one important limitation that TVM needs to overcome urgently is the stations very
limited use of national languages. Only three of these (Xindau, Xisena and Emakwa)
feature for a mere ten to 15 minutes daily in the news and current afairs services of the
stations windows in Beira and Nampula. In his view, the nation does not see itself
on TVMs news and current afairs services as well as in its general programming, as
these services are essentially restricted to events occurring in Maputo: Only children
from Maputo can be seen on TVMs childrens programmes. Children from Niassa
or Sofala Province are also Mozambican children. TVM urgently needed to further
expand its signal and the production capacity of its provincial stations.
Sadique also criticised TVMs editorial policies, especially in regard to news and
current afairs services, which covered mostly ofcial events and the appearances of
public fgures: Any activity that the President of the Republic undertakes is a lead
story for TVMs Journal Seminars, workshops, conferences and other ofcial or
bureaucratic events are all that TVM shows on its journals and there is very little on
ordinary peoples lives.
Carlos Jeque,
134
an independent political analyst, said that the public broadcasting
service in Mozambique is generally weak, in spite of the laws and related policies
governing the sector, which he classifed as positive. In particular he criticised TVM
which, he said, has declined dramatically over the last fve to seven years and lost
credibility and audiences to recently created private TV stations. In his words, TVM is
too concerned with pleasing the government and the stations present image is that
of a disorganised company, which lacks clear strategy and leadership as well team
spirit.
2 Government and other political players
From the governments point of view the state/public broadcasters have been playing
their role as public service providers in a positive and balanced manner. According to
Jordo Domingos, head of the information department at GABINFO,
135
both RM and
TVM are running in the right direction. In particular, he said, RMs programming
ofered variety and sought to cater for the interests of a diversifed public, be it from a
political, religious or social perspective. He conceded that TVMs programming was
less varied and said this was due to its high operational costs. TVMs single national
channel was not enough to ensure programming of wide public interest. Whenever
TVM decides to make live transmissions from parliament, it leaves the audience
134 Interviewed by the author in Beira in July 2009.
135 Interviewed by the author in Maputo in May 2009.
with no alternatives in programming choice, sometimes for more than two hours.
Domingos was also very critical of the quality of news and current afairs services
on TVM. In his view, the language quality is poor, and in most cases the news items
are broadcast in their raw form: Reporters fail to interpret or to provide clear context
for the information they are transmitting to a diversifed public. By doing so they
fail in their objective, which is to impart knowledge, especially when using technical
expressions such as infation and fnancial crisis.
Eduardo Namburete,
136
Renamos spokesperson in parliament, was of the view that
in Mozambique there is no public broadcasting system, only two separate and diferent
state/public broadcasters, RM and TVM. While RM was progressively becoming
a credible public broadcaster, he expressed the fear that the recent reshufing of
the stations management structures could be a prelude to tough political control.
Regarding TVM, he stressed that this was already happening, with very tight control
exercised by the [Frelimo] party.
According to Mr. Namburete the notion of public interest has still not been
incorporated into the programming schedules of the two national broadcasters. One
structural reason for this, he said, was the way in which the stations management
structures were created: by a discretionary decision of the prime minister. That
was why the voice of the opposition could hardly be heard on these broadcasters. He
said more regular public interest programming was needed, so that the opinions
of women, people living with HIV/AIDS, members of opposition parties with no
parliamentary seat and other social groups can also be heard.
He proposed that the modalities adopted for the constitution of a civil society-
dominated Electoral Commission (see details in chapter 1) also be used for the
nomination of state/public broadcasting management structures.
3 Conclusions
Most civil society groups and the opposition regard TVM as a government-controlled
broadcaster that focuses mainly on ofcial events and the activities of public fgures
and does not refect the diferent ideas, beliefs and interests of the nations diverse
social, political and cultural sectors in a balanced manner. In particular, TVM is
criticised for failing to ofer programming that is both of wide public interest and
attuned to the needs of the countrys rural communities.
In contrast, RM is seen as a generally reliable forum for broad public discussion
136 Interviewed by the author in Maputo in April 2009.
PERCEPTIONS OF AND EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS RM AND TVM 1 25
with pluralistic and varied programming that seeks to respond to the interests of
a diversifed audience by providing useful educational, cultural, informational and
recreational programmes throughout the whole country.
10
Broadcasting Reform Eforts
Mozambiques legal, policy and regulatory media framework ranging from the
Constitution to Press Law and specifc government decrees for the broadcasting sector
is generally favourable for the development of a pluralistic broadcasting industry.
However the existing Press Law is essentially print media oriented and does not
address crucial areas specifc to the broadcast media. These include the need for a
clear, formal recognition of the three-tier broadcasting system (public, commercial and
community), and for the creation of an independent regulatory body as called for in the
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted in 2002 by the
African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and in the African Declaration
on Broadcasting. Also, with the countrys broadcasting industry having expanded
signifcantly over the last 15 years, this has created new realities and challenges that
are substantially diferent from those of 1991 when the Press Law was formulated and
adopted.
1 Drafting of a new broadcasting law
In response to these challenges, the government began preparations for the drafting of a
broadcasting law in 2007, the frst of its kind since the countrys independence in 1975.
The state president announced the launch of the drafting process in a speech in November
2007 and called upon the countrys media bodies the National Union of Journalists
(SNJ), the National Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM), MISA Mozambique and
the Association of Media Companies (AEJ) to take an active role in the development
of the new legislation. The Government Information Bureau (GABINFO) was to lead
the consultation process between these organisations and the Supreme Council for the
Media (CSCS) and the National Communications Institute (INCM).
The frst step was the creation of a small technical working commission to defne
the terms of reference that would guide the drafting process, including a clear scope
of work and time frame.
At the outset MISAs representatives in the working commission submitted a
technical proposal which outlined the main issues to be discussed and included in the
terms of reference. These were:
(i) drawing up a register of all broadcasters and broadcasting institutions in the
country so as to allow for a clear and common understanding of the current
status of the broadcasting landscape in Mozambique;
(ii) developing a common understanding of the principles of broadcasting
legislation, as established by relevant regional and international legislation and
bodies, including the SADC and the African Union (AU);
(iii) in particular, this common understanding was to include a recognition of
the three-tier broadcasting system as advocated by the African Declaration
on Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa, namely public, private/
commercial and community broadcasting;
(iv) defning policy principles on independent regulatory mechanisms or entities
and on management and funding modalities for the public broadcasting sub-
sector.
(v) introducing the principle of minimum quotas for local content programmes.
No further proposals were presented by the any of the other organisations sitting on
the technical working commission.
GABINFOs representatives, however, showed no interest in MISAs proposals.
They alleged that the working commission had no mandate to discuss issues related
to state/public broadcasting, and that specifc legislation regulating this sector had
already been put in place in 1994, when the government decided to transform the
former government-controlled RM and TVM into public broadcasters. Government
representatives also did not ofer any clearly defned broadcasting policies or alternative
approaches at these early meetings. As a result, the discussions deadlocked soon after
they had started.
After a long delay GABINFO eventually came up with new draft terms of reference
in April 2009, which took on board most of the principles and main policy and
regulatory guidelines laid down by the African institutions named above. This draft,
however, has never been formally approved by the working commission.
BROADCASTING REFORM EFFORTS 1 29
Nonetheless, based on this draft GABINFO decided to develop a comprehensive
discussion document, entitled Preliminary document of the Technical Working
Commission on the drafting of the Terms of Reference for Radio and Television Law.
The document describes broadcasting regulation in democratic societies as
envisaging essentially the following objectives:
(i) the reinforcement and deepening of the democratic process;
(ii) the protection and promotion of national culture, in response to cultural
globalisation to which it is subject;
(iii) the protection of consumers;
(iv) the development of the national economy and the protection of the broadcasting
sector.
It argues that the frequency spectrum is a scarce and valuable resource and says
that even in the present digital era, where there is more space for radio and television
channels, there is no infnite availability. Therefore it is reasonable that the State, as
the owner of the frequencies, should establish obligations for the operators who want
to use them.
The document outlines objectives for the licensing of broadcasting services as
follows:
Ensuring uniformity in the procedures for the selection of operators;
Ensuring an expedited and transparent process;
Simplifying bureaucratic procedures;
Regulating the content of programmes;
Applying fair and transparent criteria in the selection of operators in order to
promote media pluralism and diversity.
137
The document adds that the current licensing process has allowed for the diversifcation
of radio and TV operators from the public, commercial and community broadcasting
sectors. However, with a few exceptions, the quality of their programming is mediocre
and they are not economically viable.
138
Because the countrys advertising market
is small and may not be able to sustain a large broadcasting industry, the collapse of
some stations is foreseeable, the document adds.
Against this background, the draft proposes two ways in which broadcasters could
have access to the airwaves:
137 Documento Preliminar do Grupo Restrito sobre a Elaboracao dos Termos de Referencia da Lei de Radio e de Televisao,
GABINFO, Fev. 2008, Maputo, p. 8.
138 Documento Preliminar, p. 9.
a) Through a licence application, with licences to be allocated through public
tender and following requests from interested parties. Licensing is to apply for
the utilisation of the terrestrial hertzian spectrum. Public service broadcasters
are excluded from this procedure.
b) Through authorisation to be given to operators that do not use the terrestrial
hertzian spectrum or to an operator already authorised to perform the role of
a broadcaster.
The document calls for regulation to uphold the following principles:
1:a:spa:c:c i: t|c a||ocatio: o :couc:cics.
Louit a:o p|u:a|is: o: t|c oic:c:t opc:ato:s.
Mccti:g t|c :ca| :ccos o :aoio a:o tc|cvisio: sc:viccs as wc|| as |c|pi:g to
ensure their economic and fnancial sustainability;
With regard to ownership formats the document recognises the need to introduce
clear defnitions of the various sectors of broadcasting and says that the majority of
countries have adopted the following types of radio and television services:
a) Public service broadcasting usually fnanced partially or totally by the
state based upon a concessionary contract, with a view to ensuring quality
programming that is balanced and diversifed and that contributes to the
cultural and civic development of the citizens, promoting political, religious,
social and cultural pluralism and diversity and access to information for all,
culture, education and entertainment.
b) Commercial broadcasting which is primarily for proft;
c) Community service broadcasting with the following characteristics:
It is totally under the control of a not-for-proft entity;
serves a particular community;
encourages the members of the community it serves to promote their
interests in the programmes broadcast by the station;
may be funded through donations, government subsidies, sponsorships,
advertisements or contributions from members.
On the issue of ownership of broadcasting services by political parties and religious
organisations the document has this to say:
o|itica| o:ga:isatio:s wit| a vicw to c:su:i:g i:pa:tia|it a:o po|itica| ba|a:cc
BROADCASTING REFORM EFFORTS 1 3 1
in the media, most countries forbid political parties and commercial groups
from owning broadcasting licences. In the case of Mozambique, where there
is a large proliferation of political parties, it would be very diffcult to allocate
frequencies to all parties since this is a scarce public resource;
\it| :cga:o to :c|igious o:ga:isatio:s. t|c:c a:c :o |i:itatio:s to b:oaocasti:g
licences for such operators in most countries, but these are generally
considered community services, and must therefore also be structured as not-
for-proft services.
The document criticises the fact that current regulation does not require the
presentation of a study indicating how the station is to ensure its economic and
fnancial viability, and argues that this has led to a proliferation of radio and TV
stations which may not survive.
To ensure that only broadcasters with the potential for economic and fnancial
sustainability will be granted a licence, the following limitation mechanisms should
be considered:
1. the setting of a minimum amount of capital input for the different types of
ownership and geographical coverage as a pre-condition for receiving a licence;
2. the presentation of a feasibility study.
In a chapter on Regulation and monitoring the document demands that some
principles that broadcasting services in all sectors should adhere to should be
entrenched and clarifed.
139
These include the protection of children, the protection
of privacy which should be balanced with the publics right to information, taking
a stance against crime and disorder (prevent radio and television stations from
becoming apologists for the practice of crimes or disorder) and against racism and
ethnic discrimination.
Under the heading Defence of democratic principles the document says:
a) News has to be accurate, precise and politically impartial. Impartiality does
not mean the absence of opinion or open debate. A healthy democracy needs
a mass media that is credible and presents facts in a balanced manner and
with objectivity, so that citizens can draw their own conclusions. News requires
balance that derives from the plurality of the opinions transmitted.
b) Bearing in mind that the majority of the population receives frst hand
information on election campaigns through radio and television, it is imperative
that media operators observe balanced conduct during election periods. The
regulator shall establish rules to ensure this and shall monitor the performance
of operators.
c) The right to reply and appeal when the rights of individuals and organisations
have been violated should be respected.
The document recommends that national content quotas be introduced in support
of the protection and promotion of local cultural values, and this should include
the defnition of the languages the stations should use, particularly in public and
community service broadcasting.
The document emphasises that no censorship of any form should be allowed.
Monitoring mechanisms should only monitor adherence to licence conditions and
introduce fair systems to facilitate public complaints, based on self-regulation by
content producing entities (consisting of editorial guidelines, recording and archive
systems and codes of ethics).
Regulatory mechanisms for the mass media, the document says, require a balanced
approach to ensure that regulation is done in a manner that protects the rights of
citizens and prevents powerful interest groups from blocking other peoples freedoms.
Regulation should be a guiding light and practised as minimalistically as possible,
but must also be robust enough to support the basic concept of freedom of expression,
which is a pre-requisite for an efective democracy. To support its argument for an
independent broadcasting regulator, the document cites chapter VII of the Declaration
of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, which establishes that:
1. Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or
telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately
protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature.
2. The appointments process for members of a regulatory body should be open
and transparent, involve the participation of civil society, and shall not be
controlled by any particular political party.
3. Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or
telecommunications should be formally accountable to the public through a
multi-party body.
Appropriate delegation of responsibilities to an independent regulator ensures the
credibility of the licensing process as well as the governments distance from the potential
political agitation that can be associated with the granting of licences.
140
Drawing on the
example of South Africa, Botswana, zambia and Portugal, the preliminary document
concludes that the public administration is left with the responsibility of planning
and allocating frequencies while the government produces the necessary policy and
legislation and ensures that the regulatory entity is adequately funded.
The existing regulatory entity, the Supreme Council for the Media (see chapter 5),
is a constitutional body. The creation of an independent regulatory entity therefore
would require a constitutional amendment, which, the draft says, cannot be done in
the short and medium term. With respect to the present constitutional framework,
the document suggests that:
1. The Supreme Council for the Media be granted additional competencies to:
a) scrutinise and monitor the terms and conditions according to which
licences are granted [removing this task from GABINFO];
b) administer sanctions and penalties arising from violations [removing
these tasks from GABINFO and the INCM];
c) be consulted on the launch of public tenders for the granting of licences;
d) lead the process for the appointment of Directors-General of public
media companies [removing this task from GABINFO].
For these new tasks to be adequately carried out by the council, the document
recommends that the process through which members of the CSCS are appointed be
revised to ensure that the institution is more operational, less political and free from
conficts of interest.
GABINFO should launch public tenders and grant licences (removing this task
from the Council of Ministers).
The National Institute of Communications (which verifes technical information
submitted by operators applying for licences, such as radiation studies) should retain
its competencies.
Following publication of the preliminary document GABINFO launched a public
tender calling for a number of selected research institutions to submit technical
proposals for the preparation of a draft broadcasting law. Professional media bodies
like MISA-Mozambique and the National Union of Journalists were not involved in
the process. The Faculty of Law of Eduardo Mondlane University won the tender in
May 2009 and started working on the preparation of the draft broadcasting law. The
Technical Working Commission is supposed to base its future discussions on this frst
draft. The deliberations were expected to gain momentum after the parliamentary and
presidential elections in October 2009.
2 The Draft Radio and Television Bill
In May 2010, GABINFO published a Draft Radio and Television Bill which in large
part is not in line with the principles in the Preliminary Document.
In its section 90 the bill gives the exclusive right to license public and private
channels of television to the Council of Ministers, while GABINFO, a government
department, is to be responsible for licensing community broadcasters. These
provisions do not comply with clause VII of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom
of Expression in Africa which guarantees the independence of regulatory authorities
and is cited in the Preliminary Document as a guiding standard.
Section 92 empowers the Supreme Council for the Media to issue compulsory
general instructions for broadcasters to guarantee the respect and fulfllment of the
legislation in the area of radio and television and to decide on complaints in regard
to broadcasting services. This section thus makes it possible for a statutory body to
interfere with the editorial independence of broadcasters.
In its section 8 the draft bill classifes broadcasters according to their ownership as:
public; private; community-based; religious; national; foreign without defning these
in any detail. Some of these categories are sufciently distinct or mutually exclusive: Is
Radio Mozambique, for example, to be classifed as public or national or both?
In addition the draft bill introduces classifcation by goal (section 9):
a. Commercial broadcasting services: those whose programmes are aimed
at entertainment and leisure, as well as the discussion of news, within the
framework of goals and principles that guide the service;
b. Educational broadcasting services: those whose programmes are essentially
aimed at the promotion of education, culture and sport, as well as the
formation of people;
141
c. Community broadcasting services: those services whose stations are located
in communities. Their programming is aimed at strengthening national and
regional integration.
These defnitions raise quite a number of questions, among them:
141 Classifying a broadcasting service as educational should not be used to substitute public service broadcasting, as
commercial broadcasters can also broadcast educational services.
Why is the aim of commercial broadcasting restricted to entertainment and
leisure with discussion of news as a kind of afterthought? Why should
they not also aim at broadcasting news bulletins, edutainment programmes,
cultural oferings and so on? Who will determine the framework of goals
and principles to guide the service?
Which of the existing broadcasting services would qualify as educational?
What is the rationale behind introducing such a category? These questions
are even more relevant given the fact that section 6 of the bill provides for the
state to give priority to educational broadcasting services.
If community broadcasting services are defned as serving the communities
in which they are located: why then are they supposed to strengthen national
and regional integration?
Section 15(2) limits foreign ownerhip in broadcasting to 20 per cent at the most. There
has not been much debate on this issue, although more foreign investment would
be needed to allow for the further development and expansion of the broadcasting
industry, including the introduction of the latest technologies.
Section 66 provides for a fnancing system for public broadcasting that is similar
to the one currently in place.
The inclusive way in which the reform process was launched, with the state president
calling for the active involvement of civil society and media organisations as well as
the relevant government entities concerned, indicates that the political/societal climate
regarding opportunities for reform in the broadcasting sector in general and public
broadcasting in particular is by and large positive and encouraging.
In the early stages of discussions within the Technical Working Commission the
Information Bureau (GABINFO) revealed a lack of government policy direction in
relation to reform of the broadcasting sector and public broadcasting in particular.
This, unfortunately, led to the temporary side-lining of civil society and media bodies
while government developed its own policy paper. However, the principles expressed
in this preliminary document which was expected to serve as a basis for the faculty
of law at the Eduardo Mondlane University to prepare a draft broadcasting law,
represented a positive starting point for further debate. They provide clear guidelines
on a signifcant number of crucial issues, from the actual process of licensing to
content production and monitoring systems as well as independent regulatory bodies,
all based on the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
Unfortunately, the draft bill presented in May 2010 ignores most of the guidelines
contained in the governments policy paper.
It is therefore recommended that media organisations such as MISA-Mozambique,
the National Union of Journalists (SNJ), and the National Forum of Community Radio
(FORCOM) together with other civil society bodies such as the Centre for Public
Integrity and the Mozambican Human Rights League should:
Thoroughly analyse the new draft Television and Radio Bill and come up
with a common position to be presented to and discussed with government,
in particular in regard to:
the licensing process in general
the classifcation of broadcasting services
foreign investment
the licensing of public broadcasters
the fnancing of public broadcasters;
Lobby for the establishment of a truly independent broadcasting authority,
even if that means amending the Constitution;
Lobby for the inclusion of clear provisions on public broadcasting in the new
broadcasting law, ensuring that public broadcasters are governed by a board
which is protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic
nature, and are adequately funded in a manner that protects them from
arbitrary interference with their budgets;
Involve the Development Observatory in these discussions, an independent
body set up in 2003 as a consultative forum in which government and
its international partners together with civil society follow up on the
implementation of poverty reduction programmes (PARPA);
Organise public awareness campaigns and open debate on the need
for broadcasting reform, in particular regarding Radio Mozambique and
Television Mozambique as well as community radio stations.
11
Overall Conclusions and
Recommendations
1 Conclusions
Mozambique is an emerging multi-party democracy, with the 2004 Constitution
guaranteeing freedom of expression and the media. This is in line with the Declaration
of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and other international documents.
In reality, however, the political, economic and cultural environment still poses serious
obstacles to the full exercise of these fundamental rights.
Freedom of expression is enshrined in article 48 of the Constitution, in terms of
which all citizens have freedom of expression and freedom of the press, as well as the
right to information. This provision defnes freedom of expression as including the
right to express ones own thinking by all lawful means.
Freedom of expression and the right to information are also guaranteed in Law
no. 18/91 of 10 August 1991. In the Press Law, freedom of expression is defned as an
integral part and a prerequisite of press freedom.
The Press Law defnes the right to information as the right of each citizen to
inform him/herself and be informed on relevant facts and opinions at national and
international level, as well as the right of every citizen to express and disseminate
information, opinions and ideas through the press.
Notwithstanding these defnitions, Mozambiques Press Law restricts and in
some cases penalises the dissemination of information by the media. It also contains
provisions which contradict the African Union Declarations principles on self-
regulation of the media, among others by the establishment of the Superior Council
for Media (CSCS) which now even enjoys constitutional status after having been
included in the new basic law of 2004.
Mozambique still sufers from the colonial heritage of an extreme climate of
secrecy which is the main barrier to efective freedom of information and freedom of
the press. The lack of access to information held by the state clearly contravenes the
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression.
The major threat to media freedom presently is the excessive use of provisions
regarding so-called abuse of press freedom, i.e. defamation both criminal and
civil.
The diverse media landscape in Mozambique is characterised by the existence
of over one hundred media outlets with diferent types of ownership and editorial
policies, covering radio and television broadcasting and the press.
This pluralist panorama is the result of media registration and licensing regimes
that are open and not restrictive. Newspapers only need administrative registration to
be able to start their activities. Broadcasters, on the other hand, require a licence that
is only allocated by a governmental body, the Council of Ministers.
The Press Law also establishes principles aimed at promoting pluralist media
through prohibiting monopolies in the sector.
The media in Mozambique have in general been able to assert their positions as
credible platforms for democratic discourse.
Taken as a whole, the media operate credibly and enjoy signifcant moral standing
within society. Radio broadcasters have contributed to creating a feeling of common
citizenship, particularly during election periods, by promoting voter education
programmes and open debates in which difering positions can be discussed.
Radio Mozambique and some of the commercial television stations have performed
particularly well in this important area.
This media environment is largely the result of the determination of media
professionals themselves to protect the principles of editorial independence and the
free expression of divergent opinions throughout the diferent phases of Mozambiques
history. A political climate of openness and tolerance has provided the social context
for this process.
The expansion of the community media sector is adding value to the climate of
freedom, enabling rural and marginalised communities to gain access to a medium
through which they can articulate their points of view. In addition, community media
can play an important role in complementing eforts to promote literacy and adult
education.
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 3 9
Mozambican journalists have on their own initiative established codes of conduct
for the profession, particularly with regard to election campaigns, voluntarily
acknowledging their duty to cover these sensitive processes with independence and
without distortion or manipulation. Nonetheless, there are known cases of journalists
who simultaneously perform the function of press attach in government institutions
and political parties, in obvious violation of the principles of these codes of conduct.
Journalism has been exercised in conditions of safety for journalists. The violent
murder of Carlos Cardoso in 2000 was a tragic exception within a generally safe
media environment.
The state/public broadcaster, comprising Radio Mozambique and Television
of Mozambique, is the most relevant institution in Mozambiques overall media
landcaspe. Put together, the two brodcasters are the countrys most infuential media,
covering between 70 and 80 per cent of the countrys population and territory. Radio
Mozambiques channels broadcast in more then 20 diferent languages daily and thus
reach the majority of the countrys population, including in the rural areas.
Both the constitution and the Press Law establish policy and legislative guidelines
calling for a public broadcasting sector that is independent from government control
and supposed to accomplish a social, cultural and development mission laid down by
law, provide programmes for the entire population and be fnanced from government
subsidies, listeners fees and advertising revenue.
However, converting state-controlled broadcasting into a public broadcasting
service is not merely a matter of implementing laws but demands a fundamental shift
in government thinking and perception of broadcasting. Independent and accountable
regulation of broadcasting is a crucial precondition to ensure pluralism and diversity
in the broadcasting sector. The absence of an independent and transparent regulatory
regime for broadcasting, the existing governance and funding systems and the lack
of public accountability are important legislative and institutional gaps that need to be
addressed.
In addition to adequate legal frameworks, adequate funding, training, and capacity-
building are also important factors for the development of a strong, independent and
credible public broadcasting sector.
The late 1990s saw the emergence of a commercial broadcasting sector, made up
of some twelve TV and FM radio stations, initially limited to the capital Maputo, but
gradually expanding their reach to the provinces. With no regulation establishing
local content quotas and faced with pressures from shareholders to maximise proft,
commercial broadcasters in Mozambique tend to be driven by advertisers demands
and opt for cheap programming with mass appeal and frequent repeats a few low-
cost local productions and mostly foreign soap operas and entertainment series.
2 Recommendations
In order to meet the requirements laid down in the Declaration of Principles on
Freedom of Expression in Africa and other relevant regional and international
instruments as well as the Constitution, the following policy and legislative measures
are recommended.
Media legislation in general
The Press Law should be reviewed in its entirety in light of the new
constitution.
There should be no special ofences of defamation and insult under the Press
Law. Cases of defamation should be dealt with under the general civil law
which is applicable to all citizens and not only to the media. Special protection
of public personalities (through insult laws) is not appropriate in a democratic
society such laws should be scrapped.
The Assembly of the Republic should give renewed consideration to the draft
Access to Information Bill that MISA-Mozambique prepared and submitted
to parliament in 2005.
The Assembly of the Republic should revise the Law on State Secrets, in order
to limit it to strictly necessary measures indispensable to ensure public safety
in a democratic society.
The purpose and role of the Supreme Council for the Media should be
revisited even though it is now a constitutional body. If the review arrives at
the conclusion that the Council does not serve any meaningful purpose it
should be closed down and replaced by a self-regulatory complaints body set
up by the media themselves.
The media fraternity should seriously consider setting up a voluntary self-
regulatory body and develop a code of professional standards in consultation
among journalists and media houses and acceptable to all against which to
adjudicate complaints received from the public.
GABINFO should be stripped of its role of exercising state sovereignty over
the public media.
The development of laws in regard to article 49 of the Constitution, which
gives political parties and organisations special broadcasting rights, should
be closely monitored to secure the independence of broadcasters and to
ensure that other sectors of society are not discriminated against.
The limitation on foreign investment in the media should be reviewed to
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 41
bring it into line with the needs of the industry.
The limitation on foreign investment in the media should be reviewed.
broadcasting landscape
New broadcasting legislation should:
establish an independent broadcasting regulator that will ensure that
broadcasting in Mozambique ofers programming diversity
promote diversity and pluralism by setting up a three-tier broadcasting
system (public, commercial and community)
protect and promote the development of genuine community media, both
radio and television.
The Institute of Social Communication (ICS) should be transformed into a
public broadcasting entity with an independent board representing the rural
communities it serves. Like all other broadcasters, it should fall under the
future independent broadcasting regulator.
TVM and RM should expand their transmitter systems to give efect to the
right of access to information for the entire population.
digitalisation
A policy for digital migration should be developed as a matter of urgency. Steps need
to be taken to:
Involve civil society organisations as well as government entities, the Supreme
Council for the Media (CSCS), the broadcasting industry and the private
sector in the process so that a nationally agreed policy can be put in place;
After the fnalisation of the policy, mandate the regulator to develop a digital
regulatory framework to create certainty around the licensing process;
Subsidise set-top boxes for the majority of consumers who cannot aford them
so that large segments of the Mozambican population will not to be denied
access to information.
broadcasting legislation and regulation
In the new broadcasting legislation, the role of the National Institute of
Communications of Mozambique (INCM), the Government Information
Bureau (GABINFO), the Supreme Council for the Media (CSCS) and the
Council of Ministers in relation to broadcasting regulation should be
scrapped. These functions should be taken over by a statutory independent
regulatory authority, based on the standards set by the Declaration of
Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
To this end, the Constitution of 2004 will have to be partially amended, to allow
for the dissolution of the CSCS and to enshrine the principle of independent
broadcasting regulation under a new independent licensing authority.
The independent broadcasting regulator will issue licences for public,
commercial and community broadcasters.
The new broadcasting legislation should also include systems and mechanisms
for public accountablity and for dealing with complaints from the public.
In view of the convergence of communications technologies it is recommended
that the government start strategising towards the establishment of an
integrated independent broadcasting and communications regulator.
Public broadcasting structure
New broadcasting legislation should transform RM and TVM into genuine
public broadcasters based on the standards set by the Declaration of Principles
on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
The legislation must ensure that the constitution and composition of the
governing bodies of the public broadcasters are defned in such a way as
to protect them against external interference, particularly of a political or
economic nature, and make them accountable to the public rather than the
government of the day.
Persons who are ofce bearers with the state or leading members of political
parties or have a fnancial interest in broadcasting should not be eligible to
become members of the board.
A board will replace the present Administrative Council and its members
should be nominated by the public with parliament making fnal appointments
after interviewing short-listed candidates at public hearings.
The chief executive ofcer should not be a member of the board. S/he should
head and form part of the Executive Directorate, and thus fall under the
control of the board.
The board will be responsible for general policy and strategic guidelines, and
appoint and exercise oversight over the Executive Directorate. The Executive
Directorate will be in charge of day-to-day management, and accountable to
the board.
Public broadcasting funding
Sustainable and reliable funding mechanisms should be considered and put
in place.
There should be an annual broadcasting fee payable by owners of television
sets to help fnance both broadcasters, rather than taxing the poor persons
media, radio, and leaving the rich persons media, television, untaxed. The
vehicle radio fee should remain.
As the public broadcasters will continue to be dependent on state subsidies,
at least in part, efective mechanisms must be developed to ensure that these
subsidies are provided in a reliable and independent manner.
To determine the amounts of the broadcasting fees and the state subsidies
required, the setting up of an independent panel of experts should be
considered. This panel will set and from time to time adjust the requisite
amounts and recommend these for adoption by the legislature. The
broadcasters will list their perceived needs to the panel, the experts will
make their own assessment and then come up with their recommendation.
The fee and subsidy amounts should be decided upon by parliament and not
by the executive.
Programming
A broad consultation process should be initiated to develop guidelines or
regulations to promote a wide range of content that serves the needs and
interests of diferent audiences. Media content, in particular that of television
stations and commercial radio stations, should address the interests not only
of urban elites, but also of the urban and rural poor, minorities and other
marginalised groups.
TVM in particular should refect the interests and needs of all segments
of society. It also must urgently introduce more national languages in its
programming and further expand its footprint in the provinces.
In general, public broadcasters should introduce more informative
programmes with in-depth reporting rather than only studio-based debates
with invited specialists. Such programmes should tackle subjects such as
poverty/development challenges, governance and citizenship. Edutainment
programmes in the form of general knowledge contests could also be
introduced targeting mainly secondary school students and teenagers.
RM should expand its coverage of national and local issues from its present
narrow Maputo-centred focus to the rest of the country, for example the
populous Northern provinces of zambzia and Nampula.
Editorial guidelines provided for in the founding legislation for RM and TVM
as well as the guarantee of editorial independence contained in the Press Law
should be put into practice.
TVM should develop a code of professional and ethical standards.
Civil society should set up mechanisms to monitor the adherence of RM and
TVM to their own guidelines and public broadcasting principles.
Both RM and TVM should establish a system to enable the public to complain
about breaches of such codes.
Policies should be developed on incentives for commercial television
stations to produce more programmes of public interest. To this end the
new broadcasting legislation should establish public interest programme
requirements for commercial broadcasters and make provision for dedicated
public grants and subsidies in order to promote a greater diversity of services
and encourage programming of public interest. Such monies should be
allocated according to set criteria, following a fair and transparent process
overseen by an independent body.
campaigns for broadcasting reform
Media organisations such as MISA-Mozambique, the National Union of Journalists
(SNJ), and the National Forum of Community Radio (FORCOM) together with other
civil society bodies such as the Centre for Public Integrity and the Mozambican
Human Rights League should:
Thoroughly analyse the new draft Television and Radio Bill and come up
with a common position to be presented to and discussed with government,
in particular in regard to:
the licensing process in general
the classifcation of broadcasting services
foreign investment
the licensing of public broadcasters
the fnancing of public broadcasters;
Lobby for the establishment of a truly independent broadcasting authority,
even if that means amending the Constitution;
Lobby for the inclusion of clear provisions on public broadcasting in the new
broadcasting law, ensuring that public broadcasters are governed by a board
which is protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic
nature, and are adequately funded in a manner that protects them from
arbitrary interference with their budgets;
Involve the Development Observatory in these discussions, an independent
body set up in 2003 as a consultative forum in which government and
its international partners together with civil society follow up on the
implementation of poverty reduction programmes (PARPA);
Organise public awareness campaigns and open debate on the need
for broadcasting reform, in particular regarding Radio Mozambique and
Television Mozambique as well as community radio stations.
AfriMAP, the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project, is an initiative of
the Soros foundation networks four African foundations, and works with national civil
society organisations to conduct systematic audits of government performance in three
areas: the justice sector and the rule of law; political participation and democracy; and
effective delivery of public services.
www.afrimap.org
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose
governments are accountable to their citizens. Working with local communities in more
than 70 countries, the Open Society Foundations support justice and human rights,
freedom of expression, and access to public health and education.
www.soros.org

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