PRESS STATEMENT

March 18, 2005

Following the dispatch of our latest weekly media update Number 10, MMPZ has
established that transmissions of SW Radio Africa are being deliberately
jammed.

Although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a
report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the
jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at
Thornhill in Gweru.
According to the IBB report, three jammers are being used to jam the three
short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam
the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then
'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters. ...", says
the report.
The BBC Monitoring Services also confirmed the jamming saying the "the
interfering signals were present only for the period of the SW Radio Africa
programming".

MMPZ condemns in the strongest terms this latest deliberate assault on
freedom of expression. This act of sabotage against SW Radio Africa's
broadcasts, particularly in the run up to the March 2005 general elections,
is a cynical attempt to deny the public their right to access information
sources of their choice.
It also demonstrates a blatant intolerance for the free flow of information,
which is the cornerstone of every participatory democracy.
This latest affront to freedom of expression is not isolated. The government
has used repressive broadcasting legislation to stall the opening of the
broadcasting sector to independent broadcasters five years after the Supreme
Court struck down the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings' monopoly as
unconstitutional in 2000.
The private print media have also suffered the brunt of the authorities'
intolerance of a free Press. Since September 2003, four newspapers have been
shut down, the latest being The Weekly Times which was closed on February 25
2005 after publishing just eight issues.
This clampdown on the media violates the SADC Principles and Guidelines
Governing Democratic Elections demonstrating a failure to meet some of the
minimum conditions for holding of a free and fair election.
To counter this assault on its broadcasts, SW Radio Africa announced
alternative frequencies on which its programmes can be heard:
6145 on the 49 metre band
3230 or 3300 in the 90 metre band
4880 in the 60 metre band
On the 25 metre band, listeners are urged to tune in to the following
frequencies:
11845 for the first hour
11705 for the second hour
11995 for the last hour

SW Radio Africa says it can also be heard in the Medium Wave (MW) 1197kHz
band between 05:00 hours and 07:00 hours, which is not jammed. Studio 7 and
BBC broadcasts are not being jammed.

Ends//