Administrative Court on an urgent basis. Constitutionalism maintains that courts remain the most appropriate protector of human rights and freedoms. To this a case must be made for the alignment of the Censorship Act to the extent that it must ensure the Censorship Board takes into account natural justice principles when vetting articles and those appeals against such decisions are dealt with by courts of law and not by another layer of bureaucrats. In conclusion, research has revealed that both the Censorship Board and the Appeal Board are not functioning as envisaged by legislation. The Censorship Board works in the form of a black box where an applicant simply deposits works of art for examination and waits for the outcome without an opportunity to know whether the Board was properly constituted or a single individual presided over the application. “We need workshops on censorship so that we know our parameters.” Daves Guzha Echoing similar sentiments, Rudo Kanukamwe, a writer, testifies I have never encountered the Board of Censors. I do understand how they work and I don’t think their decisions are transparent because they are based on their job description as censors. Artists should know how the system operates. The reason for such a state of affairs is primarily to achieve the political objective of nipping dissent in the bud by censoring all vehicles through which critical works of art are disseminated to the public. The situation works well for the censoring authorities that wish to maintain the status quo. In many instances however, artists perform, present or exhibit their works without putting them through the censorship process. This move only goes wrong when the content of the works is then deemed inappropriate for public consumption by the barrage of gatekeepers. Once the content is deemed political, prosecution invariably follows in terms of the Censorship Act or Criminal Code. However if the ground for censorship is obscenity, banning the material is almost always the ultimate remedy. In terms of Section 34(b) & (c) of the Censorship Act, the Minister is empowered to enact regulations to deal with, among other issues, the prescription of the 50 | P a g e