Act (1967), the Official Secrets Act (1970). Another example is the Criminal Law, which criminalises defamation of the Head of State and the undermining of the authority of the State as well as the reputation and morale of the security forces. The “new dispensation” period raised optimism amongst journalists that some of these media laws may be altered in order to align them with the 2013 Constitution. However, so far no changes or amendments have been implemented and the government has been reluctant to reform the existing media legislation. Paradoxically, an envisaged very restrictive cyber law is currently in the drafting process and is likely to be enacted in the upcoming months. Recommendation 14: There needs to be comprehensive legal reform in order to harmonise current media regulations with the Constitution, in order to adequately safeguard freedom of expression. The Constitution (Section 248) provides also for the establishment of the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), with the functions, among others, to promote freedom of the media, enforce good practices and ethics in the media and ensure fair and wide access to information. The ZMC is also responsible for receiving complaints and, where appropriate, taking actions against journalists breaching any law or code of conduct applicable to them. Nevertheless, during the past years the ZMC has been ineffective in the fulfilment of these responsibilities. Consisting of a chairperson and eight other members, all of them appointed by the President, the last ZMC board finished its five-year term on 2015. Since then, no new board has been appointed and the ZMC has largely limited its work to issuing licenses to journalists. Together with the ZMC, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), as established in the BSA, is responsible for, among other things, planning and advising on the allocation and distribution of the available frequency spectrum, advising the Minister of Information on the allocation of broadcasting licenses and encouraging diversity in the control of broadcasting services. Similar to the ZMC, the BAZ does not have an official board since 2015 and its policy of issuance of broadcasting licenses, which so far has favoured only enterprises or persons linked to the government, is strongly criticized and considered as partisan by the media sector. C Media Regulation for the Election Campaign With reference to elections, media are regulated by the Electoral Act, which sets out the parameters of election coverage in section 160 (E-K), and the Statutory Instrument number 33. According to section 160G of the Electoral Act, public broadcasters should afford all political parties and independent candidates free access to their broadcasting services. The Electoral Act also establishes that specific regulations be made to provide for the total amount of airtime to be allocated to each political party and candidate, as well as the specific times and areas at which those broadcasts are to be transmitted. The referred regulations should also ensure a fair and balanced allocation of airtime between parties and candidates. As a result of these provisions, in 2008 the Statutory Instrument 33 on Media Coverage of Elections was adopted to regulate election programmes and advertisements to be broadcast on 27