The use of official positions and State resources by ruling parties to strengthen themselves and to run election campaigns, to the disadvantage of other political parties, is a contentious issue. Opposition parties often cry foul and accuse the party in power of taking undue if not unlawful advantage of its control of government to frustrate them while consolidating its own position. In Zimbabwe, ZANU (PF) has taken advantage of and freely used public resources which include: • Free air time on radio and television. For instance, its congresses/conferences get generous live coverage throughout on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation television and radio channels; • Wide coverage and free advertising space in the State owned and controlled print media. For instance, a number of party propagandists run weekly columns in public newspapers where they write lengthy articles in praise of the party while attacking and denigrating other political parties and critics; • Using state vehicles. For instance, ministers use government vehicles when attending to party business and running election campaigns, while the party leader, who is also the President, not only uses government vehicles but also planes and helicopters; • Using government employees and equipment for party business. Some civil servants are roped in to support party activities and help in running election campaigns. For instance, a number of ministries have been created since independence to work hand in hand with the party and to support its activities. The ministries, which include Political Affairs and National Affairs, are conveniently housed at the party headquarters to be close to the party secretariat, and where they not only pay rent to the party but also pay bills for the party e.g. rates, water and electricity69. The public media is one of the most useful State resources at the disposal of the governing political party. This is aptly captured by Jain, who observes that in India (at least at the time he was writing), a highly centralised control over broadcasting has been accepted as a prerequisite for political power. He says that “[i]n the process, political propaganda potentially becomes the deciding factor in programming news presentation and commentary”70. The State controlled media, both print and electronic, can be used by the ruling party to its advantage by, for example, giving sympathetic coverage on members of the ruling party and its government while ignoring the opposition71. In some cases the media can be used for direct propaganda purposes in favour of the 69 See Masunungure, op cit, p.22 and Country study: “Resuscitating party politics in Zimbabwe: scenarios for the 21st century” an analysis of the MDC and Zanu-PF from the perspectives of political leadership, political architecture and party constituencies, op cit, p.10. 70 Jain, “Political Broadcasting in India”, pp.16-17. 71 See Steven Friedman, op cit, p.1. 27