JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 52 ____________________________________________________________________ Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act No one is allowed to carry on or operate a mass media service91 without being registered under the Act, and no one may be registered unless he is a Zimbabwean citizen or, in the case of a company, unless it is controlled by Zimbabwean citizens. 92 Only citizens or residents of Zimbabwe may hold shares in a mass media service, 93 so foreign involvement in Zimbabwean news media is severely restricted. The registration of a mass media service may be cancelled by a government-appointed Media and Information Commission on very flimsy grounds: for example, if the mass media service does not put a publisher’s imprint on its publications or if it does not afford an immediate right of reply to anyone about whom it has published information “that is not truthful or impinges on his rights or lawful interests”. 94 Moreover, a mass media owner who does not afford a person a right of reply in such a case is guilty of an offence and can be imprisoned for up to two years 95 He is liable to the same penalty if he “publishes a false record of personal information” — whatever that means.96 In addition to placing these restrictions on mass media owners, the Act gives the Media and Information Commission wide power to issue orders requiring mass media owners “to do, or not to do, such things as are specified in the order(s) for the purpose of rectifying or avoiding any contravention or threatened contravention of [the] Act.” The fact that all the members of the Commission’s governing board are appointed by the Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo, does not inspire confidence in the Commission’s independence and gives rise to real fears that it will exercise its wide powers with the aim of suppressing the independent press rather preserving freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. So far, however, the government’s repressive attentions have been directed at journalists rather than at media owners. The rights of journalists are severely restricted under the Act. No journalist or foreign correspondent can practise his profession in Zimbabwe unless he is accredited with the Media and Information Commission, and journalists who are not Zimbabwean citizens or permanent residents can be accredited only for limited periods. 97 A journalist can be sent to prison for up to two years for various ill-defined offences such as falsifying or fabricating information, publishing falsehoods and “contravening