WASHINGTON’S new man in Harare, Ambassador Charles A Ray, says a country is strengthened when its people are well - informed and have a variety of sources of information by which they can make informed decisions. In an interview with The Standard last week the US diplomat said much of the current debate over so-called pirate radio stations could be eliminated if there were less draconian efforts to monitor and to control the flow of information.

In what will come as a surprise to many, Ambassador Ray disclosed that the Voice of America (VOA), which hosts Studio 7, but which the government describes as a pirate radio station, had representatives here not so long ago talking to the government about establishing a presence here.

“I would certainly hope that in the very near future the government would do that favourably and open up the information landscape because you have a highly literate, very sophisticated population here that can use that information wisely and I think that rather than weakening the government, having better information its role would be strengthened.”

He said having spent days during the recent Zanu PF Fifth Congress at which there was considerable time devoted to condemnation of the VOA’s Studio 7, John Nkomo, who was elected second Vice-President, gave an interview to VOA’s Studio 7 although in public the government describes it as “a pirate radio station”.

“I think it’s a bit strange! We really need to look at whether the efforts to control people’s access to information are counter-productive or not. In the meantime if these organisations — VOA radio and others — were allowed to operate here in Zimbabwe this probably wouldn’t exist.”

The ambassador presented his credentials to President Mugabe at State House 11 days ago. He said the issue of VOA’s Studio 7 “did not even come up at all” during discussions.

In public Zimbabwe has said it will protest to Botswana for hosting facilities that are used by VOA’s Studio 7, which is operated by exiled Zimbabwean journalists.

But Ambassador Ray said the US has VOA relay facilities in countries all over the world and the legality of their broadcasts is determined by the laws of the countries in which the relay stations are located, “so the claims that it’s illegal broadcasts cannot be supported by a reading of international law”.

The discussions with President Mugabe centred on what the US ambassador’s focus will be — finding ways that the US and Zimbabwe can work together to improve the situation in this country for the benefit of its people.

“My comments to him were essentially that I believe in engagement and dialogue and that we should all commit to working together to restore Zimbabwe to its position as the jewel in the crown of Africa. This place has far too much potential to be allowed to languish as it has for so long.”