The Swedish Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Execellency Mr Sten Rylander who spoke at the National Journalistic and Media Awards (NJAMA)on Friday the 31st of July 2009 and organised by the Zimbabwe Union Of Journalists (ZUJ) called for immediate reforms in the media.

The following is the full text of his speech.

 ZUJ has opened a new office in Bulawayo with effect from July 1, 2009. The objective of this project is to decentralise so that the union can be close to its membership in the Southern part of the country.

The programme officer responsible for the office is Lifaquane Nare, a journalist by profession. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a post graduate diploma in Media and Communications studies from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a seasoned journalist who has worked for The Sunday News in Bulawayo, the defunct Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings and has also held positions in the ZUJ executive. We are confident that her vast experience will add value to our programming.

Our physical address in Bulawayo is 703 Seventh Floor LAPF House 8th/Jason Moyo street.We hope to open a resource centre at these offices where among other things journalists can access the internet.

We are proud that we are the only Union of Journalists on the continent that now has such capacity. We have eight employees in Harare and the Bulawayo office leaves us at nine employees.

We have more than five programming areas that have made immense impact on the media.

Matthew Takaona
ZUJ President