He singled out presenters on Star FM and ZTV, whom he referred to as “little fellows”, accusing them of lacking cultural appreciation and using language that was “very, very unpalatable to hear”.
“There are certain words you cannot use in the public domain, and you must respect the listeners accordingly. ZTV and our radio should be used to brand Zimbabwe,” Mudenda said.
He said he was particularly concerned about what he viewed as the disrespectful treatment of indigenous languages.
“They send a rough message… ‘ndokusendera, chii chocho’,” Mudenda said, questioning the use of such expressions and arguing that they were contributing to the erosion of mother tongues.
The Speaker warned that Zimbabwe risked losing its cultural identity within the next 50 years if the trend continued.
“Honourable Minister (Soda Zhemu), can you imagine what will happen in the next 50 years if we follow this kind of broadcast? We have the language? So they should appear and speak our beautiful mother tongue, so that our mother tongues are preserved for posterity,” he said.
“Language defines our dignity. Language defines our identity. You do not define yourself when you talk about ‘unondisendira’. This must stop,” Mudenda added.
He called on the Ministries of Sports and Education to develop a policy promoting national pride in indigenous languages and encouraging their proper use in broadcasting.
“Otherwise, in the next 50 years we have no identity at all. Our Shona will be chiraparapa, our Tonga will be chiraparapa, our Kalanga will be chiraparapa. Zimbabwe cannot afford to identify itself as a chiraparapa linguistic nation. That has to stop. Please save us,” he said.
