ZIMBABWE has issued six new free-to-air TV licences, including to a company owned by the defence ministry, the broadcasting authority has announced after Zimbabweans called for independent broadcasters. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, which is solely owned by the government, has been the only broadcaster in the southern African nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. Zimbabweans have long called for the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to license independent broadcasters, and accuse state-owned media of biased coverage in favour of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ruling ZANU-PF party. BAZ Chairman Charles Sibanda said in a statement that among those issued…