Media muzzling and crackdown
By Sibalwa Mwaanga
The Suspension of broadcasting licences for Muvi TV, Komboni Radio and radio Itezhi-tezhi is the latest sad chapter in the systematic suppression of the independent media by the PF regime of Edgar Chagwa Lungu. From ominous threats emanating from the likes of former information Minister (witch) Doctor Chishimba Kambwili and the Head of State himself , we have seen the escalation of PF’s crackdown on free media from rabid threats to draconian actions such as this one.
The Post newspaper and its staff have been threatened, bullied, harassed, incarcerated, bamboozled and dragged before kangaroo courts. Ultimately the paper was closed under the dubious pretext of “tax liabilities”, a calculated and obnoxious politically motivated move aimed at silencing a key independent voice in the Zambian media landscape ahead of the August 11 elections which Dununa reversers were desperate to win by any means and at any cost.
It is not surprising that the victims of this latest assault on press freedom in Zambia – Muvi TV, Komboni Radio and Itezhi-tezhi Radio – are media houses that are perceived to be anti-PF and pro-opposition and are basically abhorred by the establishment
It is extremely nauseating and disgusting that “educated” people such as Josephine Mapoma can allow themselves to be used as tissue papers and undertakers of the PF dictatorship to kill the very media they are supposed to protect. Shame on the IBA. The absurd reason given for the suspensions meted out on the three broadcasting stations, supposed “unprofessional conduct”, is utterly laughable. If there is any media institution in this country that has incessantly conducted itself with blatant and shameless unprofessionalism, it is the so-called “national broadcaster” ZNBC, whose spineless cadre of a Director-General deserves to be charged with treason.
All well-meaning Zambians and all those who value press freedom and hold the fourth estate dear should rise up with one loud voice and demand the immediate reinstatement of the licences for the affected media houses and the reopening of the post without further delay. VIVA MEDIA FREEDOM!