Maravi

Statutory control of the media is unacceptable, says Anamela

Statutory control of the media is unacceptable, says Anamela
By Lambwe Kachali
Monday August 11, 2008 [04:00]

THE future of UNIP should be invested in young people, party vice-president Njekwa Anamela said on Saturday. And Anamela said statutory control of journalists is unacceptable as it will undermine the role of the media in Zambia. Meanwhile, Anamela said people should not demonise UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda on the basis of being the son of the first Republican president.

During the Newsmakers Forum organised by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post in Lusaka themed ‘Can UNIP form the next government’, Anamela said the party was mindful of the important role young people played in the political system of the country.

Anamela was responding to a question from former University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) president Antonio Mwanza who wanted to know what UNIP was doing to attract young people to join the party as it prepares for the next general elections.

Anamela said unlike other political parties, UNIP had ensured that young people were embraced and given positions of responsibility because they were future leaders.

“It is a pity that young people are now victims of plunder and corruption by the MMD government. There are many young people in the party now than before because we understand that the future of UNIP should be invested in young people, we are very mindful about this especially that the majority in Zambia are young people,” Anamela said. “It is a shame that other political parties have neglected youths. That is why you will understand that even the youth empowerment fund is actually next to nothing because certain people, other than youths, benefit from it.”

He said UNIP had embarked on a programme to ensure that more young people joined the party to increase the number of its voters in the 2011 elections.

And Anamela said any introduction of regulatory measures outside the control of media should be rejected.

He said UNIP, which would be 49 years old this October, had enough experience and urged the media in Zambia to continue upholding and protecting press freedom by maintaining their independence from various interest groups in society.

“The challenge is to have a functioning code that will dissuade the renewed efforts of some certain sections of society that would like to impose statutory control over the conduct of journalists. Statutory control of journalists is undesirable in whatever form, whatever the arguments.

It is very risky in Africa and has great potential to compromise press freedom and further undermine the role of the media as a watchdog in the democratic society that we all want to build in Zambia. Such regulatory measures outside the control of the media itself should be rejected,” he said.

Anamela said the party was hopeful that Zambians were ready to bounce the party back to power in 2011.

He said the party had accepted its challenges and had since succeeded in resolving them by recognising the importance of planning.

On agriculture, Anamela said since the MMD came to power in 1991, the agriculture sector’s contribution to the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) had been around 18 per cent due to government policy failure and plunder of resources.

He said the MMD had seriously failed to succeed in improving the health sector as evidenced by the high levels of child mortality and maternal mortality rates as well as the drop in life expectancy of the Zambian population.

Anamela also said it was unfair for the Revival Forum to be against the UNIP leadership which had remained united despite difficult circumstances.

“Sometimes, we suffer undue criticism but we accept it because it is building us. We have people who have targeted comrade Tilyenji not because he is bad but because he is the child of a former Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda. It is not right to demonise somebody on that basis, by using lies or propaganda,” he said.

And responding to a question from William Musonda, a participant, who sought to know what UNIP would do with Chinese investors that were exploiting Zambian workers by paying them as low as K240,000 per month, Anamela said UNIP did not hate investors but would demand them to respect workers and ensure that they were paid decent wages.

Labels: MEDIA, NJEKWE ANAMELA, REGULATION, THE POST, UNIP

posted by MrK @ 4:11 AM