Propaganda, lies won’t do

Propaganda, lies won’t do
Written by Editor

In our 18 years of existence, we have never negotiated even one principle to gain time or to obtain any other kind of practical advantage.

We think we are defending certain principles that are of tremendous value at a time of confusion and opportunism in our country, a time when many politicians are feathering their own nests, a time we might call the deification of political power. And we are the only remaining enemy that they are today attacking with all the fury.

We have a clear, precise idea of our role, and all those factors stimulate and encourage us in our work. That is the link between what we are doing and what we are ready to do, on the one hand, and the future, on the other. We think it will always be of great value.

Listening to Ronnie Shikapwasha giving a ministerial statement in Parliament on the violence against journalists, we were frightened by his lies, half-truths and cheap propaganda. We felt they were making enormous mistakes by unleashing a process that was self-destructive for themselves and for our country. If one starts a process in which all of a country’s values begin to be destroyed, that process is very negative.

We felt by permanently being wedded to lies, cheap propaganda and hatred for those who oppose them, they were destroying the authority of the state. And if one destroys the authority of the state, the consequences are terrible. It’s a matter not of the analysis or criticism of problems, but of the destruction and negation of all the values, merits and history of our country. They are making enormous mistakes by failing to see the consequences of what they are doing and by not doing the right thing to reach the goals and purposes they have proclaimed. Many of the strategic and tactical mistakes they are making are being viewed as the correct way of doing things. But soon, when all these negative tendencies will be unleashed, opportunistic elements will also be introduced and hell will break loose. Probably it has already even happened and it’s only that we are not able to see it clearly or we are being excessively modest in our assessment of things.

In the times in which we live, there is a science that is arrayed against truth: the science of propaganda, disinformation and lies, the science of calumny, in which these people, our adversaries take the prize.

Naturally, we are accustomed to this, to all their lies and cheap propaganda, and it just rolls off our backs, because we are used to their baseness. How can they survive if not with cheap propaganda? How can they survive without lies? How can they explain all the crimes they commit against their own people, if not with lies and calumny, trying to discredit those who expose and oppose them?

We are sure that the masses of our people will obey their instincts and not be swayed by the volume and intensity of that campaign they are waging against us and others who question their decisions and actions. We are not going to be demoralised by this kind of campaign; we are not going to change. We are going to keep on applying the same policy and maintain our system of striving for excellence in all that we do. What is important to us is having a clear conscience.

We are challenging them, absolutely convinced that the ideas we are defending will triumph in our country someday, that our people’s legitimate causes will always advance and triumph eventually.

It doesn’t shock us that a man who goes to Parliament to accuse us of publishing lies does so with lies himself. Shikapwasha yesterday told lies to Parliament that in our newspaper’s lead story of Wednesday, we told lies that Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Leslie Mbula and President Jacob Zuma’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya were not aware of Rupiah Banda’s visit to South Africa. Shikapwasha told Parliament that these were lies because we didn’t speak to him or Mbula. Our reporter spoke to Mbula and Magwenya and we have this recorded. It was not our opinions or desires that were reflected in that story. So where is the lie on our part? Clearly the lie is on Shikapwasha’s part; he is the one who has lied to Parliament. We have repeatedly stated that we do sometimes get things wrong, we do sometimes get facts wrong. And there is no newspaper or media organisation in the world that never gets anything wrong. But we always endeavour to accept our wrongs and accordingly apologise and make a correction.

As for the insults against Rupiah, this is just another lie. We have never insulted Rupiah. If calling Rupiah a liar is an insult, then there is a serious problem in this country. Rupiah tells lies. And he has lied about us. How can we fail to call him a liar? Rupiah has never apologised or tried to correct any lie he has told about us or any other person. And there are enough laws in our statute books to protect Rupiah from libel or defamation. If we have libeled or defamed Rupiah, let law enforcement agencies come and pick us up and accordingly prosecute us. This is what the rule of law demands. Unleashing cadres on us because they feel we have insulted their party leader is savagery, barbarism that will lead to nothing but anarchy in the nation. We say this is savagery and barbaric because the use of violence against anyone or any part of the community is something that puts those involved in it, those behind it, those who condone it, those who encourage it, those who think it is right like Shikapwasha and Rupiah next to animals. Violence and non-violence are mutually exclusive and those who resort to violence, harassment, vindictiveness can only do one thing, and that is to breed counter-violence and contempt for themselves. People who go out to beat, injure and kill those who question or oppose them, are no better than animals.

We are ready to sit down with anyone who comes in good faith and go through everything that we have published, every word that we have written and see if it can be justified or not. We have been in this business longer than Shikapwasha has been in politics or government. Our knowledge of this profession is far higher than the combined knowledge of Shikapwasha and his friends. And if things were left to them, the situation in our country for the media would be terrible. These are very intolerant characters who are enjoying the fruits or rewards of political processes they contributed very little to. And usually that’s how such people behave – they try to show excessive zeal in dealing with opponents.

As for the threat of enacting laws to regulate the media, we cannot be blackmailed. Let them go and do whatever they want to do. We have told them this many times. We are not scared of any regulation they will come up with. We know how to fight against what is unjust or unfair. We will fight using the same weapons we used against the one party state and other many injustices in our country. Shikapwasha or Rupiah were not factors in all this.

For us, constitutional rights do not need to be earned. And as we have stated before, we hold that the greatest right in this world is the right to be wrong, that in the exercise thereof, people have an inviolable right to express their unbridled thoughts on all topics and personalities, being liable only for the abuse of that right. The press freedom that we stand for and campaign for is one that should protect unpopular and even inaccurate speech. Press freedom is a farce if it means merely the freedom to report pleasant things.

And moreover, whatever laws they come up with, we know that they are targeted only against The Post. We say this because the privately owned media in this country is very small. Of the three daily newspapers, only one – The Post, is not under the control of Shikapwasha and his friends. So when they talk about regulating newspapers, who are they talking about, who do they want to regulate? It’s only The Post they are after. If The Post closed today, Shikapwasha and his friends will stop talking about regulation of the media because the Times of Zambia, Daily Mail and ZNBC are fully under their control and direction. It is only The Post they can’t tell what to do. And therefore The Post is the only newspaper they are seriously seeking to control and direct. But whatever laws they come up with, they will not achieve that. Getting us into their Media Ethics Council of Zambia will never happen. We believe in self-regulation and we practice it every day. And we also believe in voluntary membership to media councils. If it is joining a media council, we will do so voluntarily, not out of coercion. Moreover, our Constitution gives us the freedom of association. And this in itself means that if tomorrow we want to form a media council in co-operation with others, we can do so because there is nowhere in our laws where it is said only MECOZ can exist. Ours is a plural political system and that’s why we even have a proliferation of trade unions and churches grouping in the manner they desire. So let them go ahead and legislate and see what will happen!

We are very lucky that under the political leadership of the likes of Rupiah, of the Shikapwashas, we have a speaker, Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, who because of his journalism background understands issues of the media very well and he has provided some positive restraints. But he is alone and we will not be surprised one day to wake up and find vultures are having their day. Anyway, that’s how life is. Sometimes gigantic leaps have to be taken backwards before going forward – one step forward, two steps backward!

As for Shikapwasha’s attacks on the Catholic Church and the use of cheap propaganda using the Rwandan examples, we are equally not surprised. Shikapwasha is anti-Catholic. He is a Pentecostal church leader whose attitude towards others shows nothing Christian in him.

Shikapwasha’s understanding of religious matters is very low and as such, it’s very dangerous for him to try and pose as an authority on the Christian church, and the Catholic Church in particular. Shikapwasha is a man full of hatred, lies and vengeance.

There is nothing wrong that the Catholic Church is doing in this country. If leaders of the Catholic Church were behaving like him, the Christian church in Zambia would today be very weak. Shikapwasha is a reverend in some church. If Catholic priests were behaving like him, where would this country be?

If Shikapwasha wants to behave and to be seen as a Christian, there is need for him to follow Christ’s example. We say this because being a Christian means being like Christ, follower of Christ. Jesus Christ was humble, most pure, meek: how can His disciple and imitator be proud, arrogant, dishonest, greedy, vengeful, hateful, angry? This reminds us of what Alexander the Great once said to a soldier, who also had the same name but was sluggish, mean and cowardly: “Either change your name or change your behaviour.”

Christ’s entire doctrine was devoted to the humble, the poor; his doctrine was devoted to fighting against abuse, injustice and the degradation of human beings. Clearly, the ideas of social justice being advanced by the Catholic Church are in line, in tune and not in conflict with Christ’s teachings. There is a lot in common between the spirit and essence of Christ’s teachings and the Catholic Church’s social teachings of today. And for this reason, the Catholic Church will always find itself on the side of those fighting against abuses, injustice and the degradation of human beings; there will always be an alliance – but not a tactical one – between them. And as we have stated before, there is need to recognise the fact that we are living at a time when politics has entered a near religious sphere with regard to man and his behaviour. We also believe that we have come to a time when religion can enter the political sphere with regard to man and his material needs. Let us respect convictions, beliefs and explanations. Everyone is entitled to his own positions, his own beliefs. We must work in the sphere of these human problems that interest us all and constitute a duty for all. And in this sense, all who struggle for life are included in God’s scheme, even if they lack faith. It is your fellow man, and especially one who lacks life and needs justice, in whom God wishes to be served and loved. They are the ones with whom Jesus identified. Therefore, there is no contradiction between the struggle for justice and the fulfillment of God’s will. One demands the other. All who work along that line of God’s scheme for life are considered Jesus’ brothers and sisters (Mark 3:31-35). Therefore, what the Catholic Church is doing in this country, in our view, is the best way to follow Jesus in our country’s present situation.

We should not be enticed by Shikapwasha and his friends to read fairness as meaning parity between justice and injustice. As Christ has clearly demonstrated by his own life, injustice must be fought by everyone. And the simple lesson of religions and of life itself is that, although evil may be on the rampage temporarily, the good must win the laurels in the end.

We need religious institutions to continue to be the conscience of society, a moral custodian and a fearless champion of the interests of the weak and downtrodden. We don’t want a church or church leaders who are all the time busy looking for favours from the powerful, from those in government while abandoning the poor and the weak. We expect more from our churches because religion is a great force and it can help one command one’s own morality, one’s own behaviour and one’s own attitude.

Again, we end where we started. Lies are weapons that help no serious person, and no serious person ever needs to resort to a lie. Their weapon is reason, morality, truth, and the ability to defend an idea, a position. There was no need for Shikapwasha to go to Parliament and tell lies over matters that are so clear to everyone. Shikapwasha should know that there is no better tactic, no better strategy than to fight with clean hands, to fight with the truth. As we have stated before, these are the only weapons that inspire confidence, that inspire faith and that inspire dignity. And these are the weapons we have been using to defend ourselves from people like Shikapwasha, Rupiah, Frederick Chiluba and many other evil minded people who have been out to crush us. How else could this small newspaper have survived all these very powerful people with all the state machinery and money at their command? It’s nothing but the truth that has helped us survive this long with such very limited human and financial resources. And it matters less to us how much money Shikapwasha and his friends have to hire cadres and unleash them on us. Our weapons do not lie in the hands of hired youths and other poor people and desperate citizens.

And as such, we will never abandon the truth as our tactical, offensive and defensive weapon. It is such a versatile weapon and we urge Shikapwasha and his friends to embrace it because with it, no one loses a fight, a battle, a war.