Shamenda questions govt’s media regulation intentions

Shamenda questions govt’s media regulation intentions
Written by Patson Chilemba
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 5:11:41 PM

FORMER Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Fackson Shamenda yesterday said it is extremely unnecessary for the government to threaten to regulate the media if they fail to form a regulatory body within six months.

And six media bodies have reiterated that they are opposed to the six-month ultimatum imposed by the government within which to form a self-regulatory body. Commenting on the government's ultimatum to the media organisations to come up with a regulatory body, Shamenda said both the statutory regulation and the ultimatum were unnecessary.

He advised the government not to come up with laws just because certain organisations had disagreed with them on several national issues.

Shamenda said even those politicians who were in government and advocating the regulation of the media would need the free press once they were out of office.

“Shakespeare says the world is like a stage and we are all players. So we have to be careful in whatever we do. Some laws in this country, people who advocated for the stiffer laws, are the same people who are victims of the same laws. The law of detention without bail when it comes to motor vehicles, many have been victims of that," Shamenda said.

"We may be at pains at what is happening, 'we are being humiliated'. That should not be the reason why we should enact laws. People in government should realise that they will not be there forever. We have enough laws to govern you [journalists] colleagues. It [statutory regulation] is not necessary, forget even about the ultimatum. They are very much not necessary.”

Shamenda said the Zambian people knew exactly who government was targeting.

He asked government leaders not to be sensitive to criticism because it was criticism which built nations.

“As an independent paper [The Post], there are times when you are on the extreme, but that doesn't warrant a regulation. Because in most cases, the public media are also on the extreme, so if we have these extremes, it will be wrong to take sides. They [private and public media] can balance each other," Shamenda said. "They [government] should not say 'we are being criticised unfairly even when we do good'. People are not elected to do bad, but good. We can't be accused for criticising because we don't have all the facts, so it is up to them to explain. Those who are on the defensive, it means there is something they are trying to hide.”

And reacting to New Generation Party president Humphrey Siulapwa in a press statement issued by six media bodies namely Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA), Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), Press Freedom Committee of The Post (PFC), PANOS and Zambia Union for Broadcasters and Information Disseminators (ZUBID), the media bodies stated that they had been reluctant to react to Siulapwa because they felt that they were not on the same level as himself.

“...However, because of the seriousness of the issue at hand, we thought it best to clarify Mr Siulapwa's assertions. Siulapwa should refrain himself on matters he has very little understanding about. The issue of media regulation requires a lot of sober mindedness, which we feel is beyond Siulapwa's comprehension," the media bodies stated. "It must be reiterated that there is not a single media organisation in this country which is against self-regulation but this should be done with a lot of care and responsibility so that interests of all stakeholders are addressed. We, therefore reiterate our position that we are opposed to the six-month ultimatum imposed by government within which such regulation should come into effect.”

The media bodies wondered what media regulation Siulapwa was referring to in Kenya.

They stated that Siulapwa's verbal diarrhoea showed a lot of ignorance on his part as it was common knowledge that an attempt to regulate the media by statute in Kenya was opposed both locally and internationally to an extent where President Mwai Kibaki did not assent to the bill, not very long ago.

The media bodies urged the likes of Siulapwa to take time to understand issues, if they could, before making careless statements, which were likely to reflect badly on the country's political players' caliber.

"We also wish to call upon the government to ensure the full implementation of the ZNBC (Amendment Act) and the appointment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) board if they are committed to media reforms as espoused in the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP)," stated the media bodies. "It should be borne in mind that these pieces of legislation have not been fully operationalised since they were assented to almost eight years ago.”

The government has given media associations a six-months ultimatum to come up with a self-regulatory body failure to which the government will take a statutory regulation draft bill to Parliament.