Maravi

Govt cautious on FoI bill because of some irresponsible media – Kunda

Govt cautious on FoI bill because of some irresponsible media – Kunda
By George Chellah
Sat 07 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda yesterday said the government was treading carefully on the Freedom of Information Bill (FoI) because it can be used for espionage by what he termed some irresponsible and unpatriotic media houses.

During the Vice-President’s question time in Parliament, Vice-President Kunda, who was responding to a question from United Liberal Party (ULP) president and Livingstone member of parliament Sakwiba Sikota, raised some security concerns over the Freedom of Information Bill. Sikota wanted to know when the FoI would be reintroduced.

“Our main concern is the fact that we are very much concerned about state security. That particular law can destroy this country if it is not properly handled,” Vice-President Kunda said.

“And some of the media houses have displayed that they are irresponsible and they are very unpatriotic and they can sell this country.”

He said the FoI could be used for espionage.

“We are treading on this particular bill very carefully. At the moment it remains shelved for further consultation,” he said.

And Vice-President Kunda said the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) law was very important for the development of the country.

“The NGO Bill is going to be operationalised. Currently we are working very closely with the NGOs. There are many NGOs which are doing extremely fine apart from a few that are doing politics here in Lusaka,” he said.

He said all NGOs were subject to public criticism and scrutiny.

“Some of them do not take criticism. If you just pinch them, they will be crying the whole month. If they criticise us, they should be ready to be criticised,” he said.

Vice-President Kunda said some NGOs even go to an extent of holding press conferences and putting adverts in the press to defend themselves, once criticised.

“We take criticism and we accept criticism,” he said.

He said the government considered NGOs as public entities.

“That’s why we require them to declare their assets and liabilities. This particular requirement is important,” he said.

He explained that NGOs were public entities and they were funded with public resources.

“So they are supposed to be accountable to the people of Zambia,” he said.
Chitambo MMD member of parliament Dr Solomon Musonda sought to know the relationship between the government and donors.

In response, Vice-President Kunda said the relationship between the government and the donor community was extremely warm.

“Most of the cooperating partners are ready to assist us. They have promised budget support…it’s the intention of government to strengthen cooperation,” he said.

He said the government had made progress on its governance programmes especially in the fight against corruption.
Vice-President Kunda also dismissed criticism on the government’s commitment to the fight against corruption.

“In this country we have what we can call celebrated critics, fault-finders; they never see anything good in what government is doing,” said Vice-President Kunda. “We are committed to the fight against corruption and we shall fight corruption head-on.”

Labels: FOI, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, GEORGE KUNDA, PRESS FREEDOM, SAKWIBA SIKOTA

posted by MrK @ 12:18 AM