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Govt shouldn’t be jittery over press freedom - Celli

Govt shouldn’t be jittery over press freedom - Celli
By Misheck Wangwe
Wed 06 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT

The Zambian government should not be jittery over press freedom because it is one of the fundamental principles of democracy, says visiting good governance advocate Marilyn Celli. Celli says it is impossible for Zambia to attain real democracy and good governance if the government does not appreciate the need for a totally free media.

In an interview yesterday, Marilyn Celli said developing African countries like Zambia must be encouraged by the move taken by the Rwandan government to move from statutory regulation of the media to self-regulation.

Celli said the resolve by the Rwandan government to move to self-regulation of the media was a clear demonstration to the rest of Africa and the world that it was committed to improving democracy and good governance in that country.

“We’ve interacted with many people since we arrived and they told us that press freedom is there but there is a lot of inference and intimidation from government especially in the operations of the public media. And true to what others observed, we've seen that the public media is actually state controlled. They just propagate government activities and talk about how good President Rupiah Banda is,” Celli said. “It will be difficult for this country to develop if the media does not alert government about the sufferings of the people because I personally believe that one of the fundamental principles of the media is to be the mirror of society.”

Celli said it was difficult to understand why after 47 years of Independence, Zambia had no law that promotes freedom of information.

She said it was sad to learn that media advocates and institutions had been pushing the Freedom of Information Bill for many years, but it seemed government was reluctant over the issue.

Celli said while it was commendable that Zambia had private media institutions that were questioning government policies and monitoring the way it was managing tax payers’ money, it was imperative for the public media to reflect the needs of the people.

She said Zambia faced many economic challenges due to lack of leadership in many areas of governance hence the need for freedom of information in its quest to attain real democracy and development.

“We can say Zambia is a democracy but what is needed is mature democracy where leaders would be able to appreciate the need for good laws that promote freedom of information and independence of the media. If many Africa countries can be inspired by the Rwandan government that has taken a bold decision for the betterment of their country and the people,” Celli said.

The Rwandan government through the Minister of Information Potrais Musoni last Wednesday decided that the media, which is currently regulated by the Rwandan Media High Council, starts to regulate itself by June 1 this year.

Labels: PRESS FREEDOM

posted by MrK @ 4:13 PM