All our thoughts are with Fred M'membe of The Post, his wife and editor. What this PF government is doing is disgraceful.
More here.
TODAY'S EDITORIAL COMMENT: They want to win at any cost By Editor |
Updated: 27 Jun,2016
14:57:51
THE International Press Institute (IPI) has revealed that there is a strategic plan by the PF government to shut down The Post and other private media in order for the ruling party to rig the August 11 general elections.
In a statement, IPI director of advocacy and communications Steven Ellis revealed that PF’s strategy to rig election results and brutalise the opposition were clearly outlined in a leaked document.
“Among other efforts, the document indicated that ‘No form of media should be given to the UPND in the form of news or campaign advertisements’ and that a ‘massive media character assassination’ campaign should be launched against UPND presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema,” read the IPI statement. “The document also said that ‘prime efforts’ would be made to eliminate coverage by The Post .”
With or without the IPI revelations, it has always been clear to many Zambians that Edgar Lungu and his crooked, corrupt friends in the Patriotic Front want to retain power and continue to enrich themselves at any cost.
This is not only the most corrupt government in the history of this country but also the most intolerant and unrestrained regime. Edgar is all the time reminding Zambians about how much power he sits on. He has openly threatened to crush his political opponents, real or perceived, like a tonne of bricks. Edgar has issued open threats to the editor of The Post , telling him “alefwaya ukwakufwila”. He has also openly told The Post editor that he is the Head of State and there is no way anyone can fight with him and win.
The agenda to manipulate the electoral process and keep themselves in power has been on the cards for a long time. And The Post has consistently been warning the Zambian people about the high possibility of this year’s elections being rigged. It was The Post that exposed Edgar’s dealings with Timor Consulting, an Israeli firm of election ‘experts’. They denied this. But why should one deny a firm they are dealing with? Clearly, there was something wrong, something unacceptable they had been doing with Timor Consulting.
Then came the issue of the Ugandans who managed Yoweri Museveni’s last rigged election. It is these same characters Edgar has brought in to assist him in ‘winning’ this year’s elections. It is these same characters that worked with the Dubai printing company, Al Ghurair, that the Electoral Commission of Zambia has been forced to contract against dissent from the opposition. There are problems in Uganda. And there will be similar problems here. In Uganda, Museveni has resorted to tyranny, repression to silence anyone questioning or challenging the election results.
Edgar is doing the same.
Last week, he was threatening to sort out Hakainde Hichilema if he refuses to accept the election results, telling him “akamona efyo nkamuchita”. It is clear that as things stand today, we are highly unlikely to have free and fair elections whose results will be accepted by all participants – the winners and the losers. Edgar knows that with The Post around, it will be difficult for him to crush or sort out those who will refuse to accept the rigged results. Hence, his haste to get The Post closed before the elections.
We have stated it several times that it is not tax collection they are after from The Post; it is The Post, as a publication, they do not want to appear on the streets and expose their corrupt and crooked schemes. This explains why Edgar last week was very annoyed with the intelligence for failing to find out where The Post was being printed and stop it from coming out. What they don’t want is The Post hitting the streets. It’s not about taxes.
What is happening here is exactly what happened and is happening in Uganda. In Uganda, foreign nationals were registered to vote and they voted. Here, we have citizens of our neighbouring countries having been registered to vote. Zambia Police Service officers have been sent to Malawi to find out about the registration of foreign voters. They found it to be true.
But there had been a foolish scheme of trying to admit that indeed foreigners have registered as voters, but this was the work of the opposition. How stupid can one be to take such a line! What would this mean? This would mean that Edgar and his friends have not been working. If they have been working, how can the opposition issue National Registration Cards to Malawians and other foreign nationals?
The truth of the matter is that this is part of their own rigging scheme in the Ugandan style and fashion. Edgar’s threats to sort out Hakainde are similar to those of Museveni. We all know what has happened or is happening to Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kigya Besigye. He has been beaten, humiliated and locked up on trumped up criminal charges. Edgar is preparing himself for that type of brutality, repression.
And the first enemy of tyrants is always the free press. Wherever there is tyranny, the first to be hit, harassed or even annihilated is the free press. They know that without a free press, the protests, demonstrations, statements of those affected by their tyranny will not be heard. Where there is tyranny, there is no free speech and press. What we have in Zambia today is a highly corrupt and intolerant regime that has no scruples or restraint. They do not in any way realise that the exercise of power must be a constant practice of self-limitation and modesty.
With politicians like Edgar and his friends in power, Zambians must brace themselves for the worst. The bells tolling on The Post today will tomorrow toll on many other Zambians, and eventually on the whole country. The signs, the warnings of this are there. What remains is whether or not we heed them.
Don’t be deceived by the pretence of Edgar being a man of prayer. Even Hitler and Mussolini went to church. Even that monster Idi Amin masqueraded as a devout Moslem. But do religious people do what Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin did? Mobutu Sese Seko presented himself as a devout Catholic and was dining and wining with Catholic priests and bishops while committing all sorts of crimes and corrupt deeds against his people and his country. Edgar can build the so-called National House of Prayer and present himself as a man who prays to God to help him solve national problems, but behind that façade, the man is something else – evil.
And you hear it every day in Edgar’s language. Edgar’s language is that of threats – crush this one or that one, sort out this one or that one, fix this one or that one. That’s Edgar’s language. Is that the language of a religious man? In fact, it is a tendency of criminals to present themselves as very humble and religious people. Do you remember how humble and religious that criminal, Uncle Barry, was? You would leave him with your one-day baby without any suspicions of him hurting her. But he was one of the worst and most dangerous criminals this country has ever known. How else can criminals catch their prey if not by pretending to be humble, God-loving and fearing?
Anyway, when a prolonged, stubborn and heated struggle is in progress, there usually begins to emerge after a time the central and fundamental points at issue, upon the decision of which the ultimate outcome depends, and in comparison with which all the minor and petty episodes of the struggle recede more and more into the background. That, too, is how matters stand today in Zambia. What is at stake is now clear for all to see. It is all about Edgar defending his hold on power and privileges. He is not ready to lose the August 11 elections at any cost, even if that means closing The Post and sending all its employees on the street, manipulating the electoral process to such a degree that its results will be rejected by the losers and plunge the country into post-election chaos.
Edgar is not even ready to listen to the voice of reason from the Church. He is only listening to his own inner demons.
But at the rate Edgar is going, he is likely to end up at The Hague.
- See more at: http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=18963#sthash.jlK8zXdS.dpuf
Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, JOURNALISM, PF, PRESS FREEDOM, THE POST
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(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) Police hunt down British journalists
Sunday, 11 August 2013 00:00
Sunday Mail Reporter
Police in Harare have launched a manhunt for British journalists Jerome Starkey and Jan Raath for spreading falsehoods that Zimbabwe signed a secret deal to export uranium to Iran for the manufacture of “a nuclear weapon”. In a case likely to embarrass the British media, outgoing Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Mr Gift Chimanikire yesterday denied statements the journalists attributed to him confirming the said deal.
Mr Chimanikire, in an interview with The Sunday Mail, described the story as “silly, speculative and dangerous”. The Secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Mr Prince Mupazviriho, also revealed that Zimbabwe does not have a uranium mine.
While police remained tight-lipped last night for fear of jeopardising investigations, impeccable sources privy to the case said law enforcement agents were keen to interview the two scribes and Mr Chimanikire.
In a story published under the headline “Mugabe signs secret deal to sell uranium to Tehran” in British newspaper The Times yesterday and picked by numerous news agencies, Starkey and Raath alleged the Government undertook to supply Iran raw materials for nuclear weapon production in breach of international sanctions.
Quoting Mr Chimanikire, the two journalists, who co-authored the article with Michael Evans and Hugh Tomlinson, also wrote that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed last year to facilitate the exports.
The article could undermine Zimbabwe’s foreign relations.
The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme citing fears that Tehran intends to construct a bomb.
Iranian authorities have, however, since made it clear that the programme seeks to harness energy.
Mr Mupazviriho dismissed the journalists’ report as false, adding that Zimbabwe does not even have a uranium mine.
“That is a blatant lie. Whoever is saying that is being malicious. We have never issued any licence to any Iranian company. We do not have any uranium mine at the moment,” said Mr Mupazviriho, who also chairs Zimbabwe’s Mining Affairs Board, which, among other duties, considers mineral exports.
Mr Chimanikire said Government has not issued uranium mining licences since exploration was still being conducted in Kanyemba, Zambezi Valley.
He said Starkey deliberately misrepresented information he gave him in an interview last Thursday to tarnish the image of Zimbabwe.
“I wouldn’t have said that (the alleged uranium deal). No licence has been issued. I never said such a silly thing. We are exploring and not mining. He thought of selling his paper by being untruthful. I tried to call him after hearing about the article, but his phone is not reachable.
“It is a speculative and dangerous story. We have nothing to export because we have not mined. He just showed the typical mentallity bent on saying negative things about Zimbabwe.”
Mr Chimanikire, a high-ranking MDC-T official, said Starkey approached him for the interview while also clearly demonstrating a preconceived agenda to soil Zimbabwe’s diamond trade.
“That journalist was very notorious (mischievous). His name is Jerome Starkey, the Africa correspondent for The Times of London. He came to my office on Thursday asking whether Zimbabwe’s economy would recover.
“I gave him a synopsis of the mining sector. I told him that figures released at the recent Mine Entra showed that we need US$5 billion to recapitalise the sector. His (Starkey’s) thrust was to say diamonds are being stolen. So, I told him that: ‘No, there is no proof.’”
He added: “I also told him of our mineral reserves and that exploration is yet to be conducted in some areas. When I told him that uranium exploration was taking place in Kanyemba, Zambezi Valley, he then asked who our customers were and whether Iran was among them.
“I told him ‘no’, we do not determine customers; we market through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe. I also pointed out that in any case, we cannot be in a position to export uranium. I also mentioned that the Iranians were into textiles here.
“He then insisted on allegations of diamond theft to which I replied saying inspectors are allowed to go into Chiadzwa (Diamond Fields).”
Labels: GIFT CHIMANIKIRE, IRAN, JAN RAATH, JEROME STARKEY, JOURNALISM, PROPAGANDA, UK, URANIUM
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Chimanikire denies Zim-Iran uranium deal story
This article was written by Our reporter on 11 August, at 07 : 36 AM
Police in Harare have launched a manhunt for British journalists Jerome Starkey and Jan Raath for spreading falsehoods that Zimbabwe signed a secret deal to export uranium to Iran for the manufacture of “a nuclear weapon”.
In a case likely to embarrass the British media, outgoing Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire yesterday denied statements the journalists attributed to him confirming the said deal.
Chimanikire described the story as “silly, speculative and dangerous”.
The Secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Prince Mupazviriho, also revealed that Zimbabwe does not have a uranium mine.
While police remained tight-lipped last night for fear of jeopardising investigations, impeccable sources privy to the case said law enforcement agents were keen to interview the two scribes and Chimanikire.
In a story published under the headline “Mugabe signs secret deal to sell uranium to Tehran” in British newspaper The Times yesterday and picked by numerous news agencies, Starkey and Raath alleged the Government undertook to supply Iran raw materials for nuclear weapon production in breach of international sanctions.
Quoting Mr Chimanikire, the two journalists, who co-authored the article with Michael Evans and Hugh Tomlinson, also wrote that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed last year to facilitate the exports.
The article could undermine Zimbabwe’s foreign relations.
The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme citing fears that Tehran intends to construct a bomb.
Iranian authorities have, however, since made it clear that the programme seeks to harness energy.
Mupazviriho dismissed the journalists’ report as false, adding that Zimbabwe does not even have a uranium mine.
“That is a blatant lie. Whoever is saying that is being malicious. We have never issued any licence to any Iranian company. We do not have any uranium mine at the moment,” said Mupazviriho, who also chairs Zimbabwe’s Mining Affairs Board, which, among other duties, considers mineral exports.
Chimanikire said Government has not issued uranium mining licences since exploration was still being conducted in Kanyemba, Zambezi Valley.
He said Starkey deliberately misrepresented information he gave him in an interview last Thursday to tarnish the image of Zimbabwe.
“I wouldn’t have said that (the alleged uranium deal). No licence has been issued. I never said such a silly thing. We are exploring and not mining.
“He thought of selling his paper by being untruthful. I tried to call him after hearing about the article, but his phone is not reachable.
“It is a speculative and dangerous story. We have nothing to export because we have not mined. He just showed the typical mentallity bent on saying negative things about Zimbabwe.”
Chimanikire, a high-ranking MDC-T official, said Starkey approached him for the interview while also clearly demonstrating a preconceived agenda to soil Zimbabwe’s diamond trade.
“That journalist was very notorious (mischievous). His name is Jerome Starkey, the Africa correspondent for The Times of London. He came to my office on Thursday asking whether Zimbabwe’s economy would recover.
“I gave him a synopsis of the mining sector. I told him that figures released at the recent Mine Entra showed that we need US$5 billion to recapitalise the sector. His (Starkey’s) thrust was to say diamonds are being stolen. So, I told him that: ‘No, there is no proof’.”
He added: “I also told him of our mineral reserves and that exploration is yet to be conducted in some areas. When I told him that uranium exploration was taking place in Kanyemba, Zambezi Valley, he then asked who our customers were and whether Iran was among them.
“I told him ‘no’, we do not determine customers; we market through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe. I also pointed out that in any case, we cannot be in a position to export uranium. I also mentioned that the Iranians were into textiles here.
“He then insisted on allegations of diamond theft to which I replied saying inspectors are allowed to go into Chiadzwa (Diamond Fields).”
Labels: GIFT CHIMANIKIRE, IRAN, JAN RAATH, JEROME STARKEY, JOURNALISM, PRINCE MUPAZVIRIHO, PROPAGANDA, URANIUM
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Kenyan journalist detained in Harare
26/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A KENYAN journalist has been detained in Zimbabwe for entering the country to cover the July 31 polls without requisite accreditation.
Charles Omondi was detained at the Harare International Airport by immigration on Thursday on allegations that he did not have adequate accreditation papers as required by Zimbabwe Electoral Laws.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is responsible for the accreditation of all journalists intending to cover the polls next Wednesday.
Human rights lawyers said on Thursday they were battling to secure Omondi’s release who works for the Nairobi-based the Nation newspaper.
“We sent a lawyer, Wellington Pasipanodya from our media lawyers’ network but he was denied to see him,” said Jacqueline Chikakano, a legal officer with the Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe Chapter.
“He was told that he is not on Zimbabwe soil since he is yet to be legally allowed into the country. I called an immigration official they said there is nothing that can be done as he will be deported,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from Immigration but sources said Omondi was likely to be deported later Friday.
Labels: CHARLES OMONDI, JOURNALISM, KENYA
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Watching the Watchdog
By Editor
Thu 25 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
IT'S very sad that things had to come to a point where the Zambian Watchdog website had to be blocked by state authorities.
We may not be sure if this is the right way of dealing with the perceived irresponsibility, transgressions and inadequacies of the Watchdog. But we are sure that something had to be done by the Watchdog itself and change its practices or other forces in society would be mobilised to stop or change their practices. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked: " I shall never tolerate the newspapers to say or do anything against my interest; they may publish a few little articles with just a little poison in them, but one fine morning somebody will shut their mouths."
And Elizabeth Weise, a USA Today correspondent made an interesting observation in 1998: "Cyberspace is as adept at spreading rumour and innuendo as it is in transmitting fact - and is often blind to the distinction."
When someone anonymous says something disparaging about someone with a name, that's a real problem. And this has been the problem with the Watchdog - identified people were being defamed every day by unidentified people hiding in cyberspace. In secrecy, those running the Watchdog wielded a lot of power. And it is a well known fact that power corrupts, and there is nothing more corrupting than power exercised in secret. Crimes were being committed against many innocent people who were left with little capacity or opportunity to defend themselves. Many citizens don't know the people behind the Watchdog and if they had any offices anywhere in this country. Lives have been ruined by the Watchdog with impunity.
Under the protections and privileges of a free news media is the responsibility to act fairly. And the Watchdog as an online news media outlet is bound by the same rules that apply to the print media, television or radio. Suggesting that 'new media' needs 'new rules' to determine the ethics of online journalism is like suggesting that there by different laws for a 200-pound boulder and a soccer ball.
No one is looking for an angelic online news media from the Watchdog. A free press is not necessarily an angelic free press. But there has to be some ethical standards that are adhered to. If we do not live with ethics, not only as individuals but also as journalists, how can we teach or demand ethics from others in society?
In our zeal to exercise our rights, we have no right to terrorise innocent victims. Readers don't expect us to be guided by situational ethics, to speak high-mindedly then to pursue every hiccup as if it were the truth. A fair press is a just press.
We dislike censorship. Like an appendix, it is useless when inert and dangerous when active. The minute you establish the principle that there can be exceptions to censorship for offensive speech, there is no principled way to limit it. The first exception will not be the last.
Censorship can never be the solution. The only thing worse than out-of-control press acting with no regard for decency would be restricting that very same press. As Benjamin Franklin, printer and statesman observed in 1757, "it is ill-manners to silence a fool and cruelty to let him go on".
But there has to be responsibility also on the part of the press. There are things that can be done and things that can't be done. The press has the responsibility not only to report the truth, but to do so with a sense of accountability and decorum.
We journalists shouldn't cheat ourselves that democratic politics, which alone underwrites our craft, is a self-perpetuating machine that can withstand any amount of undermining. It breaks down, and when this happens, the consequences are well known and need no further disquisition. Media which are not free to criticize government, or that are not representative of the broad spectrum of society, are inherently limited in their capacity to support and bolster democracy.
In a world of one-point political agendas and armies of spin doctors trying to tailor the truth, a free press has to be more vigilant, professional and courageous than ever before.
And it is clear from the conduct of our online publications like the Watchdog that the heaviest restriction upon the freedom of public opinion is not the official censorship of the press, but the unofficial censorship by a press which exists not so much to express opinion as to manufacture it. There's no press where everything goes that can expect to survive for a long time. We all know that when truth is no longer free, freedom is no longer real. All freedom springs from necessity.
The tragedy with journalism lies in its impermanence; the very topicality which gives it brilliance condemns it to an early death.
There are too many lies being peddled in our online publications. This is not to say news media outlets can't get anything wrong. We all do get things wrong - it's a fact of life. But there is a difference between one who cares about telling the truth and one who doesn't care about telling lies. Our online publications, especially the Watchdog, do not seem to care much about truth and lies. One can be taught about what is meant by honesty in journalism but one cannot be taught to be honest.
However, in any given discipline, there are people who pursue it with honour and with decency and there are people who don't. To say all the online media are terrible wouldn't be quite accurate or fair because there are those who try to do a good job and in an honest way.
The first duty of any new media outlet is to be accurate. If it be accurate, it follows that it is fair.
In the electronic age, the argument that something is 'out there' could justify printing almost anything - which compels us to remember that what separates news media outlets from 'out there' is editors. We must edit - not to stifle conflict or conviction but to eliminate debasement. Anything can be posted on our online publications. One can say anything about anyone on these online publications with impunity. How is this possible? What are the consequences of allowing this to continue?
We hope the other online publications are learning something from the experiences of the Watchdog, and that their editors will start to edit comments from their readers before they are posted. They have to take responsibility for everything that is published on their websites. The comments that come from readers are their responsibility. These are the same rules and standards that apply to the print media, television and radio stations, and they are not exempt from them.
While enjoying our freedom of expression and indeed press, it is wise to remember that the toes we are stepping on today may be connected to the rump that we must kiss tomorrow. We should tell the truth as only intellectual honesty can discern the truth. We should do what is in conscience needful and right. No set of professional ethics is better than your own personal ethics.
We maintain that if we in the press are hated anywhere, it is because we have failed to maintain the proper standards.
All people know the same truth. Our lives consist of how we choose to distort it. For a journalist, freedom starts when he decides to tell the truth. Committed journalism is so important that it is constitutionally protected. We need to think all the time about what we are doing with that privilege. When we write without moral perspective, it is said we are like the atheist in his coffin: all dressed up and no place to go.
We all want to do right and do well. But if you don't do well, you are not going to be in a position to do right. There are laws to protect the freedom of the press' speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press, especially the anonymous online press. This has to change. The people too deserve protection. Their privacy and human dignity is not something they are merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite.
These are issues we need to reflect and meditate over deeply as we address the issue of the Watchdog's blocking. It shouldn't be denunciations for the sake of denunciation or condemnations for the sake of condemnation. Some of the things that have been going on in our online publications are worse than the British media hacking scandals.
There, journalists were arrested for their criminal behaviour and no one criticised, condemned or called the British authorities tyrants or dictators. All the journalists kept quiet while their colleagues who had committed crimes were being visited by the law. Even the so-called human rights organisations that defend freedom of expression and of the press kept quiet and watched.
The News of The World weekly newspaper, which was at the centre of the hacking scandals, had to close. We didn't hear much being said. In this case, let reason and principles prevail as in the case of the hacking scandal.
Labels: JOURNALISM, MEDIA
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Dead French Photographer was State Department-Funded - Embedded With Al Qaeda
February 25, 2013
(LD) - Further indication of the depraved nature of the West's campaign against Syria, and the depraved nature of its institutions, methods, and faux-NGOs, vindicating a growing trend of ejecting Western "journalists" and NGO's from an ever increasing number of nations, it is revealed that a French photographer recently killed in Syria was embedded with terrorist militants in Idlib, northern Syria, and was working on behalf of the US State Department's National Endowment for Democracy (NED) funded "Reporters Without Borders."
The UK Daily Mail revealed in their article, "French photographer killed by flying shrapnel in Syria as rebels launch fresh offensive on police academy in Aleppo," that:
A French photographer has been killed by flying shrapnel in Syria while covering operations of an armed opposition group.
The French government said today Olivier Voisin had been working for Reporters Without Borders near the northwestern city of Idlib.
Idlib, Syria, along with much of northern Syria is admittedly overrun by Al Qaeda. In fact, a recent Washington Post article stated that northern Syria was so overrun with Al Qaeda, that Western nations along with its Arab partners have decided to ship weapons in from Daraa in southern Syria. Of course, Daraa too is a long-time hotbed for extremist activity, including Al Qaeda, years before the so-called "uprising" even began.
The Post article titled, "In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad," admits:
A surge of rebel advances in Syria is being fueled at least in part by an influx of heavy weaponry in a renewed effort by outside powers to arm moderates in the Free Syrian Army, according to Arab and rebel officials.
The new armaments, including anti-tank weapons and recoilless rifles, have been sent across the Jordanian border into the province of Daraa in recent weeks to counter the growing influence of Islamist extremist groups in the north of Syria by boosting more moderate groups fighting in the south, the officials say.
Despite the rampant extremism in the north, French photographer Olivier Voisin found himself amongst these very militants in the midst of what we are told are waves of "rebel gains." Apparently these "gains" are being made at high costs.
Voisin's organization, Reporters Without Borders, is a notorious faux-NGO that plays a pivotal role globally, undermining nations targeted by Western corporate-financier interests, working in tandem with US State Department-backed proxies in Iran, China, Russia, Sudan, and everywhere else Wall Street and London seek to plant their flag. In 2008, Reporters Without Borders received cash from the State Department-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) whose board of directors is a who's who of warmongering Neo-Conservatives and corporate special interests.
While these corporate-financier interests constitute the antithesis of "human rights," "human freedom," and "democracy," these very principles are used to leverage advantages and invoke public sympathy and support for subversion and regime change in targeted nations.
Reporters Without Borders also received cash from the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Overbrook Foundation, and the US State Department's Washington DC-based "Center for a Free Cuba." It should be noted that the Sigrid Rausing Trust also provides funding for the International Crisis Group (ICG) (along with BP, Chevron, Shell, Deutsche Bank Group, and Morgan Stanley) who in part helped blueprint and cheerlead the violence that ultimately claimed Voisin's life. In fact, the ICG includes amongst its board of directors, Kofi Annan who helped buy time for NATO militants to rearm and redeploy with a disingenuous "peace plan."
And as Syria's government and people fight against Al Qaeda militants coddled, armed, and funded by NATO, admittedly based in Turkey side-by-side US-provided Patriot missile batteries, CIA agents, as well as French and British special forces, the Western corporate-media seems only able to condemn Voisin's death along with unconfirmed, most likely fabricated accounts made by militants that Syria is firing "Scud missiles" into Aleppo. This, while confirmed, deadly car bombings bearing all of Al Qaeda's hallmarks killed scores of civilians in Damascus, and was promptly excused, dismissed, and buried by the West. In fact, the US is blocking a UN resolution that would condemn the most recent Al Qaeda bombing in Damascus which claimed over 50 lives including school children.
The runaway depravity of the West, its governments, institutions, media, and faux-NGO's are permanently disfiguring any potential concept of "international law" and has left the people of the West with a floundering legitimacy that will inevitably impact all other aspects of their life, not merely foreign policy. Criminal foreign policy is just one of many symptoms of a corrupt, corporate-financier dominated ruling oligarchy that has hijacked the institutions, charters, and social contracts that bind together a functional society. The solution is to boycott and ultimately replace these corporate-financier monopolies, by creating and cultivating local institutions that directly serve the interests of the people.
Labels: AL-QAEDA, JOURNALISM, PROPAGANDA, SYRIA, TERRORISM
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2,000 journalists to be trained on monitoring government expenditure
Time Posted: February 6, 2013 1:52 pm
The Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM), in conjunction with PANOS Institute Southern Africa, will soon embark on a project to train 2,000 journalists to monitor government expenditure in the health and education sectors.
ZAMCOM Director Oliver Kanene disclosed that the journalists will focus on how government funds on health and education infrastructure were spent.
Mr. Kanene said the reporters, who will all have to be based in Lusaka, will be empowered with smart phones that will enable them to access information on how much money government was spending on various projects in the two sectors.
He was speaking during a community radio station information and communication technologies (ICTs) training workshop for journalists in Lusaka today.
And Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) Director for Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Thomas Malama, said government and all members of the public play an important role in positively exploiting ICT for the betterment of society.
Mr. Malama said it was important for journalists to be acquainted with ICT as it was the most efficient information delivery vehicle.
He disclosed that ZICTA has so far embarked on a project to put up towers in several areas to improve access to internet services.
And PANOS Institute Southern Africa Executive Director Lillian Kiefer explained that the workshop was meant to enhance the ability of journalists in fulfilling their responsibilities using ICT tools.
Ms. Kiefer said community radio stations were an important tool in engaging government and communities on various matters.
ZANIS
Labels: CORRUPTION, JOURNALISM, PANOS, ZAMCOM
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ACC interviews Daily Mail chief-sub editor over attempted bribing of journalists
By Staff Reporters
Sun 20 Jan. 2013, 10:30 CAT
ACC officers have interviewed Zambia Daily Mail chief sub-editor Chapadongo Lungu in connection with the attempted bribing of journalists by a Lusaka-based private investigator who has since been arrested.
On Friday last week, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) officers arrested Mathews Fube together with two journalists, Dean Mwaanga and Billy Kazoka whom he attempted to bribe so that they could publish false and malicious stories about Armcor chief executive officer Gary Wadey and ZRA issues.
Mwaanga, a former Zambia Daily Mail employee was released the same day; Kazoka last week, while Fube is still in police custody.
ACC sources told The Post that Lungu was interviewed to explain what he knew about the matter.
"He was interviewed early this week to explain anything that he knew about this matter. We expect to interview many more journalists on this matter," said the sources.
But when asked if he had been interviewed by law enforcement officers in connection with the case, Lungu responded: "Not to my knowledge. I don't know anything," he said.
Last week, ACC sources said Fube was sent by a named businessman of Indian origin to frame Wadey.
"Mr Fube was sent by this businessman to look for journalists to corruptly publish false stories concerning Mr Wadey and ZRA, which stories could have put Mr Wadey in bad light. Apparently, it is not known how much Mr Fube was paid by this same businessman," the sources said.
The sources said money and some documents were confiscated in the operation.
"Mr Fube's movements were being monitored by law enforcement agencies and he was arrested together with two journalists at Arcades as he was giving one of them a KR50.00 which he claimed was for transport. These people were arrested on Friday evening and they were immediately taken to Emmasdale police station. Mr Fube is claiming that he is a private investigator and that one of his contacts gave him a story about Mr Wadey."
Labels: ACC, BRIBERY, CHAPADONGO LUNGU, DAILY MAIL, JOURNALISM
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Freedom is meaningless if it's just about being right - M'membe
By Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 11 Dec. 2012, 12:00 CAT
POST editor-in-chief Fred M'membe says he will be a journalist for as long as he lives. And M'membe says the harsh conditions in the media are making it difficult for women to take up newsroom leadership positions.
Meanwhile, M'membe says freedom is meaningless if it just about being right. Giving a talk at the Women in News (WIN) Graduate Retreat and Summit Agenda in Lusaka yesterday, M'membe, who recounted how he developed a passion for journalism, said although the field of journalism was not an easy undertaking, he had chosen to remain a journalist for the rest of his life.
"Of all the things I have done, what interests me most is being a journalist. Although I am a qualified professional in other fields, I don't consider myself to be a member of any other profession other than being a journalist.
My passport does not carry any profession other than that of being a journalist. I am a journalist with legal knowledge. I am a journalist with economic, accounting and business knowledge, but the first thing that I am is a journalist and I will be a journalist for as long as I live," he said.
M'membe said nothing was as interesting to him as journalism.
"I have been hearing for the last fifteen or so years that I want to get into politics. Yes we are all politicians but of different sorts. Politicians in the sense that there are certain things we want for our country, our people, for humanity. I have wanted those things for my country, for my people, for humanity since my teens and to this day I still want them for my people and I will continue to seek them.
"I am a journalist, and this is the terrain I have chosen to fight on, to struggle for these things from. Journalism seems to be the meaning and purpose of my life," he said.
M'membe said there was need for a lot of resources to be spent on preparing women to take up leading roles in the media and in life in general and for the realignment of work to give women a chance to compete for leadership positions.
He observed that gender equality was not about mere promotion of women, but a question of spending more resources on their development and making their conditions of work bearable.
"I am not bothered about the 50%-50%; it's not an issue for me. You cannot just come and dream some statistics that it has to be fifty, even if you know the quality does not match up to fifty or if only little work has be done to bring marginalised and discriminated people to the level where they can assert themselves effectively," M'membe said.
"The women who occupy high positions at The Post deserve to be where they are. It's not an issue of simply affirmative action but affirmative action in creating conditions that develop women to that needed high level much quicker and not discriminating them in any way although there all these other challenges," he said.
"There is injustice being committed against women, there is discrimination and marginalisation against women. But that marginalistaion, discrimination is not only unique in the domain of gender, it has been there also in other aspects of our lives."
M'membe also bemoaned the various challenges that beset women and inhibit them from attaining greater heights.
He cited the participation of women in the media industry, which he said was still in a very weak state.
"In Zambia we are still battling with things that we were battling with 20 years ago. A bit of progress has been made but more needs to be done. It is increasingly difficult for women to work in the media. The conditions are harsh for them," M'membe said. "With the tightening of budgets, it means journalists have to work longer hours and women have to do this in addition to their responsibilities when they get back home.
Sometimes they get married to men who live in places where their newspapers don't have offices, forcing them to abandon journalism and lose out in their career development."
M'membe advised women not to give up but to work hard and continue struggling for their rightful place in society.
"You have to work harder than men if you have to catch up. You have to work in a more strategic way. You have to set your goals very clearly. Of course, the ground has to be altered for you. Shift the fight to the terrain where you are comfortable," he said." It gets dark sometimes. But the morning always comes. Don't give up. Where there is a crucifixion, there's a resurrection. Don't give up. We will, working together, get it right one day."
M'membe reminded women that wherever there was a struggle to wage there was need for the promotion of a free media.
"There was a time and recently when women could not vote in nations that call themselves the most civilised nations of the world; a woman could not vote, she was not a full person, with full rights. They don't talk much about that anymore," he said.
M'membe described Zambia's current press freedom situation as good.
"We (Zambia) are better in terms of press freedom because of the efforts that many people exerted over the last 21 years. The media space that we have is not the space we had 21 years ago. We had to work for it," he said. "Of course there is humiliation in fighting for some of these things. Being behind bars is not a pleasant thing; being arrested in front of your children and friends isn't a pleasant thing … But we knew what we stood for.
Of course sometimes we got certain things wrong but it's part of the liberties we are seeking. Freedom is meaningless if it is just about being right and journalism is increasingly becoming a profession where if you make a mistake, you are taken to prison."
M'membe said liberties of the media have to be defended consistently and vigilantly in Zambia and the world over.
Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, JOURNALISM, PRESS FREEDOM, THE POST
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Love for money has dented journalism, says Sakeni
By Roy Habaalu
Thu 08 Nov. 2012, 14:00 CAT
KENNEDY Sakeni says love for money has dented the journalism profession. But Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) president Andrew Sakala says not all journalists are enticed with money. This comes in the wake of Muvi TV cameraperson Lloyd Kapusa who agreed to a K30 million out-of-court settlement after he was assaulted by William Banda.
Receiving a petition from the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) against the continued harassment of media practitioners in Lusaka on Tuesday, Sakeni who is chief government spokesperson said the state cannot act if a complainant withdraws a case.
"This love for money is what causes problems. Our hands as the state are tied. The journalist has the best answer for withdrawing a case. It's your (MLC) members that withdraw cases and there is nothing we can do, so direct your arsenals at your members," Sakeni said.
And the MLC has asked the government to take stern action against political actors who attack journalists with impunity.
Presenting a petition to Sakeni, MLC chairperson Gillies Kasongo demanded that the police be conscious in their ranks about the need for journalists to be protected when on assignments that can turn violent.
He said when journalists are attacked in police presence, the police should introduce a fast-track system of arresting culprits and taking them to court without relying and waiting on journalists to file a complaint.
"The political party should name and suspend their respective cadres found harassing journalists; and they should help take these cadres to police and court as a pledge of ridding their ranks of political violence," said Kasongo.
But Sakeni said parties that were harassing journalist were known because of their frustration.
"The problem is that people commit offences and our law enforcement agencies grow cold feet and that's what becomes a problem," Sakeni said.
And Sakala said the Muvi TV case was not a representation of a dented media profession.
"Just because one journalist withdrew a case does not paint the real picture of journalists. There are many journalists who are willing to let the law take its course. My appeal to journalists is they must not be taken by the love for money; they should resist whoever offers them money because the profession is more valuable than money, it can't be quantified in terms of money," said Sakala.
On the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act, Sakeni said it would be ready soon.
Labels: CORRUPTION, JOURNALISM, KENNEDY SAKENI
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Ethics under threat in sub-Saharan Africa, says IPI director
By Joseph Mwenda in Hamburg, Germany
Tue 11 Sep. 2012, 10:30 CAT
MEDIA ethics are under immense threat in sub-Saharan Africa because of poor salaries among journalists, says International Press Institute (IPI) director Alison McKenzie.
Lecturing International Academy of Journalism (Intajour) students in Hamburg yesterday, McKenzie said it was sad that journalists in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia inclusive, are unable to pay their bills because of poor working conditions.
"Low pay is the biggest threat to upholding media ethics in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a huge problem around the world but it is worse in Sub-Sahara Africa and Asia," she said. "A small pay makes the journalist self censored because they take money and gifts from sources."
McKenzie said compromised media practitioners cannot speak with confidence against violation of press freedom.
"Political interference and violence against journalists is bad for a free press but small pay is worse because then journalists cannot report objectively. It's easier to speak from the palace, from the top, and tell someone to get a job and improve what they are doing because you don't know what they go through in their daily life," McKenzie said.
Asked how media institutions could pay sufficient salaries to journalists who
are either under-qualified or incompetent, McKenzie said it is the responsibility of the news organization to train journalists if they see the potential.
"When you invest in training, the quality of work attracts more advertising. As IPI we are trying to organise a retreat for publishers and media owners on the importance of these things," said McKenzie.
Labels: ETHICS, IPI, JOURNALISM
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Journalism is no walk in the park - Richards
By Larry Moonze and Bivan Saluseki in Trinidad and Tobago
Tue 26 June 2012, 13:22 CAT
TRINIDAD and Tobago President Professor George Maxwell Richards says risks for media personnel are ever increasing.
Opening the 61st International Press Institute World Congress in Port-of-Spain on Sunday, President Richards said journalism was no walk in the park adding that the media influence in world affairs could not be denied and that one needed not harp on the attendant responsibilities.
He said world opinion had been galvanised as a result of media reporting and the course of history had turned accordingly.
President Richards said personal safety had been eschewed in the interest of ensuring worldwide awareness of and sometimes participation in events as they unfolded.
"As we are witnessing the risks for media personnel are ever increasing, as they are for diplomats, in a changing world environment which does not guarantee safety," he said.
"The dangers for foreign media as for local are very real in areas of conflict. Journalism is no walk in the park so to speak. The reports of 110 journalists killed in 2009 and 66 in 2011 give no comfort whatsoever and the record of deaths over the last five years should lead to sustained thrust in the international arena in the matter of impunity for those who threaten, harass or kill journalists, with impunity seems to be the norm. Perhaps the time has come for some form of internationally recognised immunity to be agreed such as that afforded to agencies such as the Red Cross so that the risks to journalists may be minimised if not eradicated. This cannot be a concern confined within the IPI."
President Richards said the 2012 IPI world congress was being held in the Caribbean for the first time.
He said hosting the congress was important for the Caribbean region because the area was well informed of what was happening in other parts of the world through the media.
"What I am not sure that outside of the Caribbean, the Caribbean is as well reported as it might be," President Richards said.
"Perhaps after this congress we may be better known and our news may be more widely sought and disseminated globally. There is much about the Caribbean that is unique and which is worthy of wider international exposure."
On the state of the state-owned media, President Richards said in some countries, the control exercised by the state media was not muted while in others it was less so.
"I believe that the reality of political systems as they exist and the will of the people within them must inform the conclusions at which you arrive and the way forward," he said.
President Richards called for career development with some serious lessons in language arts and communication skills, including grammar.
The IPI congress opened on Sunday in Port of Spain, Trinidad, with a focus on how the media can operate in challenging world of internet, harassment, prosecution and death.
Media executives and editors have been meeting in the resort coastal city of Port of Spain examining many challenges and opportunities facing the media, including review of online media ethics, new business strategies, the role of state-owned media, in-depth conversation with formerly jailed journalists, environmental issues and corruption.
IPI executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie singled out Syria as being the most lethal country in terms of journalists' deaths this year.
McKenzie said Mexico was the most violent and 72 journalists had died this year worldwide.
"We will also recognise the depth and breadth of talent within the press freedom community and pause to honour those whose service and strengths have been shining examples to all of us," said McKenzie.
And Pansy Tlakula who is special rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to information said newsrooms were becoming more and more junior in terms of personnel and lacked resources.
She said lack of resources was leading junior journalists into accepting bribes.
Tlakula also said another problem facing media in Africa was the issue of being considered as opposition by ruling parties. She said the media was considered opposition because most opposition political parties were weak.
Peter Preston, former editor of the UK Guardian, and CNN International anchor Jim Clancy were among dozens of high-profile speakers and panelists at this year's Congress.
IPI is a more than 60-year-old organisation with members in 120 countries dedicated to advocating and ensuring press freedom. The event was organised locally in partnership with the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and the Publishers & Broadcasters Association (TTPBA).
The Post is the only African newspaper with the highest number of personnel attending the Congress.
Labels: JOURNALISM
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It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko
Friday, 08 June 2012 22:02
It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko, is to resign with immediate effect, before even this useless Zifa board quits, so that we can get a fresh crop of reporters who have no attachment whatsoever to these football leaders.
In 20 years in this job, I have to confess today that I have never felt as powerless, if not as useless, as I did throughout this very depressing week for a national game that means so much for us as a people.
Twenty years ago, my arrival here coincided with the explosion of the golden period that gave us the Dream Team, Reinhard Fabisch, and memories too beautiful to be forgotten.
This week, as I surveyed the wreckage of our emotions, after the events at the National Sports Stadium, all that I saw were ugly things scattered all around a game that has become a part of the person that I am.
I was just a mere Upper Sixth student, lost in the jungle of Sanyati at a Baptist mission school way back in 1989, when Zimbabwe last experienced the pain that came with losing an opening World Cup qualifying game.
Out there in our private world, detached from the rest of the country going to school every week day, doing sports on Saturday and going to church on Sunday to hear Pastor Ndlula preach, we didn’t feel the full weight of the pain of that defeat by the Warriors.
That it happened away in Algeria, when we lost 0-3, and against a team that was clearly the best in Africa by a mile at that time and, easily one of the best in the world, probably diluted the pain. It was a golden era of Algerian football and seven years earlier, they had shocked the globe by beating defending European champions, West Germany, 2-1 in their opening match at the ’82 World Cup.
That the same West Germany team went all the way to the final, where they were beaten by eventual World Cup winners Italy, put into sharp focus the quality of the Algerian national team of that era.
A few months after handing Zimbabwe a 3-0 defeat in that opening World Cup qualifier, the Algerians were crowned champions of Africa after winning a Nations Cup they hosted — thrashing Nigeria 5-1, Cote d’Ivoire 3-0 and Egypt 2-0 in the group stages. A 2-1 win over Senegal in the semi-finals and a 1-0 victory over Nigeria, in the final at the 5 July 1962 Stadium before an estimated 200 000 delirious home fans, took Algeria to the Promised Land and confirmed their superiority.
Rabah Madjer, Djamel Menad, Moussa Saib, Tahar Cherif El Ouazzanni and Cherif Oudjani were the stars that drove that Algerian team to greatness and the destroyers-in-chief when we succumbed to that 0-3 mauling in Algiers in that opening World Cup qualifier.
But, hidden away in our hideout in the Sanyati forests, haunted by the challenges that my Geography studies threw at me and how to juggle them with my passion for William Shakespeare, the result in Algiers in ’89 came and went quickly without provoking a tsunami in my emotional bank.
Twenty-three years later the Warriors lost, again, in the opening game of a World Cup qualifier and, this time, the proximity of the events at the giant stadium, to every facet of my life, brought the full weight of the pain home.
Having been raised throughout a professional career where the events of Algiers ’89 were somehow avoided, with the Warriors seemingly perfecting the art of winning their opening World Cup matches during that period, Sunday felt like a dagger being driven right into the heart. And, the worst part about it was the feeling of helplessness that swept through my body this week, a guilty conscience, triggered by a sense of betrayal to the ordinary people who looked up to me to say something, say anything as a form of protest, which weighed down heavily on my soul.
Some were bold and said it right in my eye, like the guy I met at the traffic lights on the corner of Samora Machel Avenue and Julius Nyerere Way on Wednesday, who didn’t mince his words and pointed his finger at me for letting a huge constituency down by my silence.
Others were not so bold, and used a battery of third parties, who came from all directions and relayed the same message that there was a strong feeling, among the football fans, that journalism was letting them down at a time when it was supposed to protest and, of all people, I was the main culprit. Others didn’t say anything but, then, they didn’t need to do so because the cold look in their eyes said it all.
They all seemed to be speaking on behalf of Henry Anatole Grunwald, the celebrated journalist who became the Editor-In-Chief of Time, and the message was the same:
“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”
The signs of horror, as far as they were all concerned, were there for everyone to see but, incredibly, journalism was silent, this was its greatest fault, it wasn’t speaking, it wasn’t doing so immediately.
The Written Protests
Hope Mandiopera
Mr Sharuko, I told you before the game kuti don’t wait to write after the game, see where your praise has got us? Why are you afraid to call a spade a spade? Why can’t you take Dube, Rahman and Gumede to the cleaners? How can they drop a player who plays regularly for Charlton Athletic and field the tried, tested and failed Nyandoro, Nengomasha? I cannot believe Rahman can drop a player who plays regularly for Charlton and prefer those old age-cheats who play in Super Diski. Some of them are close to 40yrs of age. You keep quiet but you are the prominent sports journalist in the country. Where are the real journalists who call a spade a spade?
Zeitgeist Mpofu
How can a team win while playing a boozers’ friendly match? If Zifa is serious, they must do something soon or should resign immediately. We don’t care even if we play without a coach, Rahman seems a lost sheep trying old horses like Esrom and Nengomasha who no longer command first team jerseys at their respective clubs.
Simon Mbendera
Guys, for how long are we going to sit and watch our football being taken to the DOGS like this? The current Zifa board is the worst the nation has ever had and one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that. We need an operation, ‘Let’s Save Zim Soccer’ vakomana, the same way yamakaita that operation to persuade companies to sponsor the most beautiful game.
Farai C Matambanadzo
To Jonathan Mashingaidze, your utterances are uncalled for, Sir. With all due respect, you have failed the supporters of this country. Yes, the hooliganism was the last thing we wanted to happen. It’s bad. If you really had the nation at heart how could you bring back Gumbo considering his shortcomings? When we lost to Nigeria, he was the guy in charge. The players went on a drinking spree and brought women into their rooms. Today he just shows us his technical appreciation of the game. We are all Zimbabweans, Sir, and we love our team. When we came to the ground, we are not coming to see Musona or Esrom. We come because we are proud of our country. Don’t hurt our emotions for your personal ambitions, Mr CEO. We are Zimbabweans and this is our team. Don’t play with our emotions. Imimi ana Sharuko ndimi munonyora mapepa muchipuruzira zvidhakwa izvi. Mapeza came in and pushed us up the ladder and this one is taking us down. Good luck Zimbabwe in Maputo.
Simbarashe Chiminya
Leave Rahman alone, the strikers failed to score and the whole team lacked urgency. It’s only that Rahman has never been the favourite of many supporters and also that he took over at a bad time where there is too much politics and backstabbing.
Itai Musengeyi
The bottom line is Zimbabwe, just like the England national soccer team, does not have quality players to compete at the big stage. The English supporters and their media make so much noise about their national team but it always crumbles terribly. That is the same with our Warriors. Let’s be honest guys. Our star player, Musona, was not playing regularly in Germany, his strike partner Chinyama is said to have fitness problems, Esrom and Tinashe are no longer regulars at their bases and these are the guys we trust with delivering. Hameno!
Shuvai Mataure
Mwana abvunzwa kuchikoro kuti ndezvipi zvikafu zvinodyiwa muZimbabwe akati “rice, nyama nemaWarriors.”
Tim Makoni
What pains most, for some of us mere ordinary fans, is not that our team has lost, because we seemed to know that was inevitable, but that we don’t have powers to change what we all see is wrong with our football. To make it worse, the people tasked with playing the role of supervisor, analyst and critic, the journalists, have suddenly gone into the caves hiding from something that we don’t know. Robson used to be vocal in the past and would hit right on the head but he has since been muted and you wonder, is this all about money changing hands behind closed doors to buy silence and support? You find individuals being glorified today, for doing this and that, and the newspapers and journalists seem to be in a race to become the first to heap all the praises on the Zifa leaders and very little is given to scrutiny. It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko, is to resign with immediate effect, before even this useless Zifa board quits, so that we can get a fresh crop of reporters who have no attachment whatsoever to these football leaders. We are being taken for a ride, as a country, by a Zifa board that has no clue whatsoever about how to manage the game and all they talk about is this and that individual and, the sad part of it, is that they come out tomorrow in the newspapers being glorified for that. I don’t expect any criticism on Zifa to come from ZTV or the radio stations for obvious reasons but, seriously, when things are as bad as they are in our football today, I believe we have a lot of newspapers to take care of the mess. The question is — Why is this not happening? Can someone out there give me an answer please?
The Andrew Jennings Story
Andrew Jennings is an award-winning British sports journalist who has dedicated his life to covering what he believes is wrong with Fifa and the International Olympic Committee.
He has also written a number of books on Fifa corruption and how the world’s most influential sporting organisation runs its affairs from its headquarters in Zurich.
Jennings is banned from Fifa functions but that hasn’t stopped him from his mission.
In his latest contribution in The British Journalism Review, Spinning the Olympics, Jennings asks a big question and wonders whether the spin doctors, who make a living out of giving a beautiful image to an ugly picture, have infiltrated the BBC and other British newspapers.
It sounds very familiar to our challenges in sport today and how the local media is reacting.
“Have dirty tricks spin-doctors from Doha and Zurich captured BBC Sport and its impressive global reach?” writes Jennings.
“These well-funded conmen have already captured some of London’s top reporters in the news agencies and the newspapers. There’s a private club of sports reporters who bring us the news and write about the Olympics. It is called the Olympic Journalists’ Association.
“Run your eye down the membership list and you’ll recognise many of the bylines from the sports pages, radio, television and the wires — Mihir Bose, David Bond, Paul Kelso and Ashling O’Connor — people who cover not just the Olympics, but also Fifa and the other international sports federations. And there’s Charles Battle. No journalist, he. He’s a Georgia lawyer-turned-Olympic consultant who suitcased thousands of dollars in cash from the Caribbean to Florida to win an IOC member’s vote for Atlanta’s bid to host the 1996 Olympics.
“And then there’s John Boulter, former British 800-metre runner, a past member of the once-powerful Adidas International Relations Team and Jean-Claude Schupp, also one of the Adidas team that, from the 1970s, intervened in leadership elections at the IOC, Fifa and IAAF. What on earth were those people doing in the reporters’ club? Whatever happened to journalists’ independence, keeping a distance from the people we write about?
“THE MEMBERSHIP LIST SAYS A LOT ABOUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH SPORTS JOURNALISM, THE LACK OF SCRUTINY AND SKEPTICISM THAT IS ITS HALLMARK.
“Jean-Marie Weber was another member of the reporters’ club. Weber was the bagman for the discredited ISL sports marketing company, handing over US$100 million in bribes to top sports officials in return for multi-billion-dollar marketing contracts for the Olympics and football’s World Cup. That reporters let the media masseurs into their private club is just one symptom of a much bigger problem — lack of scrutiny. Sport is big business, holds huge sway over politicians, and, as London has learned, can be used to eat up acres of land, destroy public spaces, suspend civil liberties and grant preferential tax deals. It is in the public interest that sport should be properly scrutinised.
“It’s so much more fun on the other side. I’ve had a hoot exposing sports secrets over the years. I got a suspended jail sentence in Switzerland for saying that (former) IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch was, corrupt — I’m really proud of that.
“I’M QUITE CHUFFED TO HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM FIFA PRESS CONFERENCES AND PREMISES SINCE 2003, WHEN I PUBLISHED A DOCUMENTED STORY ABOUT A SECRET BONUS BLATTER PAID HIMSELF. I TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT.
“And that’s another thing. You meet the nicest, funniest people — and the finest journalists — outside the club. “There’s Jean-Francois Tanda in Zurich, lawyer-turned-reporter using the courts to force Fifa’s leaders to publish a devastating criminal investigation into who got the US$100 million in contract kickbacks — from Jean-Marie Weber. There’s The Sunday Times Insight team of Claire Newell and Jonathan Calvert, who covertly recorded some Fifa leaders soliciting bribes — and forced their expulsion.
“When I visit British journalism schools I quote the late Louis Heren’s advice to a young reporter to find out ‘Why is this lying bastard lying to me?’, and Lord Northcliffe’s ‘News is what somebody, somewhere, wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising.’ I invite the students to chant these calls to arms back at me — and they do. It’s very heartening.”
Crying Out For A Jennings
What is very clear, at this crucial moment in our football, is that the game’s fans — its biggest constituency — are crying out loudly for someone like Andrew Jennings, a journalist who takes no prisoners and who can bring out the beast in this Zifa board. Zifa did pretty well to brush me with all the black paint that I was part of the Asiagate match-fixing machinery and they have found that to be a convenient shield whenever I ask questions about why they are doing this and that thing.
There is no doubt that Zifa are driven by a boiling passion to silence me and the number of damning letters they have written everywhere, in this country and around the world over the past year, trying to gag me, confirms just that. The good thing is that not everyone on the board subscribes to that and, as so often happens, the leaks come out and you get to know of what is being planned and what has so far been done.
Some of the stuff is very scary, some of the stuff I don’t even lose sleep over and some of the stuff is just what you expect from guys in a corner.
The Zifa leaders are right to question why, if Asiagate happened on such a scale, the journalists missed it and wonder, as they always do, if that miss was deliberate because of certain personal interests. The Italian fans are also right to question why, if match-fixing repeatedly happens on such a grand scale in their country, their journalists, in a country that has the Gazetta delo Sport newspaper, seem to always miss it and wonder if those misses are deliberate because of certain personal interests.
Turkish fans are right to question why, if match-fixing keeps stalking their football the way it does, their journalists always seem to miss it, when it happens, and wonder if those misses are deliberate because of certain interests.
Until The British Sunday Times secretly recorded Amos Adamu and his Fifa colleagues, asking for bribes, we all believed votes for World Cup hosts were transparent and the public have a right to ask, now that they know that wasn’t the case, why the global media didn’t pick that out early. But what this shows is that there are misses and hits in this industry, and it might not be all related to personal interests, because if we go the way some Zifa leaders have gone with Asiagate, then the Gazetta delo Sport, would have long closed because they keep missing all the Italian match-fixing scandals when they happen.
All the Turkish football writers, using this same template, should also be fired because, just like their Italian counterparts, they keep missing the match-fixing scandals when they happen and only catch up with the story later after police raids.
Andrew Jennings reveals in his presentation that henchmen have been hired to try and nail him and Peter Hargitay, a Swiss-Hungarian crisis manager, even tried to rubbish him by telling a British newspaper that he used to be a member of the Communist Party, just like Lord Triesman, then the FA chairman and leader of England’s 2018 World Cup bidding team, and they studied at the same university.
While Lord Triesman was indeed a former Communist Party member, Jennings wasn’t and, crucially, they never went to the same university. But in football such gossip can be taken as fact and when Lord Triesman testified in British Parliament about the failed England 2018 World Cup bid, he said something revealing about his visit to Blatter in Zurich.
“The first part of it involved him (Blatter) interrogating me as to whether Andrew Jennings was one of my very close friends and whether we had been to university together,” said Lord Triesman. “I think he was surprised to hear, because he had been briefed that that was the case, that we didn’t know each other at all. Anyway, he was deeply concerned about that and he pressed that point at some length.”
There is one last connection I have with Andrew Jennings and it’s something being used against us by those who suffered our scrutiny back in 2006.
“I reported on the vast ticket rackets run by (then) Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. Viewers saw him threaten to spit on me at Zurich airport,” writes Jennings in his presentation.
“In another encounter, on the street in Trinidad, Warner told me: ‘Go f*** yourself.’”
Warner, of course, is gone but others remain in the trenches today. No prizes, of course, for guessing.
To God be the Glory!
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Musonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Text Feedback — +263772545199
Email — robsharuko@gmail.com
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Labels: JOURNALISM
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It's impossible to fight corruption without journalists - Kitwe DC
By Post Staff
Fri 04 May 2012, 14:00 CAT
KITWE district commissioner Elias Kamanga says it is impossible to fight corruption and enhance good governance without the watchful eye of journalists. And information and broadcasting minister Fackson Shamenda has assured the media in Zambia that they are free to operate independently.
Commemorating the World Press Freedom Day in Kitwe yesterday, Kamanga said access to information remains one of the crucial tenets of democracy, the rule of law and upholding of human rights in the country.
He said the media was the fourth estate in every democratic society and it was no doubt the fundamental principle of separation of powers.
Kamanga said President Michael Sata and the PF government held the media in high esteem because of the significant role it played of providing checks and balances to various institutions and the government.
"This year's Press Freedom Day beckons the commitment the government has shown towards having a constitution that guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The government has reiterated about its commitment to seeing that the Freedom of Information Bill is enacted into law because it appreciates the power of information in the socio-economic development of the country," Kamanga said.
He said the importance of free flow of information in a democratic dispensation like Zambia could not be overemphasised as the government recognised how information could influence society.
Kamanga said World Press Freedom Day should offer citizens, journalists and stakeholders an opportunity to reflect on the need for Zambia to have a piece of legislation that would guarantee freedom of the media in the country.
And Shamenda said freedom of the press was not only a campaign promise but it was also enshrined in the PF's manifesto.
"On behalf of the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, I would like to assure you that you are free," Shamenda said.
He cautioned, however, that press freedom should be accompanied with responsibility by its custodians.
"There is also a clause that you should be responsible because there are others also who would like to enjoy their freedom. So I would like to make it very clear, that friends in the media you can never get any better assurances than you are getting now," he said.
Shamenda said journalists must strive to uphold good principles in their duties even amidst political pressure.
"Some of you offered your services and became mercenaries, Judas Iscariots. Honestly, can you say for you to produce a documentary of Chanda Chiimba the III, you blame the MMD? I think individuals should have basic principles, at least the minimum," he said in reference to the freelance journalist credited for the infamous Stand Up for Zambia documentaries.
"Even Judas Iscariot realised what he did was bad, so he killed himself after betraying Jesus."
He said journalists in some other countries were being murdered and that he could only imagine if Zambian journalists would qualify to practice in those countries because some of them were ‘chickens'."
"Fortunately, we equally have among ourselves those who were courageous journalists even before they were given this freedom; so now feel free, you have the freedom to learn what you practiced," Shamenda said. "You should be celebrating and telling the world about how a free press can be achieved."
He said the challenge was now up to the journalists to help the government to come with legislation to protect journalists and those that would come after them.
Shamenda also sought to know why the media were dragging their feet on the launch of the Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) which had the blessings of the PF government.
And Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president Anthony Mulowa urged the public media to take advantage of the government's assurance that it was free to operate professionally and independently.
Mulowa also urged the media to endeavour to capture divergent issues that affect society apart from politics.
And commemorating World Press Freedom Day in Chipata, Eastern Province minister Charles Banda said media freedom plays a crucial role in the transformation of society.
Banda said a free media transforms societies by simplifying the decision-making process with information such as empowering individuals to take control of their destines.
He urged journalists not to be used as tools of oppression but report objectively to help transform societies.
"As government, we shall ensure that we provide good legislation that would make the media flourish. Most importantly, we want to see improved conditions for the scribes so that they do not compromise their ethics by accepting bribes or favours from news sources," said Banda.
Southern Province minister Obvious Mwaliteta praised the media for playing an important role in the transformation of societies which resonated well with the PF's manifesto.
In reference to Robiana Muteka whose case was highlighted by the Post Lifestyle, Mwaliteta in a speech read on his behalf by Southern Province permanent secretary Edwin Zumbunu said the media was a mirror of society, hence the government's interest to see progress in the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill.
"This year's theme underscores the importance of the media to transforming societies…just here in Livingstone; we had a case of Robiana Muteka who had a growing tumour on his body. After the case was reported in the local media, the PF government facilitated for Robiana to be taken to Lusaka for specialist treatment," said Mwaliteta.
And former MISA Zambia chairperson Fr Frank Bwalya said young journalists should be courageous when executing their daily duties.
Fr Bwalya said media practitioners must also uphold professional and ethical demands of the profession.
And former Kitwe town clerk Ali Simwinga said the recently released draft constitution which had a clause on press freedom had addressed past imbalances.
Simwinga said the media, being the fourth estate, was an important stakeholder and journalists in the country must be extremely proud to belong to the profession.
Labels: CORRUPTION, ELIAS KAMANGA, FACKSON SHAMENDA, JOURNALISM, WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
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Courage more effective than good laws - Shamenda
By Kombe Chimpinde
Thu 03 May 2012, 09:00 CAT
INFORMATION and labour minister Fackson Shamenda says courage is more effective than good laws. And Shamenda yesterday said journalists should learn to observe time.
Meanwhile journalists countrywide today commemorate World Press Freedom Day with the theme in Zambia being "Access to information, a prerequisite to a transformed society."
Opening a media stakeholder's conference at government complex in Lusaka, Shamenda challenged journalists to be courageous in discharging their duties.
He reminded journalists that much as they wanted favourable media laws, some media like The Post had managed to stand out and be the voice of the people even under hostile media laws under the MMD regime.
Shamenda said The Post was able to take on government because the paper had the citizens on its side.
He said if The Post managed to stand up to government, other media organisations should also have had the courage to do so.
Shamenda wondered if there were two laws which made The Post stand up to MMD and the other media fail to do so.
"Is it only The Post Newspaper who were using a different law as compared to the law that the rest of you were using? It is because we had courageous men and women. So you should search yourselves. That is the starting point not the law," he said.
Shamenda said The Post's stand on several issues against MMD was sheer courage buttressed by people.
He said courage also meant that journalists should be able to go to prison in defence of the truth.
"Prisons are made for courageous people like you," said Shamenda to some journalists' disapproval.
Shamenda said without courage, journalists could not be found on the frontline like in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said without courageous journalists, it would be difficult to watch footage from the frontline.
Shamenda said courage was more effective journalism than just good laws.
He said his statement did not mean that the government was against enacting good laws but that courage and good laws went side by side.
Shamenda said there was so much talk about implementation of legislation that would provide an enabling environment but less talk on the levels of inefficiency by some scribes in discharging their noble duty.
"I always believe that it is not a piece of a paper which will guarantee you the freedom, any profession what so ever, is a very risky profession," he said.
Shamenda said media practitioners must not entirely blame the bad laws for their inefficiency but sometimes unprofessionalism in discharging their duties.
"They (Post employees) didn't die. Prisons are made for people who are courageous so if you do not to go there and want the law to protect you, you are in a wrong profession," he said.
"Don't wait to free yourselves from intimidation. Don't wait for the law. Because even without it you can be able to effectively operate, like the example of The Post and I am sure that most of you would agree with me that if The Post was not around, it would have been a little difficult even to remove the MMD."
He said the state media also contributed to removing MMD government because they reported stories which blinded the leadership to the truth.
Shamenda said good media laws should be there to serve special and exceptional rights.
"We have our friends in the public media who even without being told what to write, they sing so much praises about us as if we ask them to praise us. Report factually. If we have done wrong, criticise constructively. It will help us," he said.
He said however that journalists must stand their ground in pushing for the implementation of laws that will create an enabling environment.
Shamenda assured journalists that the basic principles which the PF government espoused as regards media freedom before it assumed power would not be discarded.
He cautioned however that mistakes would be made but that these would be corrected once identified.
And Shamenda asked journalists be observing time during official programmes.
This was after the stakeholders meeting he was officially opening started late.
Shamenda, who walked from his office to the conference venue, said time was not immortal.
He reminded organisers to stick to the programme and not think that time would always be there.
Shamenda said journalists should also learn to manage their mobile phones in meeting places and avoid situations where they ring loudly.
"We need to manage technology and not technology managing us," he said.
Shamenda was seemingly prompted to make the remarks after some phones, left on loud, rang in the room.
And UNDP country director Viola Morgan said the agency would continue supporting media programmes.
And UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in his Press Freedom Day message said freedom of expression is one of our most precious rights. "It underpins every other freedom and provides a foundation for human dignity. Free, pluralistic and independent media is essential for its exercise," said Ban in his message for today.
"Media freedom entails the freedom to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, as stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This freedom is essential for healthy and vibrant societies. Change in the Arab world has shown the power of aspirations for rights when combined with new and old media."
Labels: FACKSON SHAMENDA, JOURNALISM, PRESS FREEDOM, WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
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Shamenda pledges improved conditions for journalists
By Allan Mulenga
Fri 16 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT
FACKSON Shamenda says the government will ensure that conditions of service for journalists are improved.
Speaking at the launch of the Zambia Election Media Monitoring Project final report at Lusaka's Golf View Hotel on Wednesday, Shamenda, who is information and labour minister, said journalists were able to report accurately when they are working in a good environment.
"I will be going round very shortly as I familiarise myself. I will be looking at your pay slips, I will be looking at your conditions of service, your leave days and a lot of other things, so that if you have got a good working environment where you are coming from, even when you are reporting you are not hungry. You are not looking forward to tea break as we are reporting as a result. What people do when they come and they are journalists, they are just waiting for the guest of honour to finish the talking and collect the speech instead of listening and then you digest as the guest of honour is speaking," he said.
Shamenda urged journalists to be factual in their reporting by avoiding misquoting news sources.
"That is what journalists of the olden days used to do. But now everybody is just looking around ‘when is the tea break' because they didn't have break. Then after the speech they run around, 'sir, where is the speech?' But you were there when I was speaking. I think previously people used to know even how to write shorthand so that as the speaker is speaking, you pick up your own points, so that you are able to cover the event as it is and I am in the habit of doing that myself. I can have a written speech, half of what I will be saying will be coming from my heart…," he said.
Shamenda said the government would ensure that there were decent employment opportunities for journalists.
"It is important that we have factual type of reporting, you have good conditions of service. We want to create decent employment, not justany form of employment," said Shamenda.
Labels: FACKSON SHAMENDA, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, JOURNALISM
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COMMENT - The Murdoch organisation is starting to crack.
UK police arrest Rebekah Brooks in hacking probe
By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press – 2 hours ago
LONDON (AP) — Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie were arrested Tuesday in dawn raids that also netted four other suspects in the spreading phone hacking scandal.
Police said the six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The charge is an indication that investigators may be focusing on a possible coverup of the scope of phone hacking rather than the illegal hacking itself.
It was the most arrests in a single day since "Operation Weeting" — as the police investigation into phone hacking is known — began arresting reporters, senior news executives, police officers and others suspected of criminal acts.
The early morning police swoop brought the scandal to Prime Minister David Cameron's immediate social circle. Cameron said at a press conference earlier this month that Charlie Brooks, Rebekah Brooks' husband who has now been arrested, was a longtime friend.
The two had gone horse riding together, said Cameron, who lives in the Cotswolds town of Chipping Norton where the couple also reside.
"I've known Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rebekah Brooks, for over 30 years and he's a good friend and he's a neighbor in the constituency — we live a few miles apart," Cameron said after questions were raised about the propriety of the prime minister having ridden on a retired police horse that had been loaned to Rebekah Brooks.
The scandal began in 2005 with the revelation that tabloid reporters had broken into the voicemail systems of aides to the royal family in search of inside information. It mushroomed last summer with the revelation that hacking had been widespread at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, which has since been shut.
Cameron had earlier lost his communications chief Andy Coulson because of questions that were raised about Coulson's role as editor of the News of the World when phones were hacked.
Rebekah Brooks, a one-time protege of Murdoch and also a former News of the World editor, had been arrested and set free on bail previously on charges related to the phone hacking and the corruption of officials.
In many of the earlier arrests suspects had been asked to report to various police stations for questioning, but police seem to have abandoned such lenient tactics as the scope of wrongdoing — and the subsequent coverup — has emerged.
Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers testified last month that the practice of making arrests without warning is an attempt to "secure best evidence and prevent suspects conferring or disposing of evidence."
Police did not reveal the names of the six people arrested Tuesday, but a person who had been briefed on the details said Rebekah and Charlie Brooks were among them.
News International, the British arm of Murdoch's global News Corp. empire, said its head of security, Mark Hanna, was also one of those arrested.
Police said the suspects ranged in age from 38 to 49 and that all but one were released on bail Tuesday evening after questioning. The Brookses are believed to be among those released on bail.
The force said 23 people have been arrested as part of Operation Weeting thus far, with others facing charges as part of a related inquiry into corrupt relations between police and the press.
The embarrassing scandal, which has shown Britain's tabloid press in an extremely unflattering light, led Cameron to create a judge-led inquiry to gather evidence about media wrongdoing with an eye toward cleaning up the system.
The panel, chaired by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, has heard extensive sworn testimony about gross criminal acts committed by tabloid reporters, including descriptions of how reporters hacked into the phone of a missing girl later found murdered.
Celebrities have described extreme media harassment and said they felt stalked and trapped by overzealous, unscrupulous reporters.
The Leveson Inquiry is trying to determine why an initial police investigation into phone hacking in 2006 failed to reveal the scope of the problem.
At the time, Murdoch's executives claimed the wrongdoing was limited to one scurrilous reporter and an unprincipled private detective, both of whom were jailed.
The dormant police investigation was reopened last year after reporters were found to have hacked into the voicemail of a missing schoolgirl who was later found to have been murdered.
Faced with dozens of court cases from aggrieved victims, Murdoch's company has given apologies and cash settlements to many claimants, including actress Sienna Miller, singer Charlotte Church, and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
Murdoch has denied wrongdoing even as the scandal has claimed a number of his top lieutenants and led to the resignation last month of his son James Murdoch as chief executive of News International.
In February, Murdoch's Sun newspaper, Britain's best selling title, was hit hard as five senior staffers — including deputy editor Geoff Webster — were arrested as part of the inquiry into the alleged payment of bribes to police and other officials.
Rupert Murdoch had initially stood by Rebekah Brooks, a colorful figure known for her distinctive red hair, in the early days of the hacking imbroglio, but he eventually accepted her resignation shortly before her first arrest last year.
She was arrested in July on "suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications" and also on "suspicion of corruption allegations."
A spokesman for the Brookses did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
The phone hacking problem has also scuttled Murdoch's plans to purchase full control of the British broadcaster BSkyB.
Associated Press writers Raphael Satter and Robert Barr contributed to this report.
Labels: JOURNALISM, PRESS
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Regional challenges require radical approach - KK
By Moses Kuwema
Sun 19 Feb. 2012, 12:00 CAT
DR Kenneth Kaunda says southern Africa's challenges call for a radical approach in shaping and driving an effective and all-inclusive development agenda.
During the launch of the Panos Institute Southern Africa strategic plan in Lusaka on Friday, Dr Kaunda said the region was still struggling to effectively deal with issues ranging from media freedom and free expression, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal health, nutrition and food security, among others.
"We must therefore acknowledge the fundamental role that information, communication and constructive dialogue plays in resolving and giving hope to our poor and marginalised communities as well as duty bearers in driving the much needed change," Dr Kaunda said. "Providing information on issues that affect humanity is a human right."
He said through its partnership with community media and public broadcasters, Panos had provided information and communication channels to more than 20 million people in nine countries to articulate their development needs.
Dr Kaunda said Panos' work with the media had also empowered more than 400 journalists in reporting on development issues.
"The strategic plan we are launching today is for the period 2012 to 2016 which is premised on the same vision: building a southern Africa community that drives its own development," said Dr Kaunda who is also patron of Panos.
He said Panos Institute Southern Africa had chosen to contribute to leading this process through the development of the strategic plan.
Dr Kaunda said the mainstreaming of gender, human rights and vulnerable groups in the strategic plan would ensure that real development trickled down to marginalised and excluded groups.
He said the 2012-2016 strategic plan provided a well-researched framework deriving from past experiences of 2007 to 2011.
"For the next five years, Panos Institute Southern Africa has identified its focal themes as media development and ICTs, governance and development, health and development, environment and natural resources management with key cross cutting issues above mainstreamed," said Dr Kaunda.
Labels: JOURNALISM, KENNETH KAUNDA, MEDIA
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4 in court for assaulting journalists
By Namatama Mundia
Tue 20 Dec. 2011, 13:56 CAT
LUSAKA magistrate Faides Hamaundu yesterday ordered that an accused person in a case where two journalists were assaulted should appear before her on December 22, 2011 without fail.
This is in a case in which Nyambe Liwakala, 37, an information technician of House No. K150 Kanyama, Muzala Kazungula, 37, a businessman of Kaoma and Kalenga Kayene,35, a driver of 612 Kanyama are charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to the Laws of Zambia.
On the first count, it is alleged that Liwakala, Kazungula and Kayene on December 1, 2011, in Lusaka, jointly and whilst acting together assaulted Richard Mulonga, a photojournalist from the Times of Zambia, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.
Allegations on the second count are that the trio on the same date in Lusaka jointly and whilst acting together assaulted Mabvuto Phiri, a managing editor from Muvi television, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.
The case came for allocation before chief resident magistrate Joshua Banda, who allocated it to Hamaundu's court for plea.
However, the trio could not take plea due to the absence of the third accused person.
A public prosecutor told magistrate Hamaundu that the third accused person Kayene was not before court.
But a lawyer representing the accused persons explained that Kayene did not manage, at short notice, to travel to Kaoma, where he was attending to a pressing business programme.
He said Kayene was only informed on Sunday that he was supposed to be in court yesterday.
The lawyer said Kayene last week appeared before magistrate Banda with the two other accused persons but the case could not take off because the docket was not ready.
And magistrate Hamaundu said she would give Kayene the benefit of the doubt but ordered that he appear before court when the case comes up on December 22 for plea.
On the material day, former labour minister Austin Liato's relatives harassed and beat up journalists who went to cover a case at the Lusaka Magistrates' Court Complex, where he appeared over the K2.1 billion unearthed from his farm.
Liato's relatives beat up journalists as the former minister, who had been granted K50 million cash bail, was being led to the holding cells while waiting to be released from police custody.
Some relatives hurled insults at journalists for taking pictures of their relative.
Post photojournalist Joseph Mwenda, who was the first victim, had his 1D Mark 4 Canon digital camera broken by the unruly relatives, who slapped him in the face and pushed him away from the direction Liato was coming from.
Labels: CADRES, JOURNALISM, PRESS FREEDOM
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