By Field Ruwe
There are no media heroes in Zambia, no “Pulitzer” winners. There’s never been because Zambian journalists have been reduced to cowards, puppets, and copycats. Authoritarian ventriloquists, KK, FTJ, LM, RB, and the incumbent President Michael Chilufya Sata have used undue power and influence to instill fear in some of our best journalists and render the profession redundant.
Actually, Sata has completely destroyed the media. Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail, ZNBC, should not be referred to as state-owned media, but propaganda houses and the people in them must be called propaganda peddlers.
There is no such a thing as a “state-owned media.” There shouldn’t be. The media should not be funded by the state, but the public. It should not support or be affiliated to the political party in power or to any political party for that matter.
While the head of state may censor content which he deems illegal, immoral or unfavorable, he must not use the media as a personal tool to solidify his authority. He must not appoint and fire media chief executives and threaten young reporters who express opposing views. Any head of state with such a tendency is called a dictator.
What has made the Zambian journalist capitulate to cowardice is job insecurity, threats, intimidation, and uncalled for arrests by the party and its government. It is political power.
How intimidation of the Zambian journalist began
Former president Kenneth Kaunda set a precedent. Rather, David Yumba began it all. Yumba was a popular Bemba announcer who joined the then Central African Broadcasting Corporation in the late 1940s as a playwright of a series called “Ukupindilo Mwela.” He worked with some of Zambia’s first broadcasters, including Alick Nkhata, Andreya Masiye, Edwin Mlongoti, Stephen Mpashi, Edward Kalete, and Edward Mungoni.
After independence Yumba was known to spend part of his newscast praising Kaunda. He would start his radio broadcast with the slogan Kumulu ni Lesa, Pansi ni Kaunda (In Heaven is God, on Earth is Kaunda) and other clichés before he got to the actual news. We liked it, and so did KK. What Yumba did not realize was he was paving KK’s path to demi-godliness.
KK’s real clashes with the media began in 1967 with the Case of the Unwholesome Fowl. It was sparked by a Lusaka butcher named Carlo Ottino who presented a rotten Christmas turkey to vice president Reuben Kamaga’s wife.
Outraged UNIP youths stoned and ransacked the butchery because they could not “tolerate any white chap treating us like in the colonial days.” The Times of Zambia in its editorial described the youths as “young fools” and “party thugs.” KK lambasted the Lonrho-owned paper and cautioned reporters.
In the same year, the relationship between him and his childhood friend Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, dipped. Kapwepwe, a journalist-turned-politician (trained in India 1951-55), and Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, challenged vice president Reuben Kamanga for the position of deputy leader of UNIP and won.
[pullquote]The Times of Zambia in its editorial described the youths as “young fools” and “party thugs.” KK lambasted the Lonrho-owned paper and cautioned reporters.[/pullquote]
When KK hesitated to appoint Kapwepwe as vice president, he faced open criticism from reporters at the Times of Zambia. Editorials and comments by the Times of Zambia, among other pressing issues, would force KK to succumb.
As early as 1967, it had become clear that KK was preparing to convert the Zambian society to his Philosophy of Humanism. He knew that Kapwepwe and freedom of the press would stand in his way. Their differences deepened and in 1970, Kapwepwe resigned.
When the Times of Zambia, under the editorship of Richard Hall became critical of African socialism, among other issues, KK ordered the then Managing Director of Lonhro Limited, Tom Mtine, to fire Hall and the president himself appointed his press secretary, Dunstan Kamana as Editor-in-Chief.
To the dismay of KK, Kamana proved to be an advocate of freedom of the press. He encouraged reporters like Mike Pearson to continue pointing out inefficiencies and corruption in the UNIP government. In 1971, KK moved Kamana to Dairy Produce Board and in 1972, he recalled Vernon Mwaanga from the United Nations to succeed him.
In December of the same year, KK banned the opposition ANC and declared Zambia a one-party state. His move marked the end of freedom of the press in Zambia. The intimidation of journalists and the eroding of the profession had begun. All journalists were either “humanists” and UNIP royalists, or enemies. You had to tag along with KK or get fired.
A big scare did its rounds in the media in 1975 when Bill Saidi and several other journalists were fired by KK. Saidi writes in his memoirs that the letter was delivered to him at the Times of Zambia Ndola office.
It read in part: “I have been following very closely your work as a journalist. I have been particularly concerned about your misconceptions regarding our approach to nation-building in this country…Consequently, your performance continues to be inconsistent with the philosophy and spirit of the paper which must be the mouthpiece of the Party…I am, therefore, left with no option but to fire you with immediate effect.”
Reporters were frightened. They had no choice but to become peddlers of KK’s philosophy of humanism and UNIP propaganda. Young “award material” like Patu Simoko, Samu Zulu, Mike Moono, Smokie Hangaala, Desmond Mubiana, Arthur Simuchoba, Hicks Sikazwe, Arthur Yoyo, Clara Sikaneta, Emmanuel Nyirenda, Bandawe Banda, and others, were stripped of their talent, style and charisma and put under surveillance.
They could not write freely nor could their contemporaries; Charles Chipanta, Patrick Fungamwango, Geoffrey Zulu, Godfrey Malama, Nedson Sichula, Wellington Kalwisha, Patches Lwenje, Fred Muule, Dave Sakala, and others.
[pullquote]When KK hesitated to appoint Kapwepwe as vice president, he faced open criticism from reporters at the Times of Zambia. Editorials and comments by the Times of Zambia, among other pressing issues, would force KK to succumb.[/pullquote]
And KK was firm about it: “the journalistic profession, in all its ramifications and specifications, must develop as an integral part of the humanist transformation of Zambia just as those who practice it are an integral part of its people.” Security agents were “planted” to keep an eye on those KK perceived as perfidious.
When these men and women chose the profession of journalism they were trying to fulfill their dreams of becoming the best at what they did. Some wanted to be stars and compete with other journalists around the world. They dreamt of writing some of the best stories.
They learned in school that journalism was all about truthfulness, accuracy, and objectivity, that it was impartial. They learned codes of practice and ethics. They sharpened their pens, but KK blunted them. At press conferences he intimidated them and called them “stupid idiots.” They were afraid—very afraid. Many would retire, age, or die without proper encomiums.
Journalism under FTJ Chiluba
Enter FTJ—like a thief who comes at night. In 1991, KK was a wounded buffalo. IMF, food riots, coup attempts, had sapped what was left of his energy. Journalists of the newly created Weekly Post, Mike Hall, John Mukela, Masautso Phiri, Jowie Mwiinga, Arthur Simuchoba, and others, took advantage of KK’s exhaustion and pounded him left, right, and center.
“We were waiting to see how long it would take for us to be locked up,” Jowie Mwiinga told Jane Perlez of the New York Times in 1991. “But we’ve been here five months.”
Encouraged by the Weekly Post’s support for the MMD, FTJ made the media a part of his “democratic” agenda.
“We must not fear criticism from the people,” he declared, “that should only make us work harder.”
It was all a fluke. In 1993, journalists would be back where they were before 1991—in a dungeon of snakes. Rattled by rumors to overthrow his government by UNIP in a plot code named “Zero Option Plan”, allegedly engineered by Cuthbert Nguni and Wezi Kaunda, FTJ’s demeanor took a 360-degree turn. He ditched democracy for authoritarianism and became intolerant of criticism. The little Freedom of the press left was wiped out. Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail were solidified as propaganda papers for the MMD.
Fred Mmembe
Notice how I do not include Fred Mmembe on the list of seasoned journalists in Zambia. Although he is one of the founders of The Post, he is not a journalist per se, even with a certificate by correspondence. He has never sat in a journalism class, worked as a reporter, and risen through the ranks. Mmembe is first and foremost an accountant. When he left his vocation to launch the Weekly Post with Mike Hall, John Mukela, and Masautso Phiri, he was a dough-keeper.
In Zambia, like in many other countries, journalism is often mistaken for some form of art. Anyone with a sense of purpose can declare himself a journalist. All he needs are basic writing skills, inquisitiveness, obstinacy, and the ability to toil.
And yet many things go into the training of a journalist. A professional journalist is one conversant with the history of journalism, its law and ethics; one who is trained in media writing, including editorial composition, news gathering, reporting, and newspaper administration.
Mmembe is self-taught.—through observation. It shows in all his editorials. He is still unfamiliar with the structure of a journalistic sentence. What has made Mmembe a “star” is his use of forbidden journalistic language; some of it derogatory and disdainful.
Armed with words like “stupid,” he led the onslaught against Kaunda, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, Banda, and portrayed them as dictators. He also hurt the PF opposition leader Michael Sata—badly. For that he was awarded the MISA Press Freedom Award; the International Press Freedom Award, and the Committee to Protect Journalists Award.
[pullquote]There are many other deep wounds Mmembe has inflicted on Sata. Here is another: “this man (Sata) will do anything to be elected but Zambians will not be fooled.” Mmembe must count himself lucky to be where he is today.[/pullquote]
Mmembe was headed for “greatness” until September 23, 2011. It was the day Sata crushed The Post. He knew that to have a firm control over the media he had to cripple Mmembe first, and he did. He stripped Mmembe of his personnel and slew him.
We all know that Sata can’t stand Mmembe. Here are some of the reasons. In May 1992, The Post ran an editorial that described Sata as a political prostitute who “survived vetting on several occasions;” that he exhibited “riotous behavior,” and “intolerant behavior on television. The editorial ended with the words “there is nothing honorable about this dishonorable man.”
In January 1993, The Post published a story that Sata had diverted a government grant of K1.6bn for his own benefit. The paper described Sata as “petty and unscrupulous” and urged Chiluba to fire him.
On September 14, 2006, Mmembe in his editorial entitled “Sata is not our messiah” wrote: “It is not difficult for anyone to realize or guess why Mr. Sata today has become the most ardent defender of people who plundered public resources. This is because they are his financiers.”
There are many other deep wounds Mmembe has inflicted on Sata. Here is another: “this man (Sata) will do anything to be elected but Zambians will not be fooled.” Mmembe must count himself lucky to be where he is today.
Michael Sata
Sata, here referred to as “King Cobra,” has turned The Post into a PF mouthpiece. With that the Zambian media has died. A Zambian journalist dare advocate for freedom of the press. He will be arrested and thrown in the TB-infected cells, cautions government spokesman Kennedy Sakeni. Sakeni’s bully and aggressive rhetoric is atrocious. Utterances like “the law will catch up with them” are a stark reminder of how dangerous it is to be a journalist in Sata’s country.
Such is the reason Zambian journalists are cowards. How I wish Sakeni could first arrest Amos Malupenga at his ministry, George Chellah at State House, and Fred Mmembe at The Post for slander, defamation, libel and other past “crimes” before he starts to persecute innocent professionals.
Sakeni should not apply legal and regulatory pressures to silence critical voices. When he reads what he perceives as defamatory or libelous, he must be quick to rebut or decant like his predecessors did. He is a Public Relations Officer.
[pullquote]Sata, here referred to as “King Cobra,” has turned The Post into a PF mouthpiece. With that the Zambian media has died.[/pullquote]
He must hold regular press briefings to defend and clear the air. Hiding in threats exposes him as a perverse cabinet minister and chief spokesman who has no clue what journalism is about. He must be careful; he could turn out to be the worst Chief government spokesman in our history.
Our journalists are brave professionals, who given freedom to factually report, will be world-renowned heroes. They went to college to learn how to write with candor. They have the potential to be great. All they need is freedom of the press!
There can never be media heroes in a country where there is no freedom of the press. All Zambian journalists must be brave enough to fight laws that limit them to propaganda peddling. The profession of journalism expects those who chose it be as tough as steel. Don’t be a coward; stand up for your professional right!
Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner, historian, and author. He is a PhD candidate at George Fox University and serves as an adjunct professor (lecturer) in Boston. ©Ruwe2012
I am also a PhD student
I agree with you
I have never seen Zambian men to be any intelligent any way
Thats why I date a white man from abroad
Thanks
I find your posts to be childish. mwiponta mukabwela
Nkumba tikudya koma maoffal awe…….anakamba yusufu…….
this hooker looks for attention on LT ! make contributions that make sense, that will prove that you are a PHD student! not aya matuvi ye umalembe!
Zambian men are the best,we just don’t like the ugly like you mushota….we have done enough white women and we thought the best is saved home……So,get shagged as much as you want but remember,it will be wrinkled by the time you realize.
But uli kapuba sana. I am so confident you are a stupid man posing in a female’s gender.
Keep your prostitution to your self, we are not interested.
cunt understand your motives for your comments.You must have been gang rappped by lsk street kids now you hurt all men zambian,i bet you are stinking lesbo.
Field,
You have decided to leave out Mwanawasa and RB… We now know where your line thinking lies.. You are not objective with your analyis and this peace can not be taken serious by any right thinking person except Mushota who has a phobia for black men- including her father who i guess is as black as chacoal. Next time Mr. PHD canditate, be objective with your analysis if you have appeal to right and objective minds… My point of advice to you Mr & Mrs. PHD is that avoid be personal and bring out issues the way the are presented
what kind of a PHD student are you? if i may ask, is you father a Zambian?
is he a white man? i think i have never seen mukazi ofunta monga iwe,
You are just after money from the poor white guy. No morals, be proud of what you! Besides every successful man, there should be a good woman & you not good because you let your brothers & would husbands down by your action. Can Zambia develop with women like you?
mushota should be something magnetic,,,,, looked all this zombies above who want to have a go at a small `smart´ girl who is playing attention games…only monkey minded men would fall to the trap…
Okay, Mushota. What about Zambian women journalists, are they also unintelligent?
Oh, by the way, I am dating an Afro-American woman because I find African women….?//
who gives a damn about you ………..your white trash and his dogs? for sure phd in uku nyenga ba poppy and his master……plus his clan.
Who are you trying to pull right back.? Membe or Sata, it won’t work.. Its DIG DEEPER all the way.
You are too youn to understand. dotcom journalist.
I like. One aspect that you left out though, are those broadcasters persecuted for associating with Mr Kapwepwe after his resignation and were imprisoned at the end of 1972.
This nosense of media freedom,ll ruin this country beyond recovery.
We want the media that will divorce itself from reporting politics,insults and other rendading events to reporting development and help the government to identify areas of development.
WELL message read but what is your motive mr Ruwe, we want constructive scripts that help improve governance be objective bwana.
Read the bottom of the article. One of his credentials says “Historian”….duh
And then if it says historian? Then what?
Super Ken, Cycle Mata, Kachepa – 3 examples from 3 different minds that influenced generations through cartoons, satirical writing and social commentary. The historian is rewriting history if he blatantly excludes the influence of the media heroes he claims are non-existent in order to make his usuai flaky point. Chinyama is right. Constructive is the extreme opposite of destructive writing. I see much angst. Perhaps the articles are providing ‘catharsis’ so in the interest of artistic freedom let him purge away. If sold as a document of accuracy then back to the drawing board. Read some Zambian writing Mister R. There are some beautifully written pieces in those archives of the media that deserved your respect. They got ours.
Field Ruwe, you talked about KK, FJT and Sata. What did Mwanawasa and RB do?
good point! what of RB and Levy?
@ Ndobo Mr ruwe or phd candidate whatever you may wish to call him has a lot of hatred for HEMCS because he is not educated yet he is married to a Doctor and on top of that he is the Republican President while mr ruwe is married to a Dr yet he is a john solye ubwali as he himself said he is in the US because of the wife , I am sure that is why he is fighting hard to yourself be called a dr so that he can be equal with his educated lady
Field Ruwe, the name ryhmes with one great man, but this author belongs to the like of the Watchdogs. Grow up young man and contribute positively to Zambia like what your father did.
MUSHOTA U R FOOL THE WORST EVER LIVED.WHO TOLD U THAT WHEN U DATE A WHITE PIG THEN UVE FIND LUV OR COMFORT OR JOY,JST BCOZ HE PRETENDS THATS HE LUVS U DOESN’T MEAN HE DOES IF ANYTHING U ARE MAKING THE WORST EVER.
just leave this mushota alone, so that she can learn her lesson later on in life. she does not know that those so called white men are just using her as a sperm chamber to relieve themselves
LT, why do you moderate soft comments and publish insults everyday. This is neausuating. I wouldn’t be supprised if you have been bought by ZWD.
Field,
You have decided to leave out Mwanawasa and RB… We now know where your line thinking lies.. You are not objective with your analyis and this peace can not be taken serious by any right thinking person except Mushota who has a phobia for black men- including her father who i guess is as black as chacoal. Next time Mr. PHD canditate, be objective with your analysis if you have appeal to right and objective minds… My point of advice to you Mr. PHD is that avoid be personal and bring out issues the way the are presented.
And please advise this PhD candidate (Field Ruwe who we knew as a comedy artist in Lusaka “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SIT ON A PIN FOR THEY SHALL SURELY RISE” – his last known book of jokes published in Lusaka) that media is plural for medium, then he will deal with his grammar
I respectfully disagree. I think all the satirical writers Zambia has produced are heroes. I also add the cartoonists to that and a couple of social commenters through time. No Pulitzer prize will ever be given to many writers globally, which does not mean they have no skill, talent or independent thought processes. Journalistic cowardice is a different topic though.
This is my reaction to the Forbes report which the watchdog has stopped from publishing
What type of journalism is this which did not seek a comment from the accused side? Could this be a tool the imperialists want to use to gain access to our resources. Only a fool and unpatriotic Zambian would want to see companies like Zamtel, Zambia Railways, Mulungushi textiles and others sold corruptly and not in Zambian hands.
Could it also point to the fact that the authors of that report could just be doing so to get the attention of imperialists so that they would gain the much needed financial support civil society organisations need for their survival?
I am sure the Mail and Guardian did not attempt to get any comment from a government official because they perceive Zambia as a direct…
direct opponent in terms of Foreign Direct Investment, so they want to use their position as a big economy to dent the image of Zambia. It is a fact that South Africa and Zambia and the two countries receiving most of the Direct Investment in Southern Africa.
Quite alright we agree there might be some mistakes here and there, but the positives in Zambia far outweigh the negatives as it is being represented in this report.
If you say Hichilema is facing persecution for defamation, who came up with that law in the penol code is it Sata or the previous governments? If Hichilema has called Sata a thief, or lied that the PF government had sent youths to be trained as militias to Sudan, wont it be prudent that a responsible opposition leader he should prove this?
Contrary to reports that…
Contrary to reports that opposition meetings are being stopped by the government, wasnt it recently that police arrested PF youths who tried to disturbalise the UPND rally In kabwe which was poorly attended.
Infact some of these civil society organisations should help these opposition parties accept their wrongs. Here is a party that has had its popularity dwindling in the previous four national elections and has become more regional and promoting violence, couldnt someone help to point out the flaws in such parties so that they strategise ways to increase their popularity base and become more national in their approach, rather than blaming government or their perceived enemies in the media for problems that are of their own making?
Isn’t it also prudent for these civil society…
boss, boss. who sent you?
@ mutatiF `ati ni ndani a kutuma?`hahahahahahah
My theory is that Sata has not ‘crushed’ The Post, rather, M’membe is the one controlling government. Just look at how the govt does whatever M’membe vouches for!!
@Jairo
I have to agree with you to some extent and perhaps add one point that Ruwe appears to have misplaced. There is a “marriage of convenience” between Sata and M’membe at the Post and this union did not start on the 23rd of September 2011 as Ruwe suggests. My assumption, is that the Post “approached” Sata (they were too powerful and quite frankly bitter enemies for Sata to approach them) after their backing for Magande for MMD presidency over RB failed to materialise. It was then that the media machinery took over to “sell” Sata for Zambia’s next president and it is this “realisation” of the power of the media that appears to hold Sata to be in perpetual indebtedness to M’membe.
Dont agree with this far fetched theory. Sata could easily dump Fred and he would remain in govt. Fred needs Sata cos his newspaper is broke and he is supposed to be in court. Fred must have hoodwinked Sata into thinking that the old man needs him-when he doesnt.
@Umwina Zed
If you think Sata ascended to the Presidency without M’membe’s cunning plan then you are living in “another world” and very short sighted. Sata knows all too well that it is Fred’s post that brought down KK, Chiluba and RB. He has also seen the power and influence of the post newspaper over the majority Zambians. M’membe may need Sata now more than Sata needs him but I do not think that Sata is prepared to take that chance when he can have all the media in his corner. M’membe is not doing well because people have began to realise that there is a “marriage of convenience” with Govt hence and that M’membe hoodwinked them to voting for Sata. That is not not far fetched…
Isn’t it also prudent for these civil society organisations to help the MMD which is tearing itself appart put its house in order? Nevers Mumba is busy accusing the PF of creating problems in his party, but wont it be a help to our democracy if he puts his own MMD house in order because it negates the promotion of democracy if you have a weak opposition
Dear brethren,
I hope and pray that we are all fine by the mercies of God.
you iam failing to understand why this country has too many people with much hatred against each other. look the bible says do not over come evil with evil but over come evil with good. let us not follow what is bad but do what is good. May God bless you all. amen
Future “Dr.” Ruwe you will not cease to amaze me. History is already written and chronicled in the archives where you obtained most contents of your analysis. I first met you in 1967 when you were at Chingola Primary School I was at Twin Rivers Primary School. You were always story- telling, mimicking, and quite a comedian. We were in the same class from Form One to Form Five at Chikola Secondary School. You repeated Form Five and relocated to Lusaka where you made a name as Comedian. What is the motive of you pro-longed articles? Are you like Clive Chirwa using the media to get popular? Why don’t you have respect for Zambian leaders on whom you scorn with impunity. Is it because you are a Zambian of Malawian heritage? Things have changed while you have been away. I studied in USA too.
Awe mukwai ba Chimfumba stick to the issues. This Malawi thing needs to be left to small minds or are you one of those?
You are a mole. I never went to school with you. Check your dates. I never attended Chingola Primary in 1967 nor did I graduate from Chikola in 1972. I was not born in Chingola. Check your facts. You can’t put your real name like I have done because you a coward and a liar. Don’t spend time hacking my computer and spreading fibs. Just come out in the open.
Ha! so you also remember him! I also read his flat jokes in his book “Blessed are those who sit on a pin for they shall surely rise.”
I have no objection though, to him attacking political leaders, but his research is pretty shallow for a PhD student in communication/media studies…
If that is what will pass for his Phd Thesis, then I would advise him to get a co-promoter/supervisor like Prof. Fackson Banda to assist him in his research of the media in Zambia
the man is even replying to comments what an attention seeker , so you do read the comments ka? what an asshole
this guy field can not be anywhere near Prof Fackson Banda not even near King Fred Mmembe , by the way Fred Mmembe has done a lot as a media practitioner than you will ever as a hichilema mouth piece , you are barking from the US but Fred Mmembe has been doing it here and has been threatened and jailed he deserves those awards you mentioned and even more he has earned the respect of honest critics and supporters while you will never earn even the respect of your children because you are a hater and sower of discord among brethren
Moreover Ruwe your wife looks after you,go and wash those dishes before she come back,and i know she is seeing a Nigerian doctor behind your back .fusek
Mr Ruwe, for a PhD candidate, I find your articles too subjective and some are even on the brink of character assassination. I would urge you to be a little bit more objective. Reading between the lines and the fact that you left out Mwanawasa and RB, points out to where your allegiance lies
Cool it and don’t panick just be objective and honest. I am not a mole, neither am I after your blood, except I wish you have felt how our leaders feel when you write trash about them. Be a good and decent journalist than being Hate Messenger and character assassin. You were my classmate in Form I A our Classteacher was Mr Cheeseman in 1969. In Form Five in 1973 some of our classmates you can remember include Patrick Chibwe was the Headboy and Former Hon. Lazarous Chota . We even worshipped together at Chingola Chapel with Pastor Hess. No hard feelings Bro. Just sober up on writing trash about Zambia and our leaders from abroad. My name is above.
Why Omit Mwanawasa who tried to depot Roy Clark? You must be up to something or you are MMD.
Th Post has lost it credibility. It now up to the Zambian Watchdog
It is very easy to comment from the outside.
the is nothing mmember can say or do,coz all the secrets are known by the people sata appointed,he cannot insult them call them names they are cronnies
kindly tel us the names of jourists who hv bn arrested in th pf gvt and why they were arested. kk did nt declare a 1 party state like u hv put,check ur hisory. i gree wth on a good no of points bt some of thm shows ur hatred for th pf gvt. wht ar some of th duties of th gvt spokesperson, do u personaly wht him to speak for oppo’s.do u want thm to report tht th president cn nt attend th funeral bcz is his vry sick? u ar full of hatred for th pf gvt and the president.
Field Ruwe could have been living on government money stolen by RB and sons and therefore Field is annoyed that they left and he cannot benefit from this government. Tell us what RB and Mwanawasa’s do’s and don’ts or are you ‘joking’?
Ruwe, if in USA, you can become a PHD holder with such a research, it’s true that USA universities are ranked outside the best. Ruwe in Uk getting a PHD is not easy. My point is any research should critical analysis and a researcher has to tell the sponsors of that research. Based on hate, slunder and hallucinations. In Nigeria they will call u a bush product. Under RB the times, Daily mail, Z NBC were not allowed to cover opposition parties unless it to praise MMD and RB. Today that is not the case. I find your articles each time very shallow and very hateful from a failed person. Constructive criticism is foundation for sharing good ideas that will change people’s lives rather sowing seeds of hate
I agree, RB was the worst among them all.
Field Ruwe Zambian son of Malawian parents, but born in Chingola believes he is a more learned Zambian than most of us who studied abroad and returned home. By the time I am finished with you Field will become more humble like when you were growing up. You were such a nice jovial guy. What has spoilt you? Your Hunt for Successor articles are not making any impact to pave your way in returning to come rule Zambia like Dr. Mumba is trying to do. Try Malawi, you could still make it there! Please stop insulting our leaders and our minds. Your articles are such merely comic monologue.Your new status should not puff you up. Any way who needs you! Just sober up and return home to do comedy, it now pays to be a comedian here back home.
I know the source of this information. I was never in class with you. You got the dates 1967 and 1972 wrong. In March, a gentleman from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by the name of Aaron Mwandia, a graduate of Chikola Secondary School, contacted me to give a history of the school. I responded and he made my mail public. It is from this text you are writing. Why don’t you tell readers of my articles your real name so that we, your former classmates, know who you are. I challenge you to come out in the open. Why should readers believe you when you are hiding your identity. You coward. I never shared a class with a malicious person like you. Check you dates again and come out in the open.
Ba Innocent mwaliba sana xenophobic. Chachine ba Field has his weaknesses but why bring up his parentage? Its so irrelevant and reeks of someone trying to throw anything he can find at someone. We all have ancestors who came from somewhere else. After the white man made borders for us why do we cling on to these borders as if they are God-sent?
Ruwe is being personal with Fred Mmembe, exactly the opposite of what a good journalist is supposed to do-being objective!
Besides, Journalism is NOT a profession, but a vocation. You cannot have a profession with a variety of qualifications at various levels CERTIFICATE, DIPLOMA, DEGREE. Any person with a Science degree,marketing qualification, or even a teacher can become a Journalist. In developed countries some of the seasoned Journalists have degrees in politics, economics,natural sciences and have become seasoned writers in their areas of specialisms. Field Ruwe is wrong to think a Journalist should graduate with a degree in Journalism. It is not Law or Medicine. It is like teaching…..you do not have to a have a ‘degree in education’ to teach…..Fred Mmembe is a Journalist and…
I agree totally with you especially that the man he has been attacking left right and centre does not hit back , to me it shows that while field may be older the Mmembe , Memmbe is a bigger person and more wiser than field
The truth is that MMD memebrs are all hopeless, how can two persons control them that belong to different parties. RB was UNIP and become their leader, Mumber is still the president of the other party and is their president also, its like kids being lowered with candy.
i meant members bad typing!! dont kill on this!!!
Political articles are a political bomb. I hope Rowe foresaw this before he published his paper. However, don’t lose heart, as that is the nature of your career. I wish you the best in your studies. Do not pay much attention to these morose phds who, for obvious reasons, despise even real PhDs. And do worry about the ‘Malawian tag’, even Zedian presidents wear it?
Ruwe, you are a coward! Why have you not returned to Zambia and issue this admonition from the ground on which Zambian journalists do their work of contributing to peace maintenance in Zambia?
Come and be the nominee of the awards. You are too obsessed with awards. Aren’t College and University awards enough for you?
You are a disgrace, and your academic achievements speak the opposite of what they ought to have done for your person.
Yeah a real coward , he is not a pit-bull does not have the little courage that courage the cowardly dog has , he barks in the US but Mmembe has been doing it here at home and with all five Presidents , what a great guy Fred Mmembe is
Blogger “Innocent Chimfutumba” is a mole with different aliases. He is one of the people planted to kill my series. If indeed this gentleman was in my class, readers must ask him to come out in the open and identify himself. I challenge him. He won’t because he is a fabricator. He’s put some malicious story to discredit me. I am not too far from revealing his identity.
Why don’t you reveal his identity? you are delusional field you think your series are important to us Zambians , only to those *****s on zwd and your boss hh
Read my comment above 19.1 to put your fears at rest. I am still amazed about your motive of writing such trash about your adopted beloved country and its leaders. I repeat that I am not a mole but your former partriotic classmate.
Former chikola students should be proud of what Ruwe is doing. He is not going to be a puppet like the majority of other people. He is calling a spade a spade. The truth hates. Just be objective and criticle is articles instead of trying to shoot down all his well researched article. Education i know can be intimidating, calm down and just hit books as well and you wont any further myopic. Ruwe please dont be frustrated be these parasites with nothing between their ears. You are zambian and as such entitled to your opinion.
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
Confucious
It expleians why field ruwe find it easy to hate Sata & Mmembe without any reason , it also explains why he can not write anything positive about Sata when he knows that the man has done a lot of good for Zambia as a governor of Lusaka, Minister of Health Local Govt and housing as well as labour . this field ruwe guy is such a conceited fellow always wanting to be at the center . Good luck with you myriad cadres on zwd you jus an hh chola boy
@Chikolan do you even know what well researched mean? the chap claims to be an historian but can not write proper historical facts , the guy leaves out RBB and Levy and jumps to Sata , RBB was more ruthless than FTJ,KK and Levy Combined , the man even used to state funds and resources to fund Chanda Chimbwi wabutatu . where is the truthfulness in his article or the wellness in his rants you useless ***** chikolan
critique and not criticle
Writing articles to emotionally incite others through condemnation/judgement does not work. Imagine Jesus preaching a sermon that there is someone morally better than you elsewhere and then He expects you to jump and try to be better than that person.
Ruwe, seriously you have a hidden inferiority complex (mediocomplacy) disguised as a need to encourage others to rise through emotional hate speech that makes pipo feel demeaned.
Even Hitler had more sense when he used such tactics in the sense that he never compared them to any foreign standard but rise based on what is uniquely within them.
Bakalamba ba field I wonder what you will be calling everyone when you finally get that PhD I AM SURE YOU WILL BE UNTOCHABLE , you claim to be a journalist and “He never wrobetter the Fred Mmembe yet you have never done anything significant visa visas what Mmembe has done even if he has no journalism certificate , you said in your article that journalist have to be truthful but you are not truthful yourself does it mean your so called journalism ethics apply only to others ? you have deliberately omitted RBB and Mwanawasa from your article to slander KK Sata and FTJ , journalists don’t write theories or just for the sake of writing, they write when they have a message ,and it becomes a message when they have lived it and know it is good thus writing facts proven by experience and…
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
Confucious
It expleians why field ruwe find it easy to hate Sata & Mmembe without any reason , it also explains why he can not write anything positive about Sata when he knows that the man has done a lot of good for Zambia as a governor of Lusaka, Minister of Health Local Govt and housing as well as labour . this field ruwe guy is such a conceited fellow always wanting to be at the center . Good luck with you myriad cadres on zwd you hh chola boy
Its interesting to note that Mr. Rowe has left out RB on the list of those who destroyed journalism. In my opinion, RB, and I know he is Rowe’s tribe’s man did more harm today’s journalism than any other former president. I thought Rowe was also a journalist? Well, he left not only himself out but RB too! hehehe
It’s criminal for a sole called historian and journalist to deliberately omit and avoid delving into the past encumberances of Levy Mwanawasa whom I liked but wanted to deport Roy Clarke and the horrible Rupiah Banda? Where were you when RB turned Times of Zambia, Daily mail, ZNBC into MMD mouth pieces that where banned from covering the opposition and even created a propaganda news media spear headed by Chanda Chimba III? I had a lot of respect for you, but I can now see you have sour grapes against MCS and the country as a whole. You need to be objective and not get personal with individuals you hate. By the way, mmembe has a BA in mass communication and also an MBA in law. We expect you to do your research thoroughly. This is not one of you comedic forums.
Another biased article without any mention of the world politics in play during the times he is talking about. We had the cold war and many African countries had a choice to go West way of doing things or East. Politics of Communism and capitalism played a big part of what was happening in Zambia and the neighboring countries and for a historian that is a big miss. Just like at the moment, if I have to talk about Zambian industries I have to point out the influence of globalisation and the effect it has on the way of doing business in Zambia. Winning an award does not mean that you are the best reporter, Mmembe is good example of a hero but you hate him! Be neutral, don’t let hatred cloud your judgement otherwise you will never be good historian.
The attack on Field from bloggers seem to be well organized and systematic to come from different people. It appears they come from one person who is a journalist and has been mentioned negatively in Ruwe’s article. The attacks seem to dwell in one perceived weak part of Field’s article in regard to RB and LPM. Quite rightly so. Its not difficult to guess that whoever this person/s is has strong leanings to the ‘post’ and may even be part of it. Your guess is as good as mine!
Oh puh-leeze! Some of those bloggers who are questioning that point are not even fans of the Presidents mentioned. Track their previous blogs and see. One only needs to look at the premise of sentence numero uno to determine that the author is in need of a reality check.
Field, I ve not heard or seen u in a long time! Not that I know u personally, only that as teen I used to enjoy your TV comedy. You were actually a pioneer in that field which sadly hasn’t grown in Zambia, courteous of mediocrity as usual. About Zambian journalist being intimidated by State agents under KK, I agree with u absolutely as I’m a witness to that. My friend late Dave Tanje Sakala was a journalist worth his salt. But something remarkable between me and him in 1987 as I returned from an All Africa Games outing in Nairobi where I participated. I came back with an accredition card for the games and one evening at our ‘watering hole’ flashed it to him and quickly put it back in my pocket, in the fashion of the FBI. Dave was quite rattled and 2 days later asked me if I was a Shu…
Field Ruwe is a FAILURE. Only thing he has achieved is ability for rants. Day- in- day- out. Rants!
Field Ruwe is a FAILURE. The only thing he has achieved is ability for rants. Day-in-day- out. Rants!
I have a better title for you, “All Zambian cowards become journalists”. I find it hard to believe any brave person can become cowardly after going to journalism school.
Be warned. Innocent Chimfutumba is a charlatan and a mole. Like a deranged vulture he preys on people’s character. He is all over the Internet sniffing out stories and writing gibberish about people and issues he hardly understands. Google his name and you’ll see what I mean. I have compiled his texts in both the “LT and ZWD. At times he wears the hat of a skunk, spraying his terrible malodorous smell. He claims to be learned. Read all his comments (How I wish I could display them). He’s a moron who writes in colloquial English—semi-literate style. Learned bloggers write well even in haste. His writing is best described by one blogger: “so many words with no sense.” His punctuation is terrible and typos aplenty.
He claims to have been in class with me. It is not true. He might have been in the same 1973 stream and not 1972 as he claims in some of his comments. He’s so damn he does not know when he graduated. I never met him in 1967 because I went to Chingola Primary School in 1968. At Chikola I was not taught by Cheeseman. I associated with him in the Young Farmer’s Club. Yes, the late Patrick Chibwe was in my class, but not Lazarus Chota. In Form Five, I and Patrick were in “A” and Lazarus in “S.” Ask him what form he was in. He claims to have been with me in the same class for five years. There was no Innocent Chimfutumba in my class. If there was, he must have been one of those dumb students with nothing to offer. What was Innocent Chimfutumba famous for? Anyone?
Ask Innocent Chimfutumba to table his qualifications and credentials. Let him give a link to his thesis or books he has written, then simply google my name and see my books and academic achievements. What a difference. Get off my back you grain-brain spiteful creep! You can’t intimidate me.
Come on field ruwe, did you have to through all that ? you claim to be a word smith and an educated man , yet you are not because educated people do not broadcast their academic qualifications neither do they attack the lack of education in others . So what if one googles your name ? there are only four books you have written and they aren’t international best sellers , that is why we do not have them on our shelves in Zambia ,please be like Prof Chirwa , Dr Dambisa Moyo or even Dr Kaela Mulenga who do not broadcast their works , your articles are nothing but trash and you know it , you write things that you have heard and you want to makes believe that you are innovative when you are just a copy and paste author , what kind of a PhD candidate does not create h