THE Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) has advised Patriotic Front (PF) Secretary General Wynter Kabimba to desist from dragging the media into trying to solve his political problems.
Reacting to Mr Kabimba’s letter to Information and Broadcasting Services minister Emmanuel Mwamba accusing him of polarization of the public media, PAZA President Andrew Sakala said the public media should never be dragged in political disputes.
“It is unfortunate the Secretary General who is also the Justice Minister has chosen to attack the media. It is surprising that this coming from Mr Kabimba who has received enormous positive coverage,” he said in an interview.
He said the fact that Mr Kabimba had in the past received coverage which he perceived as negative did not mean that the public media was being unprofessional.
He said the public media should be left to exercise professional judgment in the manner they selected stories for publication or broadcast.
‘As PAZA we don’t want to see a situation where the media should be dragged in political disputes. The media should be left to do their job,” he said.
Mr Sakala said politicians should endeavour to create policies and laws that would enable the public media serve all members of the public objectively and professionally regardless of their status in society.
“The status of a person in society should not be a factor as regards to coverage in the public media. PF should continue with the media reforms so that the public media serves public interest not the status of a person,” he said.
In a strongly worded letter addressed to Mr Mwamba and copied to the minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Mwansa Kapeya and public media heads dated October 3, 2013, titled ‘politicisation of the public media’, Mr Kabimba said in the last week he had seen several headlines against him in the public media.
He accused Mr Mwamba of trying to, “destroy the public media in order to please your paymasters and their cronies.”
“As secretary General of the Patriotic Front, I shall not sit back and allow such a situation to continue unabated to the detriment of national development. I have a duty to protect the majority interest of this country against turncoats whose objective is to serve narrow personal interests of their paymasters.”
He said he had seen several headlines against him in the Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia which were so personal in nature and style that they were unexpected from the Government media against a sitting minister of Government.
And in a press statement Mr Sakala warned politicians to not to drag the media in political disputes.
“We must state here that politicians should desist from dragging the media into political disputes and let the media exercise their professional and ethical judgment when covering issues including controversial political conflicts,” he said.
Mr Sakala said that politicians, who in the past have received more than their fair share of coverage from both the public and private media, have the tendency to change positions and attack the media when they face public scrutiny or opposition from their colleagues.
And Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ) general secretary Angela Chishimba said the media should be left to operate professionally and not drawn into political divisions.
Ms Chishimba said politicians should not drag the media into political matters but leave the journalists to operate in an environment that was free from intimidation.
She advised politicians to desist from interfering with the work of journalist as doing so would affect their ability to objectively inform the public.
“This is really unfair, journalists are always vulnerable, even when they are just trying to do their jobs, so our advice is please leave the journalist to do their work,” Ms Chishimba said.
Meanwhile, Alliance for Better Zambia president Father Frank Bwalya has condemned attacks by Justice Minister and Patriotic Front Secretary General Wynter Kabimba on the Zambia Daily Mail over the stories the newspaper has been publishing about him.
Father Bwalya has told QFM News that the media must be left to do their work without any intimidations or interference by the powers that be.
Father Bwalya who is also a journalist by profession notes that there should be a better way of handling such issues if Mr. Kabimba is injured with the manner the newspaper has been covering stories related to his predicament.
The ABZ leader says issues affecting Mr. Kabimba should not affect the operations of the Zambia Daily Mail or individual journalists.
Information and broadcasting services Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Mwamba has expressed sadness at the level of harassment by Mr. Kabimba on individual journalists at the Zambia Daily Mail.
Mr Kabimba is also said to have threatened to close down the Government owned newspaper.
Well.. It appears Wynter is in ‘summer heat’ and is now very desperate and shooting at random.
Ati “Mr Kabimba is also said to have threatened to CLOSE DOWN the Government-owned newspaper” . Why is this guy being allowed to behave like he is government himself and government is him? Will it take Jesus to come back and put this fellow in his place as it is so clear that he is beyond presidential reprimand?
October Heat Madness. If Kabimba line was a railway line, the train would definately derail. Something is surely gone wrong with the thinking, may be overating oneself of some force pushing him hard enough. The harder they come the harder they fall. And if you living in a glass house don’t throw stones, because when others throw theirs back the glass will break badly and you will have no house to live in.
October Heat Madness. If Kabimba line was a railway line, the train would definately derail. Something is surely gone wrong with the thinking, may be overating oneself or some force must be pushing him hard enough from behind. But, the harder they come, the harder they fall. And if you are living in a glass house don’t throw stones, because when others throw theirs back the glass will break badly and you will have no house to live in.
Looks like kabimba is an easy target for pf’s failures…
Its not just kabimba its all of them. Throw meat at a bunch of hungry lions and see what happens.
Is Winter the most loathed man in Zambia?
Wynter Wanya!! You thought Lesa takwaba???? Ulemwenako mwaiche!
Hello no why condemn wynter, PF constitution allows any one to aspire for any position of the land even presidential, GBM,and MWAMBA are showing blind royalty. sata has never gone to any conversion , mwamba,GBM, and all the endorsement nonsense started in kasama , cb etc. Wynter has a right to defend himself. But i blame SATA, THE MOTHER faka WILL GO AS ZAMBIA’S WASTE PRESIDENT IN ZED DUST BIN, BOZA,WENYE,BUHATA,BUFI ULABEJA, WHAT WASTED 5 Years, ba CB U BROUGHT A CASE NOT A BLESSING ON ZAMBIA, rupiah now seems to be an angel due to fake PF promises am BEMBA but come 2016 am voting . HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Oh no! What a commenter. LT may you please allow comments in vernacular. I am also wondering whether this entry was moderated.
Excuse me!
Please read and understand Wynter’s letter to Mwamba fairly clear.
What Wynter Kabimba is to PF is what Jonathan Moyo is to Zanu PF in Zimbabwe – very intelligent fela.
The fellow has silenced General Miyanda and the opposition regarding the Chief Justice.
UPND has given up on their childish challenge against the Public Order act.
My friend you are wrong in your UPND and Miyanda assumptions. Kabimba has not silenced anybody. This is just a question of ..if your enemy is about to self destruct, get out of the way because you could be a victim of debris.. that is why we have all gone quite on major issues till this time bomb plays itself out
You are mistaking intelligence with being cunning (shrewdness). Kabimba is not intelligent. He may be a performer, intelligent he aint!
Excuse me, what do you understand is not what is written. Try to read again and again and again and if all-mighty intervene, you might be able to understand.
Until then, just try to learn how to interpret written words.
This is the begining of your end Mr Kabimba. Brian Hapunda and Given Lubinda are coming back. You are fired.. DICTATOR MAN!
The corrupt Hapunda is coming back where? Wonders shall never cease
When he say, ” to please your pay master”. Who is he referring to? Because in my opinion the pay master to both of them is the appointing authority who happens to be Sata.is he saying Sata is against him?
Even when he challenged Mwamba that he cannot be more loyal to Sata than him, what exactly does he mean. How will the president respond to such a statement, he is he more important than Sata. We shall wait and see. To me Kabimba makes us think he is the only one who worked hard for PF to be we’re it is by accusing others to be hijackers who were not there when ‘they’ fought in opposition. He even boasted that among his ‘enemies’ no one has contributed as he has done. In true democracy,even if someone joins the party today, they are equally important as those who joined a long…
This Wynter Kabimba is a lightning rod that attracts high voltage political bolts of lightning.He’s a divisive figure and he shows early signs of a dictatorial streak.
@ Octopus Paul Bwalya
SATA WILL GO DOWN AS THE ‘WASTE’ ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT! REALLY!
CHILUBA, THE ESTATE MOGUL, WAS BUSY BUYING FLATS.
RB, THE BANKER AND ESTATE MOGUL, WAS BUSY OPENING UP BANK ACCOUNTS IN SINGAPORE AND BUILDING KIDS MANSIONS.
SATA IS BUSY UPGRADING DILAPIDATED TOWNSHIP ROADS AND UPGRADING SMALL ROADS INTO CARRIAGE WAYS AND BUILDING CLINICS – BARELY 2 YEARS IN POWER! MANY MORE IS COMING.
PLEASE @Octopus Paul Bwalya BE REALISTIC.
He is building his house before he even retires! He is pushing us back into debts. He is renaming all MMD projects of road rehabilitation as link something , pave something….etc. He is also bringing back vigilantes and the PIG.
What has been Kabimba’s job-proffesion before joining politics?
@Tiona, ask a guy called ALI SIMWINGA, he’ll tell you everything about Wynter, including how to DEAL with him…
Incompetent?
He’ll get what’s coming to him!!! watch this space.
Mr Sakal is missing the point which mr Kabimba raised. Mr Kabimba Raised specific things to mean that the Daily mail reporting was personal attck on him as a persan according to his judgement. Now the question Mr Sakala should answer is whether in his opinion it true or not that the daily,s report was personal. Mr Sakala should try to analise the allegation Mr Kabimba is putting for other if Mr Sakala is not carefull here, he will be also joining the person who are on the pay roll where Emmanuels.
We want to see where Mr Kabimba errored in order for us to agree that Mr Kabimba is wrong and not those who are trying to paint apicture that Kabimba is wromg and yet they are not telling the nation as what he has done wrong.
Please peolpe of the land GBM is on record to say he wants to be…
Mr D
Pipo like you are amazing.Reports about pipo complaining about Wynter’scharacter started a long time ago.At one point an unidentified PF official said Wynter had an exgarrated air of self im portance.At about the same time Wynter was reported on Tumfweko saying he did not get to be PF Secretary General by accident.In short Wynter is not saleable.Whilst there may be some truth about the pipo against him using the tribal card he just lacks what it takes.For the opposition they should pray that he continues.He would be better to deal with than say Lubinda who appears sharp.So for those of us who want to see the end of PF let them keep him we beg of them
president and we have no record on the contrally for Kabimba. And what is on record for Kabimba is for the people to stop the endorsement as no one yet has floated his name for the presidency and the Sata also agreed with him. Now the question is apart from stoping the endorsements what else has Kabimba done.
Nothing absolutely, apart from exhibiting high and offensive levels of arrogance! That is according to those after his ouster, Not my opinion of course.
What does it matter to Kabimba if someone makes an endorsement of Sata? he claims he has more important national matters to address. Well, in my view, the issue of endorsements should be the least of his concerns considering that rate high school drop outs is still high, teen pregnancy is still high, traffic accidents are still high, crime is still high, unemployment is still high, the list goes on! Endorsement on the president should be the least of his concerns. What do you think?
PAZA must not be defensive. Any complaint is to be considered on its own merit. Whether the complainant is a senior government official or not is immaterial. When PF Secretary General is expressing concern, then PAZA could certainly pledge to investigate, advise, consult, take appropriate action or apologize. It is wrong to belittle the entire SG in order to play to the gallery. Engagement, solidarity, protection of freedoms for all. That is the way forward for the nation. That is the future of democracy in the country.
What is there to investigate? PAZA apologizing, for what? Advise/consult who? Read the charges leveled against the public media by Kabimba. They warrant nothing but a word of caution to all politicians, to leave the media alone. Only a few days ago the Post was stating its position on what they write and declared that whoever hangs out with them does so at their own risk. Why wouldn’t the same apply to state-owned and operate media houses? If it were left up to me, I would encourage him to privatize them. They serve no purpose but vuvuzelas for the politicians of the day, a waste of our money. Their contribution to national development is negative.
TRIBALISTS Are ATTACKING WINTER.
I have encountered Wynter’s divisive and vindictive wrath and oh the sheer arrogance that this short man has, my. Does that make me a tribalist when I attack him? Which tribe am I supposed to be anyways in order to fight him? If I am that tribe would it make the fight successful because I want it to be successful. If he goes even his close friends Fred and Mutembo go, that will be great.
when did Emmanuel Mwamba become Minister? He’s the permanent secretary.
In the PF style, there is no distinction between those 2 portfolios – what matters is the guys in the ‘big boss’ books lol. its a Kaponya style
I marvel at the Post’s obsession with GBM. Even when the headline AND the story have nothing to do with GBM, they just can’t seem to resist the temptation to link it to GBM! Witness the story on Kabimba and Emmanuel Mwamba: the picture is of GBM and Kabimba; why?
This guy has never said anything impressive so far.He only annoys people.Why is the president allowing sach conduct from him?
Though PAZA and ZUJ are toothless barking dogs, their concerns are valid. This wild Winter Weather has become a loose canon that is hitting at anything on its way. As the saying goes, “Be ware of a wounded animal”. I agree with the Bootlicker, Kabimba has gone into a non- reversible self- destructing chain reaction.
Why is Mr Kabimba behaving like he is above cabinet and the President.Can you imagine that he is doing this when he is not President.What will happen to Zambia if he becomes Head of State? He scares me .It will be another Idi Amin .
A.M
Don’t lose any sleep over Weather. He is just an appointee with a failed career. He is not at all electable.
Let’s not spend much time on Kabimba. The next PF Presidential candidate after Sata is Alexander who is also very likely to become the next Republican President. This man is mature enough and ready for the Presidency as it does not excite him in any way.
Intresting reading , Chikwanda ismature for sure,but last week when he was acting president He didn’t show me any grip on issues affecting his party.
No please. Let us be realistic. The man is a spent shell. He cannot even clearly express himself and lacks the charisma needed to wage a presidential campaign. He is just there to fill in the vacuum created by the incompetent current pf leadership. I can tell with 100% certainty that pf will lose the 2016 presidential and general elections.
@MMD Chief Bootlicker
TIME BOMB?
PLEASE TARRY UNTIL YOUR TIME BOMB BECOMES A ‘CENTURY’ BOMB!
MARK MY WORD, WYNTER WILL WEATHER ALL THIS NONSENSE AND MACHINATIONS AGAINST HIM BY THE OPPOSITION AND SOME UNEDUCATED PF MINISTERS. WHY ON EARTH SHOULD ANYONE GET A FLACK FOR SPEAKING AGAINST PRESS POLITICIZATION?
AGAIN MARK MY WORD, WYNTER LIKE OBAMA WILL EMERGE STRONGER AFTER THE SHUTDOWN.
WYNTER WAS NOT EVEN ELECTED BUT THE ‘UNEDUCATED’ MINISTERS WERE. LOOK KABIMBA IS NOT A POLITICIAN BUT JUST A PF CADRE. POWER MUST BE WIELDED BY LEADERS WHO WERE ELECTED AND NOT A SELF- DECLARED TIN-POT DICTATOR LIKE KABIMBA.
In one of the interviews on ZNBC Kabomba stated that he was a disciple of Sata. True story. Come to think of it, he is behaving the same way Sata was behaving when he was minister without portfolio. Kabimba has a colleague in the ministry of information. He is called the {Minister of Information…}. If he was offended by the actions of a PS under that minister, he should have addressed the matter with his colleague. Threatening to close an agency under the portfolio of a colleague is equivalent to slighting your colleague.
See, this is why he seems to pissing of other people with his cavalier attitude.
What has happened to Kabimba’s Education in Local Language(s)? has he inacted any legislation to that effect yet? or has he gone quite to quench the current fire in the boat?
Mwamba killed Chiluba. He has become big headed and will be made to account for his sins, come new government. Wynter is an arrogant and pompous guy and so is his Master Sata. That is how they built a team of like minded. If Kabimba is wrong so is Sata. As long as Sata is president, they (Sata,the owner of the boat and Kabimba the Captain) shall sail together and hire and fire the peddlers (GBM, Chikwele, Mwamba, and all others).
If you put Kabimba as president of Zambia, well that is another Hitler. Will abuse Presidential powers. There will be no opposition and will rule until all Zambians rise against him. No political party will take him out. He is worse dictator that SATA. He will go at length to destroy what ever is build if he is pushed to a conner. The way is threatening PF, it is not the end of life being SG. Be a statesman and let veagence be for the LORD. Look at Mbeki, he was removed as President and did not think of destroying ANC.
Wynter is the man..viva ..we love you!!