Friday, March 29, 2024

Public media has now become ‘enemies of information’-Bishop Chinyemba

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Bishop Evans Chinyemba
Bishop Evans Chinyemba

Diocese of Mongu Bishop Evans Chinyemba has denounced Zambia’s deteriorating media freedoms especially for the public media.

Bishop Chinyemba said the country would conduct next week’s general elections under the climate of public service media that only speak for the party in power.

In a stinging analysis, Bishop Chinyemba has since urged the Zambian government to stop abusing the public service media sector for its ends.

“Zambians have allowed the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC); the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail newspapers; the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) and the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) to destroy public service media ethics and allow them to only speak for the party in power,” Bishop Chinyemba said.

He made the remarks in the latest Mongu Diocese bulletin, Drumbeat, addressed to parishioners.

Bishop Chinyemba says in its current form and for lack of a better term, Zambia’s public service media had become ‘enemies of information’ especially during the months of electoral campaigns in the nation. 

“The way the public service media has behaved seems to have left the Electoral Commission of Zambia powerless knowing that the hand of government is in both institutions.” The Bishop said.

He added that after next week’s general elections, the country would urgently need to revisit and revise the Electoral Code of Conduct in as far as it relates to public service media.

Bishop Chinyemba further criticised the closure of the Post newspaper by the Zambian government on 21 June, this year.

The Mongu Diocese Ordinary insists that the country has more to gain when public service media are allowed, by politicians, to operate without interference so that they can become trusted sources of information and vital cultural institutions that reach the whole population without bias. 
Referring to Zambia’s violence-ridden electoral campaigns of 2016, in which some deaths and many injuries have been recorded, Bishop Chinyemba called for peaceful voting.

“We know where we have been and as a nation, we refuse to live in fear. The call is for all Zambians is to arm yourselves not with a party Panga, but with your National Registration Card (NRC) and voter’s Card. Vote as if this was your last vote; and you wish to leave a good future for generations that are coming after you,” the Bishop encouraged parishioners. 

Zambia has seen unprecedented levels of political violence between rival political party cadres which have resulted in injury, loss of life and property.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Very true, ba Bishop. If only all other men of the cloth could emulate you and point out things that are not in order.

    • I hope ka Frank Bwalya will not attack this unknown bishop. We hope wha is written is from the catholic, then I will just advise Edgar to stay in state house and drink all week long. PF has lost elections.

  2. Well stated Man of God! Sad that publicly funded media outlets like ZNBC, Zambia Daily Mail & The Times of Zambia Newspapers are now operating like Paul Joseph Goebbels’s Nazi propaganda machine. If we had a functional judiciary, the public media would have been restrained from acting in like a mouthpiece of the ruling party.

  3. PUBLIC MEDIA HOUSES ARE A VERY BIG SHAME IN JOURNALISM AND DISTORTION OF OUR COUNTRY’S REPUTATION AS A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY.
    NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE TO EFFECT CHANGE THAT WILL EMPOWER EVERY ZAMBIAN TO ECONOMIC PROGRESS. NOW IS THE TIME TO VOTE FOR VISIONARY HH AND THE UPND TEAM. NOW IS THE TIME TO VOTE FOR A TRUE ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION.

  4. this is what Kambwili used to complain about and for 2 months after PF came into power ZNBC tried to be a bit fair a=but from there on, its a downhill sprint in deterioration of ethics, the IBA is also another toothless authority that doesnt have authority at all. for me if there is a reason i wont vote for PF its the things i thought they would do such as better governance – POA application, corruption and media freedoms. they have failed lamentably.

  5. Bo Bishop. Where have you been? I missed you fearless comments on national issues unlike the Lusaka Pente Bishops for Lungu and not for Christ.

  6. Im sure DeadNBC is still showing War of the Worlds for Friday Movie besides showing UNIPF & Lungu.

    Also old movies like 48Hrs, The Fly & Dream Team. Mxxxm, what a waste of tax.

    • @Mzee Hekima Me too. I can even predict what the first three items on the main news headlines will be on ZNBC days in advance. I have been doing it the past three months and I am hardly ever wrong. The sad part is that this extends to Newspapers as well especially the Times of Zambia.

      When the post was still open, it too was another culprit, it was always against Lungu’s PF no matter what they did. In journalism you are told to always balance your reporting in a give and take manner: You can’t always be praising one party and putting them on your front page every single day. at the same time you can’t always be criticising and always on the negative over one party. Alternate your praises with FAIR and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism while also alternating your fair criticism with objective…

  7. Bishop Chinyemba, much respected and cherished servant of the cloth. Even the ‘blind’ are seeing that our present PF government has been anything but free and transparent in it’s handling of national issues and challenges of inflation, cost of basics, job losses and hate-speech. The sudden leap in the president’s income is always quickly dismissed, but your friends taking over next month might come knocking on your door in September:-)

  8. No government has ever given public media to the opposition. FTJ and VJ tried but just a few months down the line it was back to KK ‘s the party and its government type of reporting. Let this Upnd Bishop condemn the Post for attacking Lungu from the time he became president to date. Am Catholic but I don’t support the stance by our clergy on wanting to change government at every election. For them fleecing us and sleeping with our wives is ok. A mindolo priest has stolen 350,000 Kwacha from parishioners and everyone is quiet including Radio Ichengelo.

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