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Punishment handed to Prime TV by IBA will injure tolerance in our democracy-Felix Mutati

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Mutati speaks to party officials in Ndola on Sunday.
Mutati speaks to party officials in Ndola on Sunday.

The Movement for Multiparty Democracy faction led by Felix Mutati has said that the punishment handed to Prime TV by IBA will injure one of the virtual of democracy.

Commenting on the suspension of Prime TV’s broadcasting license for one month, Faction leader Felix Mutati who is in the Copperbelt on a mobilisation tour of the province said the country will only develop if critical voices are tolerated.

Mutati said the suspension of the license will “injure tolerance” and that the IBA should punish the station without suspending their their license.

“We will always have differences of opinions, differences of perception as a country, we have to exercise tolerance. We can only develop our country if we tolerate criticism regardless of were it is coming from.

“Suspension for me will injure tolerance. They can look at other methods, other penalties within the law that can be used but they are denying the rest of us who enjoy the services to continue enjoying the services,” he said

The IBA on Monday suspended the broadcasting license for Prime TV for one month.

39 COMMENTS

    • After reflection, Bwana Mutati can see clearly now. The rain of gains of office are gone. Its gonna be bright, bright, sunshine is here.

    • They are lucky the license wasn’t revoked. Why would they accuse the head of state of trying to assassinate the Delusional Dictator HH without proof? That’s a very serious allegation that can potentially throw the country into chaos.

    • Journalist wearing and displaying upnd party regalia is good democratic practice?? Leaders need to be truthful and let these institutions we cry for do their function. Undermining these institutions will not develop our growth. Its the same with ZCID which was created in 1996 but today its democratic function has been destroyed by upnd. LET IBA DO ITS WORK. IF YOU FEEL THERE’S POLITICAL INTERFERENCE, PARLIAMENT IS THE RIGHT BODY TO ALTER ITS COMPOSITION AND MANDATE WHERE MMD HAS PRESENCE.

    • DeadNBC is also biased towards PF but it’s license has never ever been revoked.

      Once you start muffling anyone with opposing views, just know that your time to go is near. We saw it during the last days of KK & also under RB’s MMD.

      PF has no chance in 2021.
      There is one to rig for them in 2021. The thief Eric Chimese is no longer at ZAF & Kaizer Zulu is frustrated. Priscilla Isaacs left ECZ & fled the country.

    • The sesheke episode has shaken and ruffled up a lot of feathers in pf ,ttheir reaction to anything these days is epic. The the power of photo and video journalism.

    • This is a measured opinion from Mutati. He is smart.
      We need private TV stations when they err, some form of punishment have got to be discharged. I give IBA thumbs up for doing something about it. The punitive option is at their discretion. IBA is the best subject to offer measured punishment to ailing organizations.

  1. But Mutati weren’t you kissing up to PF and its abuses when you were still their finance minister? Your fake outrage is disingenuous.

  2. As long as hh holds unto 3 provinces, no opposition leader can meet 50+1 threshold.

    Pf is a very fragile and ecl will remain in power beyond 2021 because hh is selfish.

    He thinks we owe him a vote muchembele

    • Don’t say we, say i. We ! Do you have a legion of demons in you to say? You don’t even represent any party or organization to spokesperson for ati we..

  3. Dictatorship under this thieving debarred useless wanna be lawyer, peeing himself when drunk, sh!ting himself when drunk, dull moron with 0 IQ…. need I say more

    • ….so if someone said those same words about your mother, would you call it democratic and freedom of expression??

    • Say what you have to say, its called freedom of expression, or forgot you are in Zambia, you don`t have that with your half baked democracy….. go hang your self useless cadre

    • Useless cadre go dance for your useless drunk moron at the airport maybe your children will eat today, c@nt, peace of sh!t

    • Ato.mbe.le noko mupu.ti thats why you just follow like a dog iwe cadre, chika.la, you have no balls Edgar Lungu is not important than my dog which by the way lives better than you, you kaponya PFoools cadre with 0 IQ, noko lihu.le lya ba PFoools I am sure na iwe wali.tomb.ako kuli noko

  4. Just as much as I do not support unethical Journalism, I think it is important to trace the cause. As a Journalist myself I think the media in Zambia is too extreme. It is either one is too anti government and the other too pro government as such those that want to start private media institutions choose which league to belong to. I think if government owned media institutions gave a platform to opposing views, we can not have media institutions that become too anti government. Today even some private media institutions are too pro government like the Daily Nation. Secondly, it is about time we started electing credible MP’s. How did parliament enact the IBA Act that can not regulate ZNBC? This creates unfair competition. Meanwhile we have the Competition and Consumer Protection Agency…

  5. Davis Mwila is the one that shut prove tv , it was him that had those Sesheke cops fired,

    To the opposition, take heart ,PF have seen the power of video evidence, train more of of your activists to use mobile phones to record and buy secrete recording devices costing less than $50 for some trained activists.

    We will be forwarding the source of these devices, only video will stop PF violence.

  6. Home General News

    General News
    Media bodies in Zambia condemn Prime TV Suspension, accuse IBA of siding with PF
    March 6, 2019 1,034 views 11
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    Davies Mwila PF Secretary General
    Davies Mwila PF Secretary General
    Media Liaison Committee and World Press Freedom Day Zambia Committee – Press Statement on the Suspension of Prime TV licence

    Lusaka – March 5, 2018

    THE Media Liaison Committee (MLC) and the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) Zambia Committee is disappointed with the actions by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in suspending the operating licence for Prime TV for 30 days.

    MLC has noted that the IBA action follows a series of events involving the Patriotic Front (PF) Party Secretary General Davies Mwila chasing Prime TV journalists…

  7. 7. (1) There is hereby constituted the Independent Broadcasting
    Authority Board which shall, subject to the provisions of this Act,
    perform the functions of the Authority under this Act.
    (2) The Board shall consist of nine part-time members appointed
    by the Minister, on the recommendation of the appointments
    committee, subject to ratification by the National Assembly.
    (3) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed to the Board
    unless the person is committed to fairness, freedom of expression,
    openness and accountability and when viewed collectively the persons
    so appointed shall be representative of a broad cross section of the
    population of the Republic.
    (4) The Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson shall be elected by
    the members from amongst themselves…

    • (5) A person shall not be appointed as a member of the Board if
      that person —
      (a) is not a citizen of Zambia;
      (b) is not permanently resident in Zambia;
      (c) is a member of Parliament or local authority;
      (d) is an office-bearer or employee of any political party;
      (e) is a director or has direct or indirect financial interest in the
      broadcasting industry; or
      if) is an immediate family member of a person referred to in
      paragraph (d)or(e).
      (6) A member may not become a shareholder or otherwise
      participate as an applicant for a broadcasting licence within twelve
      months of ceasing to be a member of the Board.
      8. (1) The Minister shall, for the purposes of section seven,
      constitute an ad hoc appointments committee consisting of the
      following:
      (a) one member…

    • ….nominated by the Law Association of Zambia;
      (b) one member nominated by a Non-Governmental Organisation
      active in human rights;
      (c) one member nominated by religious organisations;
      (d) one member nominated by a media support organisation;
      and
      (e) one member nominated by the ministry

    • This precedence of subverting, sabotaging and weakening institutions by opposition politicians is very dangerous as it can lead to lawlessness as gullible supporters lose confidence in the governance system. No international help will build our institutions but ourselves. So if these opposition parties assume power does that mean everything will be changed and we start all over again?? Pathetic!!

  8. @ Zambian !MBECILE (#1.3)

    Forget about journalist wearing UPND “regalia”. He can wear what he wants.
    What about Magistrate wearing PF “regalia” whilst hearing causes involving UPND supporters?
    At least, try to be objective once in your miserable arse l1cking life

  9. ONE MONTH IS JUST TOO LITTLE WHY DIDN’T YOU SHURT THEM FOR GOOD THIS PRIME TV IS VERY SIDED IT DOES NOT STAND ON TRUTH BUT ALWAYS SUPPORTING THE OPPOSITION

  10. It is the duty of citizens to criticize Government. The opposite is not true. Holding Government accountable is not a monopoly of the elite. That is the reason why closing the TV station too drastic, judging by democratic standards. In the long term, Government could loose the support of TV viewers. The least that could do was to compel the aggrieved party to enjoy the right of response to defend self image. That is to say, to appear under the same conditions as the accuser. That is, 12:00 is 12:00 or 23:00 is 23:00, same interviewer or same news reader.

    • Dr Makasa, criticizing the government by the citizens is acceptable. However, peddling false accusations and criticism are not the same thing I believe.

    • Dear Dr. Makasa Kasonde,

      You a learned man should know that its easy to cover anything you like in developed World but if you are not careful in what is perceived as freedom of expression , the country can be set of fire.

      It is a well known fact that the opposition UPND has several times incited use of violence so that the country becomes ungovernable and it has resorted to using media houses like Prime TV. The Action taken by IBA is therefore right if its meant to safeguard the nation.

      There are people who say its ok for the nation to be on fire because all of us will then lose afterall he fired me as minister or I lost this and that . Please allow IBA to there work. The capitalist enjoy it when you set your country on fire. I think Anglo-American with their interest in the…

  11. It is not personal. rather, it national. I do not agree that criticism can lead to armed conflicts. The opposite is true. Total silence in the face adverse conditions could lead to political conflict. Fire is fire. The causes of fire must be listed: inflammable liquids, naked electric wires, explosives, etc. The IBA does not have any military role to play. If one journalist was found wanting, then just request for an explanation or apology or fine. Let the journalist also enjoy also professionalism.

  12. Ba Mutati, see what the so-called tolerance has done to once upon a time good countries.

    There are logical limits to tolerance.

  13. IBA can mate out whatever decision it wants but the problem is that they are not consistent with their decisions. It seems the decisions they are taking depends on which side of the coin are you rather than the offence committed. The case in point is where DEadNBC has consistently been biased towards the ruling party and they have been blind, mute and deaf. IBA should be fair and civil in the way they enforce the laws than being barbaric and insensitive to the laws as enshrined in the freedom charter.

  14. @ 6 Thomas Allan & @ 16 Mwakale , .. Right on Kanabesa. ..The same ethical standard IBA expects of Prime TV , they should also practice when executing their regulatory function. In this case , they appear to bend to the will of politicians. And unfortunately in Africa and other parts of the world where true democracy is still a challenge , this is all too common. We should seriously ask ourselves why ZNBC is exempt from giving ‘impartial’ coverage when we have an IBA and even pay license fee? ..That’s why this suspension looks like media censorship. And in view of what has happened to post newspapers , this could be the first step to revocation.

  15. Only a trib.al can condemn IBA action. Look, even Hon Felix Mutati has acknowledged the mistake by Prime TV, that is what is important, the punishment is the mandate of IBA. IBA acts according to the law not according to so called democratic tolerance.

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