Panos Institute Southern Africa is saddened by the cancellation of Prime Television’s broadcasting license, and has called on the Independent Broadcasting Authority to rescind its decision.
In a letter to Prime TV proprietor Gerald Shawa yesterday, the IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma said the TV station’s broadcasting license had been cancelled with immediate effect in line with provisions of Section 29 of the IBA Acts of 2010.
Panos Executive Director Vusumuzi Sifile notes that in the few years that the station has been on air, Prime TV has established itself as a medium of choice for many citizens, and its closure will be a blow to those who rely on the station as their preferred platform.
Mr Sifile said the station also employs many Zambian professionals, and its closure will affect their livelihoods.
He said all media houses be they community or mainstream, print, broadcast and online, public and private media houses have a role to play in supporting the achievement of Zambia’s national development priorities.
Mr Sifile said at a time as this when the country is putting maximum effort to address the corona virus public health emergency, the country needs a diverse array of media to provide timely and relevant information to a wider section of the Zambian populace to enable timely informed decisions and appropriate actions.
He said the closure of Prime TV is therefore badly timed as it will slow the free flow of information on the country’s efforts to contain an unprecedented public health emergence.
Mr Sifile said the cancellation of Prime TV’s license will limit citizens’ access to critical information, thereby limiting their ability to effectively participate in informed decision making on matters affecting them.
He added that the decision by IBA is backtracking the country’s media pluralism and development achievements since liberalization of the airwaves.
Mr Sifile added that Panos therefore appeals to the IBA to reconsider its decision and explore other remedial actions to address identified concerns the authority may have on Prime TV while the media house continues to broadcast.
All these people taking away people’s freedoms and yanking away others happiness and hope must come and face death role sentences or firing squads. Enough is enough. We cannot live by the yoke of Lungu and his minions and come and let them walk free. It’s time Zambians put their feet down. The suffering in Zambia did not just come by itself. It was brought in by these hopeless, careless, and reckless undereducated minions and little devils. Hang them. Show their emulators that enough is enough. Hang them please. Do like the Ivorians did to that leader and his wife. Give them to the young wolves to show them we are tired.
I doubt if this measure will stop people from taking back topstar decoders, I visited a friend and I literary became a scuba diver, it was like I was watch TV under water, how do you people survive without LA liga, EPL and champions league? Now no prime TV, wakanda bouquet is that?
Such measures only encourage people to resort to more social media news leaks.
My wife wanted to buy topstar decoder but immediatly they decided to remove prime TV, she changed her mind and bought a DStv decoder.
YOU WON’T REIGN FOREVER ………….PFOOOOOOLS!!!
LAST KICKS OF A DYING HORSE.
Continue seeking for loans from China and Russia.
Forget about the $1.5 billion IMF bailout.
PrimeTV was daring the authority.. their behavior is unAfrican and they’ve now learnt a bitter lesson!!! Let Shawa take responsibility of his own deeds….
Shawa thought he is small god. He forgot that the same people he insulted are the same one who gave him the license. Shawa should have avoided this to happen. He became number one enemy of government. Anyway, good luck in your fight to reposes your licence.
When you score victories, you get credit.It goes without saying that you should take responsibility for your failures as well. I said it before on this forum that the bible in Prov. 16 vs 18 says Pride comes before a fall..
There is a legal process to follow for those aggrieved by such a decision. Even the proprietor yesterday said that his next steps are to appeal the decision with his very talkative lawyer who knows nothing. So what is this organisation saying? Sometimes best to be quiet there is a due process,let it be followed. Prime TV is not any more special than any company in Zambia
Just like you Kaiza isn’t any more special than prime TV. It may be many years from now but a day when you will be humbled is certainly coming
Only UPND sycophants and zealots and enemies of progress who are into group think mentality are crying out loudly because they were using the disgraced Prime TV… Why does UPND use pompous people to their credit it’s because their Supreme leader HH is full of pomposity and nowonder he will never rule Zambians unless he repents his evil sins of greedy and bitterness mambala…
I don’t remember seeing Prime TV being chance to be heard like the Law provides, so that decision will definitely be overturned by the court. When politicians lose ground they stop thinking and this is an example of a decision that was made without thinking
As per usual like they like doing to political opponents of cornering them a day before a long holiday, so these guys just had to shut prime TV a day before the long holiday, so that their viewers can feel punishment more and only make the TV channel do any appeal after the holiday.
Let the truth be told, what is the purpose of belonging to an Association which can’t fight for its members rights!? Is not right for Panos Southern Africa to fight for its members through courts and engage other stakeholders to finding a lasting solution to this fiasco. I know these dictators are the Alpha and Omega of Zambia. The PF government is a very insensitive government ever known in Zambia. If UNIP behaved like this, we would have attained the democracy we enjoy today.
GOOD RIDDANCE TO PRIME STUPIDITY AND HATRED
shawa is sturbon, how do you appologise and then you take the same people of have appologised to.2 Court, lusanbo warned you but you thought you were a god now ask your bragadoncio friend kainde to help you, it will be only a statement from him no cash because wakaso,
Kaizer Zulu, the rogue as usual refuses to appear before court order for assaulting, false imprisonment and kidnapping of Benard Nshindano, Sengelwayo Jere and Saul Masikoti at Chita Lodge last year. Those sued are the chief rogue Kaizer Zulu, and his fellow molesters Mpange Kachingwe, Raffiq Rasid and Bellan Mwanza.
As said, Kaizer Zulu is public enemy number one in Zambia for harassing, maiming, assaulting, firing using a gun, kidnapping and dehumanising Zambians. Zambians deserve justice, whatever he says on this site, he masquerades, he’s an enemy of Zambians.
Haha munadekhane I see you have been reading the tabloids again with their sensationalist articles. I am sure you have some level of education in your big head, surely if there was ample evidence I had done what you allege I have done, do you think I would be walking freely?
As a citizen of Zambia i demand you open Prime TV why are you killing all the Zambian companies and promoting Chinese companies when you came in power you said more jobs but you are doing the opposite you don’t care about the people even if it is to close a company how do you close a big company so fast that company took years to build open it.
First this PANOS where were they when PRIME TV steping on GRZ toes? They were no where to be seen . Does it mean there work is just to intimidate the Government when ever it punishes the offender. Let these association first Counsel there members on there way they conduct business?
Law is a double edged sword, the same ZRA they are using will be used against them and they will dance to the turn. They are other institutions that are abusing the law, my humble advise to those that head the institutions is that never trust politicians, please consult Richard Sakala. There is a point when no one the retrieve you from the gripping crocodile. To my fellow Zambians, lets seriously take note of these abuse and not to forget in the near future, we need to set a precedence that everyone is below the law.
How do you bring in too much Chinese in the country and you say there are investors but there keeping chickens at the back of their houses taking the opportunities of local people how can a Chinese come from china saying he is an investor only to come and start keeping chickens at the back of his house PF cares more about Chinese than the Zambian people that’s why they don’t care about local business companies.
Now that ZNBC which is not regulated by Broadcasting Authority(I don’t want to add the word independent here for my own reasons), that ZNBC does not show the opposition, what measures has the BA put in place for the opposition views to be aired. And who is going to tell ZNBC to start showing all players in Zambia who pay tax. Awe even slavery was okay, because I am told slave masters could understand at times
This Josephine Mapoma is a proper stooge. In the past she suspended the licence of radio stations which was seen to be critical of the government. This time its prime tv. She must be the one to go first before any radio or tv station.
How do you only find faults in private media and not in ZNBC. Are you for real?