Delegates from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the African Media Initiative (AMI) have called on Zambian authorities to allow The Post to reopen immediately,
The delegates noted that the apparent politically motivated attempt to silence it ahead of elections is part of a chain of events raising deep concerns over the state of democracy in the country.
The delegates travelled to Lusaka from July 13 to 15, 2016 as part of a joint emergency press freedom mission in which they met with representatives from government, the leading opposition party, The Post, the judiciary, civil society and foreign diplomatic missions to discuss the June 21 closure of The Post’s offices and printing press, and the seizure of its assets, over disputed tax debts.
The groups note that an order by Zambia’s Revenue Appeals Tribunal last month set forth a path to resolve the matter, which centres on allegedly unpaid income tax withholding and VAT receipts.
The order directs the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to release The Post’s bank accounts and hand back its premises and equipment so that it can conduct business. It also directs The Post to immediately pay whatever portion of a 53 million Kwacha tax bill issued earlier this year that it believes is actually owed and to provide security for the remainder until the true amount can be determined.
The groups also note the arrest of Post Editor and Co-Founder Fred M’membe, his wife, Mutinta Mazoka-M’membe, and Post Deputy Managing Editor Joseph Mwenda after they entered the paper’s offices with the Tribunal’s order. The three, who were allegedly assaulted during the incident, were released but charged with uttering a forged document – the order – and criminal trespass.
The tax case against The Post is widely perceived to be the result of political pressure by Zambian President Edgar Lungu to silence critics of his ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party ahead of next month’s elections, in which voters will elect the president and members of the General Assembly, and decide whether to adopt changes to the Bill of Rights in Zambia’s Constitution.
The representatives also note that government agents have raided printers suspected of printing copies of The Post in recent weeks, even though no court has deemed publication of the daily to be illegal.
Government representatives have brushed off questions about one of those raids, claiming the printer was the target of unrelated charges, but they have failed to justify others.
The case targeting The Post has come amid an uptick in pressure on media, leading to a broader climate of self-censorship.
The representatives note that in recent years, journalists have complained of threats and harassment by Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili against journalists and outlets that engaged in critical, or insufficiently deferential, coverage.
Journalists have also reported harassment and threats from party cadres associated with both the PF and the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), depending on the journalists’ media affiliation.
The tax case has also come amid an unprecedented surge in political violence, illustrated most recently in last week’s use by police in Lusaka of live ammunition to quell clashes with UPND supporters.
One UNPD supporter was killed, leading the country’s election commission to order all campaigning in the capital city suspended for 10 days.
Zambia has enjoyed a reputation as a leader in respect for democracy and human rights in the region, but recent events have cast a troubling shadow over that reputation.
Voters need and deserve to hear a full range of voices as they decide their future.
The Post has played a vital role in providing an alternative to government dominated mass media.
Unshackling that voice is critical if Zambians are to vote in an atmosphere that can be deemed free and fair. The sooner that this issue is resolved – and the sooner that The Post and all journalists who choose to play such a role are allowed to do so freely – the better.
The representatives therefore call on Zambia’s government to:
- Immediately drop all criminal charges against M’membe and the others charged with him, and hold those responsible for assaults on them accountable;
- Allow all media outlets in Zambia to operate independently and to cover all parties contesting the upcoming elections in a free and fair manner;
- Ensure that the ZRA, as well as all other government entities, is allowed to fulfil its statutory functions without political interference;
- Respect the independence of the judiciary and of the Revenue Appeals Tribunal, and play a leadership role in encouraging the ZRA as well as all other parties in proceedings before those bodies to respect and comply with their decisions;
- Come together with representations of all political parties contesting the upcoming elections to denounce political violence and pressure targeting journalists; and
- Publicly reaffirm the vital role of media freedom to democracy and ensure that all government officials respect it in line with Zambia’s domestic and international human rights commitments, and refrain from bringing political pressure to bear on media outlets.
The representatives further call on the ZRA and The Post to heed the aforementioned decision by the Revenue Appeals Tribunal and to work together to ensure that it is carried out.
IPI Executive Board Chair John Yearwood
AMI Senior Adviser Wangethi Mwangi
IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis
Zambia is an independent nation and cannot be dictated to
Let them pay for the post if there want it to reopen. They think they can impose there stupidity on us. They want to drag African countries when they fail to drag western countries.
Nonsense! Go and dictate the same things where you come from, if you will even have a chance of being given space in a newspaper. Don`t try to impose things you cant do yourselves on us
That is so special about the Post that the Republic of Zambia should curve in to criminality of their tax evasion when the national treasury need every tax collected to drive social spending and capital projects for the common good?
Buyers entrusted the Post Tabloid with sales tax for remittance to ZRA. Curving in is a recipe for anarchy because we will all stop paying taxes.
LUNGU is freezing cold with fear of losing the forth-coming ELECTIONS. ZAMBIANS HAVE ALREADY MADE UP THEIR MIND TO VOTE FOR CHANGE BY VOTING FOR HH AND THE UPND TEAM. WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF CORRUPTION IN OUR COUNTRY. LUNGU HAS LOOTED AND DESTROYED OUR COUNTRY. LUNGU HAS SOLD ZAMBIA TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALS. NOW IS TIME FOR ZAMBIA TO BE SERIOUS AND VOTE FOR A GOVERNMENT THAT CAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL ITS GOVERNANCE ACTIVITIES. THE UPND GOVERNMENT CAN BE TRUSTED FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE. HH CAN BE TRUSTED TO BE A LEADER WHOSE INTEREST IS TO MAKE ZAMBIA A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN.
Nangu ni dullness teifi ba International fimo fimo……..how can Zambia’s Revenue Appeals Tribunal set aside a decision made by the Supreme court? If you want the Post to operate freely,just pay the debt on their behalf chapwa.
Its Zambians that have resolved to close the Post please international community Zambians do not want the thieving Fred and his useless The post. He has been stealing from both Zambians and his employees through P.A.Y.E. Leave us alone just like the American Ambassador has done to be quiet and if you are tat remorse to the post donate to them and be a father Christmas to fred
These are the foreign quakes that make M’membe become so big headed—for goodness sake, Zambia is NO BANANA REPUBLIC!
Zambia has LAWS that every citizen of this Country has to live by. You are busy complaining about the BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER yet at the same time you are encouraging LAWLESSNESS by certain individuals to be excused. How confused and double-tongued can these fakes get?
Zambia is a maturing Country with reasonable laws that has sustained her through history and helping to grow our Country’s Democractic Institutions. M’membe’s case is child play compared to some of the cases (including TREASON) that have confronted our Country before and we have managed just fine to become the envy of other Countries in the region and beyond. So Zambia doesn’t need to be…
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…be lectured to by anybody for abiding by its Laws, including TAX LAWS!
COME AUGUST 11, WINA AZALILA…VIVA HH 2016
BUT WHO SAID THE POST NEWSPAPER CAN’T OPEN? I AM PRETTY SURE THE POST NEWSPAPER CAN OPEN ONCE THEY PAY THEIR TAX DEBTS UST LIKE ANY OTHER COMPANY THAT PAY TAX. THE FUNNY PART ABOUT THESE INTERNATIONAL BODIES OR GOVERNMENTS IS THAT IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES THEY CLOSE AND PROSECUTE TAX DEFAULTERS BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THIRD WORLD OR AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO BE PRECISE, THEY WANT DEFAULTERS IN THOSE COUNTRIES TO CARRY ON BUSINESS EVEN AFTETR NOT PAYING TAX FOR YEARS. POST IS NOT THE ONLY NEWSPAPERS IN ZAMBIA. LET THOSE PAPERS THAT PAY TAX DO BUSINESS. SHOW THESE IPI CHAPS THE QUICKKEST DOOR OUT OF ZAMBIA’S AFFAIRS. THE 1ST THING THE POST WILL REPORT WHEN ALLOWED TO OPERATE IS LACK OF DRUGS IN HOSPITALS WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BOUGHT WITH GRZ REVENUE WHICH THEY DON’T PAY.
Lungu and RB will need the Post very soon when TOZ, ZDM and ZNBC all turn their backs on them after losing the elections.
These guys dont even have a voice in their own countries and they come here where there is peace and love to start directing us what to do. Please lets not even bother ourselves
Who do you think you are you foreign mothar fukkars. You can first foot the bill for Mumembe after that he can operate freely. Ellis, Mwangi and Yearwood can go to hell together with the Boer thugs Scott Mmembe, Miles, Kaponya (HH) and Gender Based Molester. Idyiots
@Kudos you sound you have killed before, if not you will. I wonder why they never arrested you where you are.
Who are you and who has given you authority to direct a sovereign nation what to do? You think Zambians are very dull to think and speak for themselves. Please don’t insult us. Let mmembe pay his tax obligations.
Zambia is not an island. This shows the levels of illiteracy in Zambia. Please go to school and learn. You are the chaps who never used to listen in class. Remember the the ears that refused to listen were chopped off together with the head.
Zambia is not an island YES, but can you tell us what Zambia has done WRONG by demanding that TAXES MUST BE PAID EQUITABLY BY ALL?
Consider this scenario for a second: imagine FOX NEWS (a darling of the Republican Party and Conservatives in America) defaulted on its Taxes and the case went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Court rendered it’s VERDICT even in the middle of the Presidential campaigns going on right now, do you really think these so called International Press this, International Media that, would be demanding that a decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court should be disregarded just because it incovinieces one of their kind in the middle of an election campaign?
Yet they find it APPROPRIATE to lecture Countries such as Zambia. A sovereign State with its…
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…own LAWS and Court System to help enforce those Laws. The question is why?
This is the more reason why these so called INTERNATIONAL BODIES tend to lose credibility in Africa, and the Third World at large because it seems they only want and feel the need to INTERFERE in the internal affairs of Countries in these regions. NEVER IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES IN THE WEST! And the wonder why even Institutions such as the International Criminal Court in the Hague are losing credibility quick in places like Africa—double standard stup!dy!!!!!
The issue is simple. Help the Post to foot the tax liability and ZRA will allow them to open. You can’t come to Zambia and start issuing useless statements.
You go and say that to Obama. Go and direct Obama to stop police killing black Africans.
operate independently doesn’t mean one should not pay tax.. theirs nothing difficult here pay for the post and see if ZRA will keep it closed!! In fact all this delegates should go to hell we Zambian people want the post to pay what they owe us.. they are not awing this delegates but the Zambian people.
Indeed common sense is not common. Pay the bill and carry on with your Post, how hard is it to understand that?
Tell them that UPND and HH also demanded the closure of the Post during Sata’s Presidency, but demanding and demonstrating for the payment of K14 billion the Post owed DBZ. The matter of UPND cadres beaten by the police during the demonstration against the Post is still fresh, even on Watchdog. Today, the hypocrite HH is the chief defender of the Post, which he wanted closed because they never covered him that time. Wonders, jokers abd short memories shall never end in Zambia
In Zambia there are laws and the Supreme Court which is the highest said Fred Mmembe the crook and the Post Newspapers should pay, then who are these danderheads to direct or interfere with the operation of ZRA… Let them pay for the crook if they want and no one will complain… Meanwhile those arrogant workers who are still supporting blindly Mmembe are the ones feeling the effects as him still has money without them realising that he’s just using them as ponies…
IT IS VERY SIMPLE. M’MEMBE IS NOT JUST AN INDEPENDENT JOUNALIST. HE HAS TAKEN UPON HIMSELF THE ROLE OF “KING MAKER”. HE WANTS TO DICTATE TO ZAMBIANS WHO SHOULD BE THE PRESIDENT. IF HE FAILS THEN THE INCUMBENT FACES A BARRAGE OF ATTACKS FROM HIS PAPER CONTINUOUSLY. SOMETIMES HIS INFLUENCE HAS SWAYED PUBLIC OPINION. BUT ONCE HE FALLS IN FAVOUR WITH THE REGIME, HE NEVER PAYS TAXES AND SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS HAVE FALLEN PREY TO HIS MACHINATIONS AND HAVE ALLOWED HIM NOT TO PAY TAXES. HE SHOULD BE BLAMED FOR TAKING SUCH GESTURES FOR GRANTED AND NEGLECT HIS OBLIGATIONS. ESPECIALLY THAT HE BECOMES SCATHINGLY CRITICAL OF THE SAME GOVERNMENTS THAT ALLOW HIM TO OPERATE WITHOUT PAYING TAXES. YOU CANNOT BITE “THE FINGER THAT FEEDS YOU”. NOT ALL GOVERNMENTS WILL TOLERATE THAT. ZAMBIA IS A POOR…
These fools and Lusaka times *****s
It would have been grateful if these people paid his tax dues in full then demand for immediate reopening of the paper. Lets hope among them there is No one from Spain I would have personally asked him if Messi has been forgiven for not paying tax.
Post paper has to oblige, they have to pay the tax. Need no special treatment, all the best
International press institute, go jump in the lake. If you are really concerned about the Post and Mmembe do the followinh simple things
1, read all issues of the Post since its innception and tell us if you still think that they snd for press freedom
2. Tell us your opinion of recent Post publications which actually incited violence.
3. Tell us that you care for Zambia and you do not wish another Rwanda here designed by Mmembe.
4. MOST IMPORTANT, pay the tax for Mmembe. Let Mmembe pays the undisputed portion as you suggest, and you pay the disputed portion for him which we shall refund you if proved otherwise. Unlike you, we Zambians know beiyond reasonable doubt that Mmembe is a crook and trickster and will never pay his dues. We have seen him evade other debts before, all because…
Did these lunatics go to the US the tell them the let Wesley sniper off the hooks over tax? Did they go to Agentina to tell them the release leonel messi from prison over tax? There asses only showed them Zambia thinking we are week. Did they hear they know their fellow lunatic US ambassador to Zambia made that attempt before being ashamed of turn of events in his country and Argentina? Who even gives coverage to these morons for Christ sake
IPI AND IMI pay for the post .ZRA will quickly open the post as soon as the K53 million is paid.
Did these lunatics go to the US to tell them to let Wesley sniper off the hooks over tax? Did they go to Agentina to tell them to release leonel messi from prison over tax? Their asses only showed them Zambia thinking we are weak. Did they hear or know their fellow lunatic US ambassador to Zambia made that attempt before being ashamed by turn of events in his country and Argentina? Who even gives coverage to these morons for Christ sake
LUNGU is freezing cold with fear of losing the forth-coming ELECTIONS. ZAMBIANS HAVE ALREADY MADE UP THEIR MIND TO VOTE FOR CHANGE BY VOTING FOR HH AND THE UPND TEAM. WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF CORRUPTION IN OUR COUNTRY. LUNGU HAS LOOTED AND DESTROYED OUR COUNTRY. LUNGU HAS SOLD ZAMBIA TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALS. NOW IS TIME FOR ZAMBIA TO BE SERIOUS AND VOTE FOR A GOVERNMENT THAT CAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL ITS GOVERNANCE ACTIVITIES. THE UPND GOVERNMENT CAN BE TRUSTED FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE. HH CAN BE TRUSTED TO BE A LEADER WHOSE INTEREST IS TO MAKE ZAMBIA A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN.
We have seen him evade other debts and taxes before, all because he knows that idoits from preds fackars will support him.
Lastly a caution to our beloved government, we are with you on this one so DO NOT CAVE IN to these idoit international criminals posing under the cover of press freedom. If you cave in, we will take it as a betrayal of our trust and we will not vote for you. In fact that is Mmembes strategy now, all this is just a last ditch effort to campaign for HH to win. Mmembe and HH know that they are in the wrong and all citizens know it, so that is the tramp card: if they can force the government to look weak and cave in, the government will lose the elections on the back of a feeling of weakness and betrayal of the masses. YOU ARE WARNED.
Viva ECL, PF and all its…
Well said Terrible. I hope the Govt will not bend and give in to idyots who yap yap from down behind their backs. Let Fred wait for Hakaluza Hagain to re-open the shi-tty paper.
Agony is praying that Zambians will vote for change and they vote the opposite!
You are dictating the Zambian gvt immediately to reopen the Post and drop all charges? Seriously? Who are you anyway and who invited you to come and give a sovereign nation a directive? These are not colonial days. Please just mind your own business instead of playing double standards here and if at all you fail to mind your own business, then at least help the Post pay the tax, simple.
Tulemisakisha ba Immigration ba International fimo fimo
@pay tax ! Simple as that.
I’m sure these are the same lunatics who campaigned to have PRESS TV (Iran) blacked out because its objective reporting was in bad books with the US. They are now in Africa to prop up tax evader M’membe so that he can continue to feed the public with hate messages. Their aim is to destabilize this beautiful nation and cause chaos so that they can continue to economically exploit us. Sorry chaps, we are wide awake! Put your houses in order where you come before you point fingers at the Zambian people. Zambia is no place for WESTERN HYPOCRISY! GET LOST!
Next time we have people coming from outside to tell us what to do they shud be arrested or stoned we have laws and everyone has to follow them including post period go USA and tell white cops to stop shooting down blacks u are quite y *****s go and hang
No, next time, in September, you will be BEGGING IMF for salvation from abject hunger caused by your 1diotism at the ballot box!!!
ZAMBIA IS GOVERNED BY THE RULE OF LAW
===========================
Let me take this rare opportunity to educate these untutored foreigners who want to lecture us, that, even when someone is breaking the law, they are immune to prosecution. Zambia has seen peace to-date because it is governed by prescribed fundamental laws anchored on the rule of law. That is why even you foreigners can come and begin to abuse your stay in this country. The closure of the POST by ZRA is as the result of the abuse of the law by Mmembe’s failure to honor his tax obligation. Foreigners will not be allowed to abuse their visitation to this country if they choose to disregard and issue disparaging remarks in contempt with the ruling of our supreme court of the land with impunity. The statement above by the…
ZAMBIA IS GOVERNED BY THE RULE OF LAW
===========================
The statement above by the IPI and the IMI is contemptuous to say the least. Organise and pay for Mmembe and the Post will open!
Lungu preparing to reject poll results, mobilises Soldiers
Outgoing President Edgar Lungu has brought in more than 100 Commandos from Mushili on the Copperbelt and stationed them in Lusaka’s Emasdale area with instructions to shoot and eliminate what he considers as trouble makers when he refuses to handle over power after losing elections.
In the police service, Lungu has set up a special unit called ‘the IG’s crack squad’ stationed in Garden area of Lusaka also numbering more than 100 and has highly retrained to the level of military personnel with a mission to kill innocent citizens before and after elections.
Highly placed sources from both the Army Commander and Police IG have revealed that both operations were meant to be top secret missions but some of the top Generals and…
YOU ARE A DEADLY VIRUS TO THE HEALTH OF ZAMBIA. WERE YOU ALSO MANUFACTURED IN A LAB IN THE UNITED STATES?
Discourse,
Am begining to believe that you are behind the Zambian Watchdog. All your comments are based on drivel from them. Please start thinking
This business is NO special than a public toilet which can be closed down by health authorities if it is found NOT SUITABLE for use according to set standards. ADJUST YOUR THOUGHTS ADVOCATES OF THE POST.
Some comments leave much to be desired and call for the POLICE to come in and QUESTION the writer of the same.
What has Mmembe, HH and ( US) Ambassador Mr Shultz achieved by bringing these non entities.
TRUTH, its not all Zambians, but Tonga region and SDA religion, we know the story.
IPI AND IMI ARE BEING MISUNDERSROOD BY ZAMBIANS. THEY ARE SAYING THAT, SINCE THEY HAVE PAID ZRA WHAT MMEEMBE OWES THAT INSTITUTION, THE POST MUST BE ALLOWED TO START OPERATING.
MAY BE IT IS NOT ZAMBIANS WHO HAVE MISUNDERSROOD THE IPI AND IMI BUT ME, IN THAT CASE, MY FREE ADVICE TO THEM IS TO HELP MMEEMBE PAY TO ZRA WHAT BELONGS TO ZRA.
We are quick to insult the foreign delegation forgetting we will soon go to them for infrastructure development funding once ushered into government after elections……If we are sovereign as we claim to be to suit our ego then let us stand on our own than going begging with our respect tails between our legs…… pride goes before a fall
that what stinking inferiority can behave. shame on you.
You are right @Zero Boyz. We borrowed from donors and now we insult them, then have to go back to them after elections. As was said in the news in the first quarter we have a date with IMF after elections -all of us will be affected -partisan and non-partisan, church and un-churched. The pride displayed will be wounded. Without industry we will continue borrowing and as the Bible says the borrower is servant to the lender.
Ba grade 2 please note that tax should be paid no excuse about it nothing will change that. Read about tax or visit ZRA information centre. For sure where is Zambia going to if simple word Tax can’t be understood. Jesus said give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Let the tax man collect his man even if it’s from the Post. So Zedgirl remember that even in your house neighbors won’t make rules for your house even if they give you salt.
What a bunch of jokers full of double standards. We cant listen to you good for nothing people who think are so superior to our GRZ. Shame to you all. Please pay for Mumembe and the Post will open.
Please also go to USA and tell Obama to stop killing blacks.
The truth is that even the Post paid all the taxes to ZRA it will only be allowed to resume normal operations after 11August 2016 when elections are over and Lungu is back in power as State President. The Post cannot be allowed to re-open becoz it will expose and spoil Lungu’s Election Rigging Plans. This is a matter of political survival for Lungu. The end justifies the means.
Let them PAY so that we prove you right. Plz rush to the Past News and impress upon them to pay so that we know the “real ECL” & you shame him.
Pay back the MONEY
These chaps should just shut their beaks instead of commenting on issues they don’t even understand! Please not that the person behind “The Past” is a tax fraudster and you all know that avoiding to pay tax is a serious offence especially in your countries! This should be the last time you are carelessly opening your beaks on an issue which is beyond your understanding! If you have the money, pay for him and the Past will be opened within the blinking of an eye!
Let the Post pay its taxes then ZRA will surely open it. The Post owes the people of Zambia that 53million. We civil servants get change after tax (PAYE) has been deducted from our monthly emoluments. Who is Fred Membe not to? The bustard even fails to remit the VAT that we pay for buying his paper. You IPI and IMI go to SPAIN and tell that Govt to drop the tax charges against Lionel Mesi since he is a world best footballer if you mean well. *****s!!!
FoOls! Pay for the Post! The guy needs to go to jail!
Rom 13:1-7
Everyone (Including m’membe) must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the…
Lungu was lecturing Ugandan opposition to accept defeat. He is getting a dose of his own medicine.
I have a question for UPND. Will they drop Mmembe’s case if they win the election? I’d like to know before I waste my money to come and vote.
Y
I do not understand why late president Michael Sata had K16 million owed to ZRA by Post Newspaper written off, what hold does he have on some of our presidents? Nkhongole ni nkhongole, just pay. NAPSA can you please check and see if this Mmembe is up to date with his employees contributions.