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Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, Howard Sikwela has instructed the Zambia Tourism Agency to correct the misconception that the victoria falls is located in a named country other than Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Reverend Sikwela says failure to which he will be forced to engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the issue.
Speaking at a media briefing to mark the Irish Festive of Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations, Revered Sikwela says the Victoria falls is found in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
And Rev. Sikwela says commemorating the Irish National Day in Livingstone will help clear the misconception that suggesting that Victoria falls belong to another country other than Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Rev. Sikwela has commended the Irish Government through its embassy in Zambia for choosing Livingstone to celebrate the Irish festival of Saint Patrick.
Speaking at the same event, Irish Ambassador to Zambia, Seamus O’grady says the irish festival of saint patrick is a huge opportunity for Zambia as it will help market the country’s tourism opportunities to the world.
Mr. O’grady says this is because the image of the Victoria falls will be displayed during the official launch.
He explains that the global greening initiative is designed to promote awareness of ireland while also providing a platform for host countries to highlight their own tourist offering.
And National Heritage and Conservation Commission director Collins Chipote has thanked the Irish government for choosing the Victoria Falls as one of the prime sites that will this year be bathed in green lights from march 15 to 17.
Israeli Ambassodor to Zambia, His Excellency Mr. Gershon Kedar with Minister of Health Dr Chilufya
The Israeli government has donated gadgets for non surgical male circumcision to the Ministry of Health.
Receiving the donation at Ndeke House yesterday , Health Minister of the Republic of Zambia, Hon. Dr. Chitalu Chilufya stated that the gesture from the Israeli government had come at the correct time when the government was racing to meet its target of circumcising two million men and boys in a bid to achieve epidemic control of HIV/AIDS by 2020.
The Minister announced that 1.4 million males had been circumcised in Zambia as of 2018.
He stated that Government acknowledged the devastating impact that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has and continues to have on the Zambian society causing it to place emphasis on prevention strategies that will contribute towards the reduction in HIV incidence, voluntary male circumcision being one such interventions.
“Evidence from research studies has shown that male circumcision reduces a man’s chance of spreading HIV by 60 percent. Studies that have modeled the impact of VMMC in Zambia indicate that if we reach our goal of circumcising 90% of all HIV negative adult males by end of 2020, we will prevent over 340,000 new HIV infections. If we are to effectively reduce the incidence of HIV, we all need to actively contribute to ensuring that Zambia achieves Universal Coverage of Male Circumcision, “Dr. Chilufya said.
And Dr. Chilufya stated that in order for Zambia to reach its target of circumcising 2 million men and boys by 2020, innovative ways of providing VMMC in an efficient and cost effective way. He stated that PrePex device offered such innovations and hence it would cause a significant increase in MCs if introduced as one of the methods available to clients.
He announced that the Ministry of Health was in collaboration with Jhpiego, currently implementing active surveillance of the PrePex device and that so far, 731 circumcisions had been done.
“Therefore, with the donation, it will help to accelerate the implementation of the study and will effectively help in outreach activities, “he said.
And Israeli Ambassodor to Zambia, His Excellency Mr. Gershon Kedar stated that his government will continue partnering with the Zambian government in many aspects including health. He stated that so far, their collaboration in the health sector included emergency health, cardiology and public health and that now, it gave him great pleasure that they would be collaborating in non surgical male circumcision which would help to save millions of lives.
United Party for National Development, National Management Committee, NMC has completed the adoption process and filled all vacancies except for Roan Constituency.
UPND Elections Chairperson Garry Nkombo speaking during a press briefing held at the Party Secretariat this afternoon said the NMC widely consulted and engaged all Party structures before compiling the final list of adopted candidates.
The UPND has adopted Mansa based businessman, Jerry Justine Bwalya as Bahati Constituency Parliamentary Candidate.
Bahati Constituency has 9 wards with 55 polling stations and 43, 827 voters. Mansa Ward has the highest number of voters totaling 10, 254 followed by Kaole ward with 7,824 voters.
The by-elections in Bahati Constituency comes after the resignation of its Member of Parliament Harry Kalaba as announced on Monday 28th January, 2019
Mr Nkombo also said the Party has adopted Beatrice Moonga Kayuni as Kafue District Council candidate ahead of the by-elections set for March 27th and April 12th respectively.
Kafue District has 16 wards with 59 polling stations.Kasenje ward has the highest number of voters totalling 12,647 voters, followed by shabusale ward with 10,128 voters, Matanda ward 7,882 voters and Kafue ward with 7,478 voters.
Meanwhile Mr Garry Nkombo said that the party has withheld announcing its candidate for Roan Constituency.
“The party is still deliberating with NDC our counterparts and we shall inform the nation once a consensus is reached, ” said Mr Nkombo.
However Nkombo, said that the Party has sought indulgence with the two UPND aspiring candidates for Roan constituency.
Other adopted candidates for local government are as follows
1. Chinyanja ward of Kabwe District – Bernadette Chileshe
2. Makunku Ward of Itezhi tezhi – Mutande Sam Mpamba
3. Chilapya Ward of Mansa District – Galani Chanda
4. Lenga Lenga Ward of Chavuma District –
5. Mfinshe Ward of Mungwi District – Bruno C Mubanga
6. Muyondoti ward of Mitete District –Mwangala Kayamba
7. Muchinga ward of Chama District – Moses Katalala Kumwenda
The Local government elections were necessitated by resignations and deaths.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has set 11th April, 2019 as the date for Parliamentary, in Bahati Constituency of Mansa District in Luapula Province and Roan Constituency of Luanshya District on the Copperbelt Province and for 7 Local government elections in
The Drug Enforcement Commission in North-Western Province has arrested two people for trafficking in over 1.5 tons of cannabis, contrary to the laws of Zambia.
Patson Mula, 43, a small-scale farmer of Kandemba area in Solwezi District has been arrested for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants weighing 1.8 tons.
Also arrested in Solwezi District is Abel Kasaso, 34, of Kimakolwe area for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants weighing 33.4 kilograms.
And in Eastern Province the Commission has arrested and jointly charged Chalungama Muyayi, 34, a driver of Muyayi Farm with Marliot Lungu, 24, of John Laing in Lusaka for trafficking in 1.12 tons of cannabis concealed in 18 by 90-kilogram sacks and one fifty-kilogram sack laden on a canter intercepted in Lumezi District.
Also arrested is Ronald Besa, 49, a small-scale farmer of Masaba Village in Luapula Province for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants weighing 640 kilograms.
The Commission has reiterated a warning to small-scale farmers to desist from engaging themselves in the cultivation of illicit crops such as cannabis which have a devastating effect on the nation’s social wellbeing.
Meanwhile, the Commission in Lusaka Province has arrested a 33-year-old Malawian national identified as Yusuf Hafeez Twayib Nawe of Lusaka-West for trafficking in twenty-four boxes of dry miraa weighing 291 kilograms concealed in boxes falsely labelled pure Zambian Green Tea, Moringa, Ethiopian Tea and other labels of tea.
This follows the recent arrest of ten suspects for trafficking in over 1.3 tons of miraa concealed in boxes bearing similar false labels.
All suspects are in Police custody and will appear in court soon.
This is contained in a statement issued by DEC Public Relations Officer Theresa Katongo.
A Traditional Leader in Southern Province has called on the media to be professional and desist from peddling false news.
Chief Choma of the Tonga people in Choma district is saddened with the levels of unproffenalism being exhibited by some sections of the media.
The Traditional Leader says the media plays an important role in informing the masses and that any misinformation can lead to chaos in the nation.
Chief Choma also urged journalists to avoid being used by political players promoting hate speech and peddling false news.
He was speaking in an interview at his palace in Choma district.
Meanwhile, the Traditional Leader has thanked President Edgar Lungu for assuring them that Government will provide relief food in a likely event that the province is hit with hunger.
Chief Choma says most maize fields in the province have dried up due the dry spell in most parts of the province.
He said his subjects are however confident that Government will help them following President Lungu’s assurance.
The traditional leader has since called on citizens to respect the Head of State as there can only be one President at any given time.
National Democratic Congress Consultant Chishimba Kambwili
Former Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili’s application for judicial review in the Lusaka High Court over the declaration of the Roan parliamentary seat vacant by Speaker of the National Assembly has been thrown out.
The Roan seat was declared vacant on February 27, 2019 after the Speaker ruled that Mr. Kambwili could not be in Parliament as the Patriotic Front lawmaker whilst also heading another political party.
The Lusaka High Court has dismissed Mr. Kambwili’s application for judicial review for want of jurisdiction.
In dismissing the case, the High Court advised that the applicant could not shift recourse of a matter to the High Court with a matter that fell squarely in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court.
The court has noted that the characteristics of a dispute determines the forum to which an applicant or claimant should have recourse to as a matter that is purely within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court cannot be launched via judicial review under the public law.
The Court found it irregular that Mr. Kambwili abandoned the matter in the Constitutional Court only to re-launch before the High Court which they found inconceivable.
“In view of the foregoing, I come to the conclusion that the application for leave should be denied for want of jurisdiction and I so order, the application is therefore dismissed,” stated the court.
The former Roan lawmaker sued the Attorney General and Electoral Commission of Zambia and wanted the court to declare that Dr. Matibini’s decision did not conform with the provision of Article 72.
Mr. Kambwili was challenging Dr. Matibini’s decision to declare the Roan seat vacant.
He wanted the court to further prohibit ECZ accepting the nomination papers from the aspiring candidates.
The Roan seat was declared vacant on February 27th after a ruling on a point of order raised by Malambo Member of Parliament Makebi Zulu who wondered whether Kambwili was in order to hold on to the seat on the PF ticket whilst also publicly confessing that he was the leader of the opposition National Democratic Congress.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has declared April 11th as the date for the by-election for the Roan seat.
Zesco United’s woes continued on Wednesday following a stunning 2-1 away league loss to Mighty Mufulira Wanderers at Shinde Stadium to suffer their first FAZ Super Divison Pool A defeat of the 2019 campaign.
The league defeat came barely four days after Zesco lost 3-0 away to Nkana to end their CAF Confederation Cup Group C quarterfinal dreams with a match to spare.
Wednesday’s loss is also a huge concern for the defending FAZ Super Division champions who not only suffered their third successive competitive defeat, but are also winless in seven competitive games since they defeated Nakambala Leopards 2-0 at home in Ndola on February 6.
Since then Zesco have collected four defeats and three draws.
Meanwhile, Mighty and Zesco went into the break 1-1 after Humphrey Maseneko and Lazarus Kambole scored in the 22nd and 45th minutes respectively.
But Brian Chewe turned from provider to scorer in the 67th minute to seal Mighty’s first league win since the start of the season on January 27 when they beat fellow promoted side Prison leopards 3-0 at Shinde.
Wednesday’s victory also saw Mighty end their three-match losing run and handed caretaker coach Allan Kamwanga his first win from two games in charge since replacing the suspended Justin Chinama.
Zesco stay fourth on 8 points, tied with Mighty who jump from eighth to fifth after the home victory after five and seven games played respectively.
The two sides are also six points behind leaders Zanaco.
Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia has dismissed social media reports that the union has settled for the 4 percent salary for civil servants.
CSAWUZ President Davy Chiyobe has told ZANIS in an interview that the union has not settled for anything yet as negotiations with government over salaries and conditions of service for public service workers are still on going.
Mr Chiyobe said the supposed 4 percent salary increment circulating on social media is not true, but could not however disclose how much the union is demanding as salary increment, saying doing so will jeopardize the negotiations.
Mr Chiyobe noted that government and the union are currently in negotiations, stating that whatever is being posted in social media should be ignored by all well-meaning Zambians.
The CSAWUZ President added that the union will announce to its members once the negotiations have been concluded, but hinted that the bargaining process is almost coming to a conclusion.
He said the union understands the anxieties of its members because the process has taken too long to be concluded.
He has since called on members of the union to exercise patience as the authority looks at the various interests to ensure that they get the best out of the bargaining process.
And Zambia Congress of Trade Union says they have not received any official report of the negotiations between the CSAWUZ and government over the salaries and conditions of service for civil servants.
ZCTU President Nkole Chishimba said the mother body of the trade union should have been informed if the union for civil servants had agreed on an increment for its members.
Mr Chishimba said all the trade union knows is that negotiations are still on-going, stating that the outcome of the negotiations will be announced once finalised.
He said the ZCTU is not directly involved in the bargaining process for salaries and conditions of service but is informed of the outcome and cannot divulge any information before the union decides to do so.
On 15-17 March 2019, Victoria Falls will be illuminated in green to celebrate the Irish festival of Saint Patrick.
St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and is credited with bringing Christianity to the country in the early Fifth Century. His life is celebrated on the 17th of March each year, and this celebration has become the National Day of Ireland and the most important festival in the country.
The “Greening” of Victoria Falls is another example of the close and friendly relationship between Zambia and Ireland. For Ireland, the colour green symbolizes St. Patrick and also the Irish people.
Since 2010, Ireland has been running an initiative called the “Global Greening”. In 2018, over 300 landmarks in 50 countries were illuminated in Green- this included the Freedom Statue on Independence Avenue.
This year, the Embassy of Ireland, in cooperation with the National Heritage and Conservation Commission,will include Victoria Falls in the Global Greening initiative for the first time on 15-17 March 2019.
Victoria Falls is the centre piece of this year’s landmarks, and its greening has already received extensive coverage in the Irish media. At the launch by the Irish Minister for Tourism, Shane Ross and the Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons for this year’s campaign, the Victoria Falls were highlighted as the outstanding addition to the Global Greening.
An image of Victoria Falls was displayed during the official launch boosting, selected above other confirmed greenings such as the Colosseum of Rome, Niagara Falls, the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro or the Sydney Opera House.
This Global Greening initiative is designed to promote awareness of Ireland, while also providing a platform for the host country to highlight their own tourist offering. The Embassy is very pleased that maximum exposure has been achieved for Zambia in Irish media this year.”
United Party for NAtional Development vice president for administration, Geoffrey Mwamba has said that more needs to be done to create jobs for youths and support young entrepreneurs so that they can help create jobs for others
In a statement issued during the Youth Day celebrations under the theme; Youth Unlimited, Mr Mwamba said Government had the mandate to empower young people, increase their participation in governance and access to education, training and jobs. Mr Mwamba said youths should desist from being used only during elections to be used as tools for violence.
“The government has the mandate to empower young people, increase their participation in governance and their access to education which should be free, training and jobs, unlike what we are seeing today were youths are only needed during elections to be used as tools for violence. “We need to do more to create jobs for our youths and support young entrepreneurs so that they can help create jobs for others,” he said.
Mr Mwamba said young people hold instrumental values in the fight against corruption if well engaged in governance processes due to the energy they bring along in improving policy and programme outcomes.
He said youth bring energy, vigor, diverse and fresh ideas to the deliberations. “Demand your right to education, your right to freedom of assembly, speech, worship, among other rights, then as a powerful unity, young people make it known that you expect corruption free societies so that you can enjoy a brighter future,” he said.
Copperbelt Minister Japhen Mwakalombe emphasizing a point during his visit to KCM
Meanwhile, Copperbelt Minister Japhen Mwakalombe has said that more than 200, 000 jobs will be created for the youth after the Copperbelt Investment Expo.
Mr. Mwakalombe said youths were a resource that needed to be nurtured and such Government would ensure that the young ones were not left behind in terms of development.
Mr. Mwakalombe was speaking in an interview in Ndola yesterday after the Youth Day celebrations.The minister added that Government had taken keen interest in the plight of youths on the Copperbelt and other areas across the country.
“As you are aware, we will be having the Copperbelt Investment Expo in June this year. We will create 200,000 jobs for the youths. That is what we stand for and we want our youths to use their skills,” Mwakalombe said.
Mr. Mwakalombe said he was happy that there were youths from different political parties during the Youth Day celebrations, stressing that it was a sign of unity in the country.
Mr Mwakalombe advised the youth not be agents of political violence and abuse, stating that their time and effort needed to be channelled into development activities.
Mr. Mwakalombe noted that youths did not need to get educated to be employed but could become innovative to better their livelihood.
“Youths should stop thinking that they go to school to get educated and get employed. They are the resource of the country through their skills. We want to ensure that there is equality of development in all the districts of the Copperbelt. So to do this, we need to create more jobs for our youths,” he said.
Mr Mwakalombe added that Government wanted to turn the old mines into tourism sites on the Copperbelt to attract tourists.
“We want to turn the old unused mines into tourist attractions in order to turn our weakness into strengths. There a lot of opportunities that can help us attract foreign direct investment. Our target for the expo is to create 200,000 jobs for our youths,” he said.
President Edgar Lungu walks outside State House for a group photo with Mr Nelson Pages Vilas Cuban Ambassador to Zambia (center) and Mr Ahmed Mostafa Abdel Aal Egyptian Ambassador to Zambia after the presentation of credential at State House
The Egyptian Embassy in Lusaka will from 17th to 20th March, 2019 host a business delegation from the Federation of Egyptian Industries coming to hold several investment and cooperation meetings with Zambian government officials and their industries’ counterparts.
The delegation will comprise representatives of more than 15 Egyptian companies in various industries and a number of meetings have been arranged in particular fields of the group’s interest.
The Federation of Egyptian Industries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industries for cooperation.
Egyptian Ambassador to Zambia, Ahmed Mostafa has confirmed the development and has encouraged players in the Zambian industries to attended the B2B meeting and expand their businesses.
He said the delegation has seen potential cooperation in the local industries which is a response to the policy put in place by the Egyptian government of promoting investment in Africa.
Ambassador Mostafa said among the delegations’ field of interests are agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, Agro Chemicals, Food Processing, Printing and Packaging, Petroleum, Engineering, Wood processing and Construction industries.
The Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) is one of the country’s largest employers’ associations, with 20 industrial chambers as members, representing over 60,000 industrial enterprises out of which more than 90% belong to the private sector; accounting for more than 7 million workers and 20% of the national economy.
Since its inception The Federation of Egyptian Industries has been carrying out its responsibilities towards defending and supporting Egyptian industries, firmly believing in industry as the pillar of the sustainable development of the country and as the tool to alleviate poverty and attain prosperity.
Therefore, FEI effectively advocates the common interests of its members and defends their positions towards governmental and legislative bodies, as well as other local and international associations.
Felix Mutati speaking at a Copperbelt provincial MMD card renewal
President of the MMD faction Felix Mutati has expressed worry with the low tax compliance levels in most African countries, a trend which he says has potential to affect service delivery.
Mr. Mutati a former cabinet minister has urged respective African governments to devise methods to make tax payment more persuasive than an imposition.
He was guest speaker at Crowne Plaza Hotel during a 3-day international conference organised by the Jesuit Hakimani Centre in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme “Improving Domestic Resource Mobilisation and stemming illicit financial flows”.
Mr. Mutati said that to achieve this, governments must ensure that citizens appreciate the benefits of tax payment and illustrated that during his reign as Finance Minister, one of his primary driving forces was to ensure that enough resources were mobilised in order that people’s development aspirations are met.
He has bemoaned the levels of borrowing which most countries have been associated with.
After evaluating the previous conference and strategizing the translations of its findings for Kenya and the countries of the East African Community, the Module will aim to educate, engage and mobilize local and national stakeholder and bind them together in Joint Advocacy at a date that will be announced by the Jesuit Hakimani
CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo
The Centre for Trade Policy and Development has urged government to find time to listen to the challenges young people face other than telling them what we think needs to be done.
CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo is greatly concerned with the rising unemployment in the country.
Mr. Mwaipopo noted that Zambia has an estimated total labor force of 3.4 million people of which about 427,000 people are unemployed.
He said it is important to note that about 36.7 percent of the total national population are youths and that the youth have peculiarities which make them more vulnerable to being unemployed.
Mr. Mwaipopo said youth unemployment in Zambia is estimated at about 10.5%, which is higher than the national average unemployment of about 7.4%.
“When Zambia Army advertised for 1,500 positions in 2016, more than 168,000 people applied. In 2018, Zambia Police was looking for 1,000 constables, an overwhelming 57,601 application were sent. This is worrying, it requires urgent attention from the powers that be”, Mr. Mwaipopo said.
He said it is important for government to reflect and highlight what has been done to create a conducive environment for young people to grow and thrive.
Mr. Mwaipopo said strategic documents such as the 2015 National Youth Policy spell out intentions that seeks to provide equal access to opportunities while the National Action Plan for Youth Empowerment and Employment targets to create 200,000 jobs annually of which 40% should be for the youths.
He regretted that there is a huge gap and mismatch between the targets in the Action Plan and the annual budgetary allocations meant for youth employment creation and promotion of children’s rights.
“We have observed that Zambia is increasingly dedicating more resources towards debt servicing and thus leaving the government with limited ability to stimulate the economy for higher employment for the nation at larger and young people in particular”, he added.
Mr. Mwaipopo said CTPD is further concerned that social sector spending has been reducing as demonstrated by the relative low funding to tertiary education compared to primary and secondary education.
He has since urged government to join hands with young people in finding lasting solutions to the challenges they are facing.
Mr. Mwaipopo said there is great need to move away from the old tradition of always addressing young people and start finding time to listen to them.
Zambia has urged women, particularly in developing nations to actively engage in the political governance and bridge the global gender, social and economic gap if sustainable economic progression among nations is to be achieved.
Zambia’s Minister of Gender Elizabeth Phiri has told the United Nations that educated women in Zambia, as in many other countries are shunning politics because its male-dominated landscape has often been hostile and unpleasant to the female gender.
Mrs. Phiri has however said the Government of Zambia has continued to create an enabling environment for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through a range of innovative policies meant to close the gender social, economic and political disparities.
Speaking when she opened the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women side event, Mrs. Phiri noted that the competition in elective political positions of leadership in many countries is often too aggressive for the full participation of educated women, hence creating gender inequalities.
The theme for the 63rd CSW is: “Promoting Rights-based Social Protection Policies for Gender Equality, a prerequisite for Social Justice and Sustainable Development.”
The side event was organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in conjunction with Zambia, Women in Informal Employment Globalising Organising, Africa Platform for Social Protection and Africa Labour Network.
“In Zambia, like many other countries, particularly in developing nations, for women to get to high elective political positions, they have to defeat men and it is not an easy undertaking. Educated women are shunning politics because the male-dominated political sphere has remained aggressive. But women have to actively engage in the political governance of countries if the social and economic gender gap has to be closed for sustainable development,” Mrs. Phiri said.
She stated that Zambia remains committed to enhance gender mainstreaming through the development of policies and programmes that would be able to reduce poverty and vulnerability among women and girls.
Mrs. Phiri explained that with the National Social Protection Policy, Zambia has seen the enactment of the National Health Insurance and the approval of an integrated framework which aim at ensuring overall coherence and maximization of development impacts of investment in social protection.
She said that Zambia’s implementation of the Social Cash Transfer Scheme has so far improved nutrition levels among vulnerable rural households who can now access to adequate food.
Mrs. Phiri stated that the Government of Zambia is implementing the Food Security Programme, which is aimed at enhancing food security at household level through crop divarication, conservation farming as well as the promotion of alternative livelihoods among communities.
“The role of the Social Protection System is not only reducing poverty but also for achieving human development outcomes such as nutrition, health and education and tackling social inequality. Social protection programmes have the ability to tackle social constraints such as lack of income or income-generating capacity,” She added.
The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women was also attended by Zambia’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Dr. Auxillia Ponga, Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Ms Helen Mudora, a civil rights activist from Kenya and Dr Laura Alfers of Women in Informal Employment Globalising and Organising in South Africa.
This is contained in a statement issued by First Secretary for Press at Zambia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Wallen Simwaka.
Zambia National Students Union President Misheck Kakonde
The Zambia National Students Union (ZANASU) has said journalists in Zambia and globally need protection not just from governments but more so from bad media owners who abuse these journalists by forcing them to be unethical or replace qualified reporters with mediocre ones who can do their bidding.
In a statement released to the media by ZANASU president Misheck Kakonde, ZANASU called for the media to exercise the highest responsibility in fair and accurate coverage of news especially that the media has always championed self-regulation against statutory regulation.
ZANASU said that it understood the noble task that the media has to the country and also appreciate the commitment, pressures and challenges that individual journalists have to subject themselves to keeping the public well-informed. For this very reason, the student body stood firm in calling for protecting of journalists against media owners who are driven by desires to make profits than the primary responsibility the media houses have to their countries and the public.
ZANASU said that it will always stand firm in protecting of press freedom but called upon media owners to pay serious attention to improving the conditions of service for professional journalists who stake their souls, happiness and liberties to keep the nation accurately informed.
Coupled with constant training and re-training of journalists, ZANASU said that it believed that it is time media owners end the ill-treatment and poor working conditions among journalists, and the offering of slave wages to professionals who belong to the noble profession of journalism. Government must take interest in the conditions of service for most of our professional men and women responsible for protecting our democracy through their tireless efforts on gathering and disseminating accurate information.
