PRESS STATEMENT REGARDING THABO KAWANA’S ATTACK ON CITIZENS FIRST PRESIDENT HARRY KALABA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LUSAKA , Jan 15 – The reaction by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Media Mr.Thabo Kawana to a statement made by the Citizens First President Mr. Harry Kalaba, cannot pass without comment.
First of all, it’s a matter of fact and public record that the United Nations Human Rights Watch body has previously raised concerns about the deteriorating human rights record under the UPND Government.
While the Daily Nation story may have been factually incorrect about sanctions, it doesn’t take away the fact that human rights abuse has become rampant in this administration.
Therefore, listening to Mr. Kawana, one can deduce that he is merely playing politics on a matter he is not competent to comment on. We would like to urge Mr. Kawana to refrain from making political running commentaries and concentrate on performing his duties as a civil servant.
It’s abundantly evident that by commenting on political matters, he is trying too hard to usurp the role and power of the Minister of Information and Media, Mr. Cornelius Mweetwa.
In case he doesn’t know or perhaps he has forgotten, Kawana’s role is to ensure he is promoting an enabling environment for both private and public media to thrive. He should ensure improved working conditions for media personnel at ZANIS, ZNBC, Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail.
As Permanent Secretary, he should take keen interest in harmonizing policy gaps in the digital migration to ensure that the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) does not issue endless licences without taking into account the market size and capacity of TopStar to carry those licences.
But because he clearly doesn’t understand his role, Kawana is in the forefront of defending corruption in the procurement of 156 ambulances at ZAMMSA, he did the same with the Ministry of Defense scandal involving a Kenyan supplier, he was also the one negotiating with Emmanuel Jay Banda, the list of his over reach is endless.
We can offer two explanations for Thabo Kawana’s desperation. Firstly, Kawana wants to get approval to stay in a job where he knows he is not qualified. Secondly, he has to prove his relevance because he knows he comes from MDC when UPND has more competent and qualified individuals who can perform better than him.
We urge Mr. Kawana to either concentrate on providing a service to the nation as a civil servant or he should consider resigning and meet us on the political field of play.
ISSUED BY:
Dalitso Tembo
Spokesperson
Citizens First