STATEMENT BY MR THABO KAWANA, PERMANENT SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA, ON THE TERMINATION OF CAMNET TV CHANNEL FROM DSTV AND GOTV PLATFORMS
The Ministry of Information and Media wishes to inform the nation that it has not found any law upon which to advise His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, to halt the termination of CAMNET TV channel from DSTV and GOTV platforms.
The nation may recall that Mrs Victoria Chiluba, during the funeral service of her late husband Pastor Moses Chiluba, called upon His Excellency the President to save CAMNET TV from being terminated from DSTV and GOTV platforms.
Following the appeal, His Excellency the President tasked the Ministry of Information and Media to deal with the matter conclusively.
The Ministry carried out preliminary inquiries, which revealed that the contention was a contractual matter between CAMNET TV and MultiChoice Africa Holdings, an international company domiciled in South Africa.
Consequently, the Ministry reported the matter to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for investigation and recommendation.
After a thorough investigation, which included meetings with CAMNET TV and MultiChoice Africa Holdings representatives, the CCPC has confirmed that the decision by MultiChoice Africa Holdings to discontinue carriage of CAMNET TV on their DSTV and GOTV platforms is purely contractual and that there was no evidence to support any anti-competitive trading practices by MultiChoice Africa Holdings in the pay television market.
According to the findings by the CCPC, CAMNET TV consistently failed to meet the agreed-upon performance standards outlined in the Channel Distribution Agreement (CDA), specifically regarding feed availability and on-air hours, which led to concerns by MultiChoice Africa Holdings about equipment damage and a decline in service quality.
The Ministry notes from the CCPC Report that MultiChoice Africa Holdings repeatedly communicated these performance concerns to CAMNET TV station but the issues remained unresolved for years.
In view of the foregoing, the Ministry has found no legal comfort to advise His Excellency the President to halt the termination of CAMNET TV channel from DSTV and GOTV platforms.
In the alternative, we advise CAMNET TV to either negotiate a revised contract or explore the option of using other service providers such as TopStar and Muvi TV.
(Original copy signed)
Thabo Kawana
Permanent Secretary
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA
30th January, 2025