UPND MIMICKING PF
…yet they promised to do things the right way, says Changala
By Fanny Kalonda
GOOD governance activist Brebner Changala says the UPND government has started mimicking the PF regime in the running of state institutions like the national broadcaster and other public media.
Changala told The Mast that the new dawn administration promised to do things differently when they were voted into power but are now negating.
He proposes that public media reports to a parliamentary committee on information to make it independent of the oppressive Executive tendencies, especially the pressure that comes from State House.
“The UPND came to power as a new dawn administration to do things differently but beyond the difference, to do things in the right way and to do things within the law and to do things that will promote equity and national unity. To do things that will uplift the spirit of democracy, the spirit of unity in diversity. What we are experiencing and I single out ZNBC as a rallying point, they are mimicking the Patriotic Front – the previous regime,” Changala said. “ZNBC, when the new administration came into power, the President, Mr Hakainde Hichilema was very clear that, that platform being a public media, must cover everybody from UPND, PF, MMD, Socialist Party, the civil society, the students, everybody must have access to the public media. And the President was fresh, coming out from the opposition where he was a pariah for state media. Where the UPND was a pariah in state media. Now, 10 months along the line, the UPND is negating. And the reason is simple. State media has found glory in a party that was in no good standing when the PF was in power. They have switched from PF to UPND. And they can only report negativity about the opposition that includes the Patriotic Front and yet the journalists, the management, remains the same.”
Changala added that there is an invisible hand that has been messing up professionals in public media.
He said there is need for a commission of inquiry to understand why institutions of good governance are threatened and fail to perform.
“One would have expected that they should have continued with giving the PF the front row in the media coverage. Now this journalism, which is yellow journalism, where you look at which side your bread is buttered against the principles and the tenets of good governance and responsible journalism is totally unacceptable. It must be brought to the fore that Mr Hakainde has negated the very fact that ZNBC should be delinked from the Ministry of Information,” he said. “ZNBC board should have been reporting to a parliamentary committee on information to make it independent of the oppressive Executive tendencies, especially the pressure that comes from State House. So they must swallow their pride. What the state media is doing is what the Patriotic Front was doing and they committed themselves that they will come and do things differently. They must not hide by telling us that they give nobody any instructions not to report anything good about our opposition.”
Changala said public media should not be mouthpiece for the party that has won power.
“There is an invisible hand and that has been messing up professionals. Because if you look at CVs of everybody in the state media, they are with flying colours. They can compete anywhere. But why they come and operate in state media as…is a matter that we urgently need to resolve. Because we are not going to continue with ZNBC being a mouthpiece of only the party that has won power. Something doesn’t add up. And that’s why I told the new dawn administration, including the President, that when he came to power we needed a commission of inquiry to understand as to why institutions of good governance are threatened or they fail to perform as their described charter,” said Changala. “So in this moment, because things get out of hand, before ZNBC starts with Hakainde and closes the news with Hakainde between the country and its activities are swallowed up and only what we can here is the supreme leader, that must not be accepted. So we need a board that will give a security of tenure and assurances to the journalists and professionals in the public media.”