Media houses must be civil, says Musoma

Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:12:00 +0000

THE media needs to be civil and professional in carrying out their duties as the long arm of the law will catch up with them if they use illegal means aimed at targeting their perceived enemies or to gratify sponsors or financiers, says Zambia Republican Party (ZRP) Wright Musoma.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Musoma said that it was unfortunate and unfounded for some sections of society to accuse the police of having had an agenda to silence the media following the summoning of Prime Television managing director Gerald Shawa and his acting station manager Makokwa Kozi over a leaked Government document, stating that law enforcement agencies were only doing their job.

He said that as much as the media enjoyed privileges and freedoms, they equally had a duty to be factual, ethical as well as truthful and owed their loyalty to the Zambian people and not necessarily their financiers who had hidden motives to tarnish the image of the country. Mr Musoma expressed worry at the continued leakage of Government classified documents and has urged the police not to grow weary of bringing perpetrators of such crimes to book to deter would-be offenders.

“The media needs to be civil in how they carry out their duties as the long arm of the law will catch up with them if they use illegal means with the aim of targeting their perceived enemies. As ZRP, we do not expect the media to hack into the conversations of sources they might consider their enemies or fail to pay their tax obligations because they feel they are untouchable or indeed being found with classified documents to gratify the needs of their sponsors or financiers,“ he said.

Mr Musoma said that Zambia was truly a democratic country, saying that if it were in other countries, media houses such as the Post newspapers would not have continued selling their copies after having failed to pay K 53 million in tax obligations with impunity.

He also took a swipe at former FODEP executive director McDonald Chipenzi whom he accused of being a well-known UPND cadre following his sentiments that the summoning, warning and cautioning of the Prime TV duo was a pure case of police brutality and abuse of authority, law and violation of citizens and media fundamental freedoms.

Mr Musoma said that Mr Chipenzi was living in a fool’s paradise by his continued double standards on issues that bordered on national interest, stating that the versatility he was once known for while in the civil rights movement had been damaged following his inclination to the opposition UPND party.