By OLIVER SAMBOKO
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has been urged to prevail over institutions under his charge and insist that no journalist must be arrested for doing his or her work and that no person should be arrested and deprived of their freedom for criticising his administration.
Patriotic Front presidential hopeful, Dr Chitalu Chilufya, in a statement, has advised President Hichilema to stop unnecessary arrests, especially targeting journalists.
Dr Chilufya, a former minister of Health, has also called for the unconditional dropping of all charges against journalists and citizens who have been arrested, detained and sent to prison on the criminal defamation charges.
He said President Hichilema must assure Zambians, especially the media, that what has happened to journalists will never happen again.
“Even in war times, we have seen journalists who boldly risk their lives in the battlefront and they have never been brutalised by powerful armies in the world,” he noted.
Dr Chilufya said the arrest and detention of Muvi Television journalist, Innocent Phiri, and cameraman, Obvious Kapunda, is an affront, an assault on the constitution, the rule of law and media freedom. It signifies the fast-shrinking democratic space barely a year after President Hichilema’s administration was voted into office.
He noted that Article 20 of the constitution protects freedom of expression which includes the right by media practitioners to access information and transmit such information to the public.
“This freedom cannot and should not be taken away from journalists without their consent,” he said.
Dr Chilufya, who is also Mansa Central Member of Parliament, said President Hichilema and his administration are missing a rare opportunity to leave a legacy in which the media and Zambians should generally enjoy freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution.
He said President Hichilema and his administration cannot actively be arresting journalists who want access to information while at the same time be claiming to be championing enactment of Access to Information law.
My sincere advice to President Hichilema is that arresting media personnel in the course of their duties as well as silencing political opponents is not the best way to consolidate his hold on power,” Dr Chilufya said.
