ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT - ISSUE/EDITION Nr 334 - 15/11/1997

ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 334 - 15/11/1997

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE


Zambia

Citizens' concerns

by Justin Mupundu, Zambia, September 1997

THEME = SOCIAL CONDIT.

INTRODUCTION

Zambia is presently facing a number of serious problems. The author pinpoints two of them

1. DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN AID - IS IT BECOMING A HABIT?


Zambia has a population of about 9.6 million and of these 76% live below the poverty line. There are thousands of shanty compounds in the city of Lusaka and other big cities of Zambia. A number of foreign institutions have come to the help of these poor people. CARE International set up CARE Zambia in 1992, to help alleviate suffering among the poor. Since then, about 300,000 people have benefitted from $15 million-plus, CARE-founded projects. About 160 Zambians employees and 8 expatriates work in CARE's nine projects in Zambia.

CARE Zambia's director, says: "About 600 million dollars plus, are earmarked every year to benefit more than 30 million people in 50 countries.

In addition to its current nine projects, CARE Zambia has programmed new ones such as the Peri-Urban Self Help (PUSH) project. The project is a work-for-food initiative to help poor people, especially women, to get enough food. When they have work for ten days, they are given 25kg bag of maize each, plus 2 kg sugar, 2.5 litres of cooking oil and other food stuffs. The project does not just help women, it has improved their living conditions, improved drainage systems, ensured that roads are paved and that pit latrines are dug.

Other CARE projects include: PURCH (Peri-Urban Community Managed Health) set up in March 1993 with the aim of providing primary health care. Then there is the Livingstone Drought Relief Project under the umbrella of the Prevention Against Malnutrition (PAM) programme. This reaches 25,000 people plus.

The European Community, as well as the United States have all send in help, not only financial help, but aid workers and professionals. So with all this aid coming in from foreign countries, will Zambia ever stand on its own feet?

Or is dependency on foreign aid becoming a habit?

2. WAR OF FREEDOM


There is a war going on between the Press and the Government. While the Press gangs up to block the creation of the Legislative Media Council by the government, the government criticises the Press saying that it is a threat to good governance, and so the Press must come under the government legislation.

On 22 August, High Court Judge Anthony Nyangulu ruled against the creation of the Legislative Media Council by the government. This was seen as another step along the road towards freedom of the Press. This Media Council would have had the power to grant journalists a license in order to practice their profession; at the same time, it would be able to revoke these licenses whenever the journalists breached the Code of Ethics, as laid down in the Draft Media Council (1996) Bill.

Judge Nyangulu ruled that the creation of the Media Council by the government is contrary to Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Constitution. Especially part III (1) of Article 20 which states: "No law shall make any provision that derogates from freedom of the Press".

David Mpanda is a government spokesman and also Information and Broadcasting Minister. He has insisted that the Media Council should come into being. Yet, Zambia's Constitution already carries 27 pieces of legislation governing the Press and the media organisations have already created their own media council, chaired by Judge Florence Mumba.

An interesting off-shoot to the above is the possibility of parliamentary sittings in Zambia being broadcast live, so that citizens can watch the debates.

Joseph Bwembya is the Principal Clerk of Journals. During a Press Law and Ethics Seminar organised by the Commonwealth Press Union, 21-23 August 1997, he called for the broadcasting of Parliament, saying: "If countries with nothing to hide have done this, why can't a small country like Zambia do the same?".

Maybe the struggle for press freedom in Zambia, is getting somewhere, after all!
END

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE


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