Zambia News Features

By BEN KANGWA

In 1982, the government of Zambia embarked upon a programme to revitalize the mass media, when the then President Kenneth Kaunda inaugurated the new Mass Media Complex in Lusaka.

In his address Kaunda emphasized,” Everyone of us has a right to be heard. What everybody else is saying and doing affects everybody else’s life struggle and personal opportunities…..This Complex we are now commissioning is cardinal instrument in this vital process of rebuilding our personal lives…”

The government had thus committed itself to the promise that development depends upon adequate communication processes and a two way of information.

However, the completion of the Mass Media Complex, while providing a level of production facilities for radio and television which were among the best in Africa, only began a longer term process which would ultimately allow information to pass freely throughout the country, especially into the heart of its rural communities.

Seven years later in February 1989, this time around, the Right Honourable Prime Minister Kebby Musokotwane officially inaugurated Radio Mulungushi, popularly known as Radio Four at the same Mass Media Complex.

Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC’s) Management had put up an elaborate programme for the Prime Minister including a tour of the transmitters, the radio and TV  recording studios, the record and Video Library and the Newsroom.

DJ of the day was Peter Mweemba who at exactly 10.05 hours after reading the first news summary compiled by Brian Mambwe announced as follows, “Right, this is your DJ, Brother PM behind the microphone, hoping you are ready for us as we bring it to you, the biggest and the best on FM stereo.

Right….in just a few minutes’ time from now, the Right Honourable Prime Minister Kebby Musokotwane will be walking into Radio Mulungushi stereo studio to officially switch on Radio Four.”

That was Brother PM as he “talked the script” that morning.

KEBBY MUSOKOTWANE

After the Prime Minister Kebby Musokotwane inaugurated the new radio channel, Peter Mweemba interviewed him at length about the role of broadcasting in national development.

Later in the interview Peter Mweemba personalized the discussion and focused on the musical taste of the Prime Minister as David Sanborn and Bob James’s famous collaboration jazz instrumental “Maputo” served as background music.

Prime Minister Kebby Musokotwane talked about radio as an essential development tool – how it provides true empowerment and grassroot development.

He noted that radio was effectively used for the preservation and development of culture, citing old folklore stories that were broadcast on Radio One in local languages.

Musokotwane talked about other popular programmes such as the Nyanja Phochedza Madzulo (meaning to hang around in the evening), Ifyabukaya in Bemba (meaning things you know) and Malikopo, a Tonga language programme of a hero advising people in urban areas whose income was low to go back to the land.

Other  were Zambian Land and the People, a fifteen minute programme in English of a documentary nature usually covering successful farming activities, Rural Notebook  produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, providing special advice on what farmers should watch out for and Nutrition Corner, a programme produced by the Ministry of Health and the National Food and Nutrition Commission.

All these programme formats were in later years to set the stage for Community Radio stations in Zambia.

COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS

By nature and by design, Community Radio stations offer a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups. The radio is usually established by the efforts of a specific community, operated by the community and for the community welfare.

They have a heavy responsibility of serving the needs of the communities within which they broadcast and exist. This is because of the enormous potential that they have to lift the standards of the people through the provision of relevant information.

To quote from the Quarterly Report on the Implementation of the Radio and Good Governance Project in 2003, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zambia) observed, “In Zambia, they have raised awareness on issues such as the position of women, improving literacy and education, provision of information on health, the environment, agriculture, democracy and HIV/AIDS among others.”

In its submission, MISA stated that Community Radio is an empowering tool for many communities that are often ignored or insufficiently covered by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) and other commercial radio and TV services.

It was against this background, MISA noted, that in view of their important role in the communities within which they operate, community radio stations should see themselves not just as conveyers of information and education on various issues affecting their communities, but also as facilitators of community development.

Because Community broadcasting is primarily focused on broadcasting from the community to the community, about everyday problems and real issues, about the community’s own history and culture, and mostly in local languages that people understand, their programme formats are mainly aimed at bettering the communities they serve.

In the early 90s, Radio Phoenix became the first Independent privately owned radio station in Zambia. Its programme schedule was a diet of popular music shows and several genres of talk shows including its flag career “Let the People Talk” – a call in programme.

A number of other private broadcasting stations later emerged. These included Radio Choice, Mazabuka Radio, QFM Radio, Radio Lyambai and Radio Liseli.

In addition, the churches joined in the airwaves with religious based programming options – Yatsani Radio, Radio Icengelo, Chikuni Radio and Christian Voice. The latter offered syndicated programmes originating from the organization “Christian Voice” based in the United Kingdom.

Today, 23 years down the line, Zambia boasts of over 40 private radio stations that have become popular among listeners.

Although there is no clear definition as to what constitutes a community radio station, there are more and more radio stations in Zambia that have been branded under community radio.

These include Radio Icengelo on the Copperbelt, Radio Maria in Chipata, Radio Chikuni in Monze, Radio Mazabuka in Mazabuka and Mosi-o-Tunya , Zambezi FM in Livingstone, Hot FM , 5FM, Hone FM, Unza Radio and Joy FM

Others are Radio Lundazi (Chikaya) in Lundazi, Yatsani Radio in Lusaka, Breeze FM in Chipata, Petauke Explores and Pasme in Petauke, Mpangwe in Southern Province, Radio Mkushi in Mkushi, Itezhi Tezhi Community Radio in Ithezi-Tezhi and Radio Mano in Kasama. (Also see here and here)

All in all, these radio stations, Community or Commercial, teach their listeners new skills from literacy to agriculture, business and leadership.

They also make people prone to participate in decision making, in raising levels of aspirations and in making economic, social and political development a self perpetuating process.

Breeze FM for example, prides itself in providing a voice for vulnerable groups to communicate their perspectives in the public domain and in providing space for vulnerable groups to engage in public dialogue and debate on issues that affect them.

The “cool air” radio (as it is also known) provides a channel to communicate information on development issues to people most affected and to communicate perspectives from these people to those in authority.

It is a viable advertising and effective communication medium to local and national business organizations.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

On the other hand, Chikuni Community Radio, from the very beginning, was established to give the community a chance to create and participate in programmes that affect them at large.

Topics of interest range from gender, agriculture, HIV/AIDS, leadership skills and development, conflicts between tradition and modern life as well as culture.

Close by, Mazabuka Community Radio, the first Community Radio established as a joint project of UNESCO and the Zambia government in 2000 is owned by the community with almost a similar programme format as Chikuni.

The station also broadcasts in two languages Tonga and English. Tonga taking up about 75 per cent of broadcast time.

For Radio Icengelo in Kitwe on the Copperbelt, its programming is centered on evangelizing, creating economic, political, cultural, moral and social change. Broadcasting mainly in Bemba, the station reaches a large rural population.

These are just but a few examples of Community Radio stations that have sprung up on the rural media landscape in Zambia – no doubt serving their communities as a tool for development as well as a means to provide vital information to people in rural areas.

The author is a Press Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Washington DC and is former Director of Programmes at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)

 

By ZAMBIA NEWS FEATURES CORRESPONDENT

Zambia has broken ranks with most African countries on the issue of Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir and that it is ready to arrest him if he ever sets foot in the southern African country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chishimba Kambwili told an internet-based citizen radio station, Political Crossfire, that Presidential Al Bashir would “regret the day he was born” if he tried to go to Zambia. This was in answer to a question on what Zambia would do with Al Bashir who has been to several African countries even with an ICC indictment hanging over his head.

“As signatories to the ICC, anybody indicted by the ICC and there is a warrant of arrest, we will arrest. If other countries have not done it, that their own problem. By and large, Zambia will follow the UN resolutions to which we have appended our signature”

“Let Al Bashir try to come to Zambia and he will regret the day he was born. Zambia is a sovereign state and we are not going to do something just because other people have not done it.

“As signatories to the ICC, anybody indicted by the ICC and there is a warrant of arrest, we will arrest. If other countries have not done it, that their own problem. By and large, Zambia will follow the UN resolutions to which we have appended our signature,” Mr Kambwili said.

In a related question, Mr Kambwili said Zambia would not be pushed by international human rights NGOs to arrest people like former US president George W Bush who recently visited Zambia in the absence of an indictment.

“Who has indicted George Bush, if I may ask?” Kambwili said, adding, “we are members of the UN and in the UN when one is indicted by the ICC we will definitely abide by the decisions of the court and in the case of Bush, he has not been indicted by anybody.”

Mr Kambwili also disclosed that the Zambian Cabinet would sit soon to decide on whether to recognise the NTC government of Libya or not. He however reiterated the condemnation of NATO actions in Libya in which the international military organisation allegedly went out of its mandate and started killing civilians.

He said NATO set a bad precedent in Libya which threatened other African governments which risked being removed by NATO-backed force.

…I’m ready for the MMD presidency, he says in statement

Zambia News Features produces the statement in full.

I.    INTRODUCTION

Today, I make a statement about the choices that we face as a country and specifically about how best we as a party in the MMD can move forward in this new political dispensation. I want to share my thoughts on how best we can take all the pain that resulted from our loss endured on 20^th September 2011, and channel all those negative vibes into a productive force that will energize our party; to make it much stronger and resolute in performing our current core mandate as a governance partner and eventually to reclaim governance in 2016. In this regard, I wish to first congratulate the Patriotic Front (PF) for emerging victorious in the last election and wish them well in delivering on their mandate and promises made to the Zambian People. In the same vain, I would also like to extend my profound gratitude and thanks to all our members in the MMD, for making a resolve that our loss was just a temporal setback. On their behalf, let me send out this clear message to the nation that we will be back! MMD will be back and govern again.

Resulting from our changed set of circumstance, our party is currently presented with a number of hard decisions to make. We either migrate, adapt or become extinct. I am certain that the first and last options do not inspire any committed member of the MMD, such as myself. The only viable option that we must take is that of adaptation. Today, MMD’s survival plan lies in taking and sequencing the following three steps; re-grouping, re-organizing and finally re-launching. In a time of change, we must be honest with ourselves in accepting that we have drifted away from what made us relevant to the vast majority of Zambia people.   That we may have lost sight of our vision as framed in the years 1990-1991. It is for this reason that the electorate rewarded us with a seat as an opposition party. However, there is nothing strange about being in the opposition because we were birthed in the opposition and the MMD existed as an opposition for more than one year before it could form Government in November 1991. Equally, we will rise to the challenge and govern again.

II.     EXTRA-ORDINARY CONVENTION

I am aware that many MMD members countrywide want a consensus President and an Extra-Ordinary Convention is their demand in order to legitimize and mandate their leadership. We have an obligation and subsequently a great task to listen to all our members. This should form part of the bigger picture of reforming and carrying an in-depth introspection on the way forward. In this regard, a compressive post-mortem of an election might not be the most significant thing for the survival of the party in the long-term. It should be regarded as only a part of the overall rebuilding process required. In the same vain, electing a new leader in order to replace our past President, who has indicted willingness to step aside, is also not the most significant task to be rushed into either. Let us take stock of other political parties who once held power in our country and refused to adapt to the changing circumstance.  Their refusal to accept these changing circumstance led them into inadvisable strategic thinking, resulting in their becoming irrelevant to the Zambia electorate.

The MMD as a whole must avoid the rush towards having a transitional leader. Whoever is elected by the National Executive Committee(NEC), as is currently being suggested, may be seen as a transitional leader and may not be able to command the type of authority needed to restructure the Party nor will she or he be seen as an alternative leader by the general public. Others may argue that this was done successfully both in transiting from President Fredrick T.J Chiluba to President Levy P. Mwanawasa and subsequently from President Mwanawasa to President Rupiah B. Banda. However, the difference is that the MMD was in office during both of these NEC led transitions as opposed to doing the same in the current situation when the MMD is out of Office. These are two radically different situations that require two different strategies.

The challenge before us now is to re-group and immediately come up with a time-table for a Convention or a Mini-Convention in order for us to begin the serious work of reorganizing our party. After this is done, then we can all collectively get involved in having the party re-launched. The time-table towards Convention should be known and communicated to all party members and salient millstones communicated to the general public.  We have to seriously re-look at the consequences of going the way of a fully-fledged position being filled by the NEC.  It is my opinion that the choice of a Convention is by far a better option in our current set of circumstances and it is when this option is exercised that I will make myself available as a candidate for the Presidency of the MMD.

III.     What does the Felix Mutati Candidature OFFER?

I am entering the race for the MMD Presidency because I believe in the MMD and its founding principles which transformed Zambia from a one party state into a multi-party democracy that it is today. A democratic dispensation which entails the exercise of power by the majority of its people both within party structures as well as in the nation as a whole. In the same vain, I am fully committed to the general economic principals as contained in our party Manifesto. Economic principles which were able to take an economy on its knees when the MMD took office in 1991 to a strong growth economy on the verge of take off by the time we were leaving office in 2011. Building on our strong foundation, I am ready to raise the standard of our party to the extent that those who have doubted MMD’s resolve to arise from the dust of defeat to the laurels of victory shall wake up to a shock when they witness a renewed MMD as a strong and effective  opposition Party.

 

I am ready, together with my colleagues in the party, to courageously spearhead its re-organization and prove to the nation that the MMD is ready to lead, first, as an opposition party and subsequently setting the stage for it to once again be the governing party. To be able to lead the party from an angle where it serves as a proposition of new ideas, offering change, hope and economic freedom. I am ready to transform the MMD Secretariat into a nerve centre for the most people-centred political campaign. I am also making a pledge to work for a future with accelerated and sustained economic growth that provides employment for its people and an improved standard of leaving for the vast majority of our citizens.  I pledge equal opportunity for all, commitment to the rule of law and order and above all a healthy, disciplined, well-educated and caring Zambian society. I also promise strong and courageous leadership which will focus on repositioning the party and consolidating all its structures.

In my many years of public life, I have made both personal and public choices and decisions of which some were right and others were wrong.  I genuinely believe that a vast majority of my decisions have benefited my country, community and my family. In those moments for which I have made decisions that are regrettable, these moments have been a time of reflection and personal growth. Through these moments and experiences, it is my belief that I am a better man and would make for a far better leader. I will still make mistakes in the years ahead, but I am confident and assured of fulfilling the vision I have for Zambia because of my Christian values and the support of the people. To those who might have been hurt by personal choices and my leadership in the past, I can only ask for your forgiveness. At the same time, let me invite you to join me in supporting my candidature for the leadership for our party and provide Zambia with a leadership it deserves.  I ask the party membership and Zambians in general to judge me based on my capacity to deliver and on my vision both for the party and for the nation. It is my firm belief that I have the necessary knowledge and skills to take MMD forward and to give the members hope and dignity.

To the majority youth across this great nation; I wish to state that, while many people say you are the future leaders; I say Your Future is Now! However, in order to realize the Zambia dream, we must build on the foundations which have been laid by the older generation. In going forward, Zambia needs to prepare for a change of guard in the years that lie ahead. The youth of Zambia deserve a leader who can articulate and translate their dreams into reality through advocating for the creation of an environment where jobs and wealth can be created and a better life assured for all Zambians.  My life is directly connected to the rural realities of Zambia, where I also happen to serve as Area Member of Parliament. I am alive to the challenges of our youths and mothers in both rural and urban Zambia. Indeed, as my commitment is to become their mouth-piece in realizing their dreams, I am set and will provide such leadership. My candidature is therefore dedicated to the youth of Zambia to whom I extend an invitation that we walk together.

IV.     CONCLUSION

In conclusion, as MMD, we have differed with each other and at times have called each other names.  In some circles, we have at times become laughing stocks of those who seek our extinction. I stand here today to bring comfort to our general membership that as in the words of scriptures, weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning! To the MMD I say, weep no more, wipe away your tears, and take off your black clothing which symbolized mourning. Summed up in one sentence, It’s about healing our past wounds, pulling our energies together, getting back to work and building  a strong bridge to the future. Zambians desire to get to the Promised Land as is summed up in our national anthem- “a land of work and joy in unity, all one, strong and free”. Indeed we owe it to them to create a bridge to the future.

My catholic teachings remind me of a time when God had to dig into His reservoir to get His people that He had spared for a critical time. And this is that critical time. The next few years will usher in a generational hand-over of leadership. I am glad to make myself available when the Convention is called. I have now arrived at a decision that I am available to serve the people of Zambia as MMD President and provide leadership. It is important for all progressive Zambians to demand from our political institutions that Zambia deserves better; that Zambia must get better; and that Zambia shall get better! So I call on all our members across the country that let us all arise, return to work and help rebuild the party. I believe that by accepting and making me president of our great party, we shall be making a determination to work and set a pattern which will be our pride and our satisfaction in the years to come.