Zambia Media Critique

NEWS casters on our public service broadcaster are now under instruction to recite the “ One Zambia, One Nation ” slogan before each news bulletin. Those familiar with the history of Zambia will recall that the slogan was introduced in 1969 by President Kenneth Kaunda when he decided to set aside the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 which gave Barotseland some constitutional status that accorded the Litunga some unique powers and privileges during the establishment of a unitary status at independence in 1964.   The government asserted that in its quest for national unity it would not tolerate “a state within a state” and thus terminated the agreement.   The termination of the Barotseland Agreement was meant to bring about national coherence by applying uniform local government legislation and policies throughout Zambia. Unfortunately this decision resulted in the long-running dispute between the government and the Barotseland Royal Establishment, a dispute which has the p...

WE have written many times about the desperate state of the public media in Zambia. The Zambia Union of Journalists has today once again reminded us of these challenges as they make a passionate appeal to President Lungu to resuscitate these failing parastatals.   According to ZUJ the overriding problem is that all the state-owned media companies are in “intensive care” and if Government does not move quickly to save them, they will close down. These companies have for a long time been stifled by huge statutory debt and administration after administration has promised to recapitalize them. The Union is hopeful that under His Excellency President Lungu, the affected companies will be saved from total collapse through debt conversion into share capital and recapitalization. The Union is hopeful the in-coming Minister of Information and Broadcasting will be given a specific task to save public media as a priority. Our position on this matter remains the same. The idea of con...

By Bruce Chooma THE biggest test for Edgar Lungu’s presidency is how he will manage the economy. The Zambian economy has suffered not only from political uncertainty but also from policy inconsistency. His decision to retain Alexander Chikwanda is an indication of continuity on the same path of economic management. Zambia’s economy has continued to grow in a broad sense. Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda in his end of year statement for 2014 stated that preliminary real GDP growth of 6 percent was recorded in 2014 making Zambia the seventh and tenth fastest growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa and the world. The truth he forgot to mention was that the 2014 growth rate was lower than the target government had set. In addition to that the inflation target was also missed despite falling oil prices on the international market. Zambia would have attained a higher growth in GDP had it not been for policy inconsistency. It is desirable to have continued growth in the economy b...

Edgar Lungu. Picture courtesy of AP ZAMBIA’s sixth president   Edgar Lungu was sworn into office on 25 th January, 2015 after winning by a whisker the snap poll caused by the death of his predecessor Michael Sata in October, 2014. Edgar takes over an increasingly divided country with voting patterns revealing what can be interpreted as worrying deeply entrenched levels of unhappiness in certain regions of the country with the performance of the Patriotic Front government. Why were Edgar and his Patriotic Front rejected so decisively and overwhelmingly by over 52% of voters? The Electoral Commission of Zambia said Mr Lungu won 48.3 percent of the vote to his nearest rival Hakainde Hichilema’s 46.67 per cent. A total of 1.67m people voted in the election, of 5.1m registered to vote, with the low turnout of 32 percent. Hakainde had campaigned on the premise of “Zambia United” having realised that socio-economic exclusion was reversing Zambia’s gains in democracy and affec...

Hon. Egdar Chagwa Lungu MP The story of Prophet Elijah and Elisha in the old testament of the bible is a depiction of a transfer of anointing power and influence from one great man to a loyal disciple. The story has it that Elisha followed Elijah around everywhere he went to the extent that Elijah would at times get irritated but the young man persisted until when his master was taken to heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha inherited his mantle and acquired a double portion of his master’s anointing. He went on to do great exploits and miracles. Elisha became so powerful that even when he had died, his bones could still raise the dead! In the Patriotic Front, Edgar Chagwa Lungu is fondly referred to as the anointed one, the one mentored and entrusted by his master to carryon his legacy. President Michael Sata in the last days of his presidency entrusted Edgar with two very senior cabinet portfolios of Minister of Justice and Minster of Defence as well as the position of Secretary Gen...

A sea of people accompany HH to file his presidential nomination at the Supreme Court By Bruce Chooma United Party for National Development UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has become a household name as a formidable front runner to win the January, 20, 2015 presidential by-election.   He has branded his campaign ZAMBIA UNITED a perfect theme for a country in desperate need of a unifier. How did he get there? Is he unstoppable? Whilst his main rivals the Patriotic Front were heavily engrossed in succession wrangles since the death of their party president Michael Chilufya Sata, HH had assembled a solid team that hit the ground running with a focused message that endeared him to the masses to the extent of picking up endorsements from many prominent and eminent     personalities on Zambia’s political and social landscape and drawing unprecedented crowds during public appearances.   Never in his political career has HH as he is fondly referred to pulle...

THE economics of Zambia’s Finance Minister, Alexander Chikwanda, fondly referred to as chikwandanomics by the Zambian online community can be confusing.  In his 2015 national budget address under the theme, Celebrating our Golden Jubilee as One Zambia One Nation by Making Economic Independence a Reality for All , he proposes to spend K46.7 billion representing an overall increase in expenditure of 9.3%. This increase in expenditure comes against a backdrop of a widening overall fiscal deficit and increasing inflation. Overall the budget carries a theme of continuity without major variations from the 2014 allocations across all sectors. The social sectors continue to receive lower funding as the government continues with its infrastructure development drive. Zambia currently spends half of her national budget on the public sector wage bill owing to a huge salary increment government gave some civil servants which has proved unsustainable and government had to borrow a billion ...