The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has said that it will not be bullied by any external forces into lifting the suspension of Prime TV’s broadcasting license.
Interim IBA board chairperson Chanda Kasolo has charged that the IBA does not operate under pressure from any politician or civil society grouping.
Mr. Kasolo, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary, stated that the law is the law and the IBA applies the law as it is.
In an interview with QTV News Mr. Kasolo said that it is therefore important for all those aggrieved by the suspension of Prime TV’s license to first understand what the law says.
Mr. Kasolo noted that in addition to abrogating the conditions of its license and own code of ethics, the TV station neglected to reply to several warnings the IBA wrote to it adding that, as IBA interim board chairperson, he does not, in this case, have any intentions of lifting the suspension as he does not bend to pressure from outside.
Mr. Kasolo stated that the 30 days suspension will thus run as directed and the local TV station is expected to meet all conditions the IBA has given to it before the suspension is lifted.
On Tuesday, Prime Television director Gerald Shawa appealed against the Independent Broadcasting Authority’s decision to suspend the private broadcaster’s license for 30 days.
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), in its letter dated February 4, 2019, suspended Prime TV’s broadcast licence pursuant to section 31 (1) of the IBA Amendment Act No. 26 of 2010.
Shawa, in his appeal letter addressed to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya, stated that the suspension is not the only remedy available to address what the IBA termed as unprofessional practice by Prime Television.
He further stated that there were immediate economic effects on the broadcast institution that would result from the IBA’s decision.
Shawa has since requested the Minister to review the IBA’s action and reduce it to a warning with specific guidelines as has been the practice with other institutions before.
However, on Thursday Chief government spokesperson Dora Siliya said that Prime Television had not presented any appeal to her office following the suspension of its broadcast licence by the Independent Broadcasting Authority – IBA.
Ms. Siliya said that she was yet to receive a report from the IBA regarding the Radio and Television stations which were disciplined for failure to abide by the set regulations, adding that she will only effectively comment on the matter when she receives a report.
Ms. Siliya also appealed to people not to comment on the suspension of Prime TV before finding out why such a decision was taken.
She wondered why people were only talking about Prime TV and not the other stations whose licenses were revoked.
Ms. Siliya who is also Information and Broadcasting Services minister told Journalists at a media Briefing that there was a process that all aggrieved parties need to follow in order to seek redress if they feel the decision of the IBA was not fair.
I don’t even know the reason for the suspension, but reading between the lines of the appeal letter, it seems to me that there is no contestantion on the offence that Prime TV committed. Looks like Prime TV is guilty of whatever offence they committed by are challenging the type of punishment meted against them for committed the offence they committed .
I actually don’t know the offence they committed. Does anybody know and care to share?
I am related to the man, but ofcourse he is appeasing his employers but that is a terrible stand and statement altogether
unprofessional,
Leaders listen, and respond, they are elected to consider all stakeholders.
Just lift the ban, it was an ill calculated move to start with.
I hold a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
He is very right. He wants to say “I don’t bend to pressure from outside the PF”
Thanks for standing your ground. Democracy is not about whatever one wants. I like to give an example always of freedom of speech. Do you know that in the USA one cannot scream “FIRE” in a packed movie theater where there is no fire and call it “freedom of speech”. That is endangering lives and one is arrested and persecuted for that.
Media is the same. They can’t report content that will likely cause chaos and call it freedom of speech.
30 days is next week.
So what the heck??
Shawa says the appropriate punishment/sanctions for the offenses the IBA levelled against his TV Station (Prime TV) should have been a WARNING. Yet the same Shawa doesn’t mention the fact the he IGNORED several warnings before the current decision was taken by the IBA. So what assurance does the IBA have that this time around he would have followed the warning?
This is what happens when a BUSINESS thinks too big of itself and feel that it doesn’t have to follow the rules like everybody else. Now you got spanked. Clean up your act and how you do business. Follow what your Broadcasting Licence requires and you will have a case against the IBA next time they try.
I notice you don’t even contest what the IBA is alleging are the violations you committed under the conditions of your…
Continue….
license, you are simply asking the Minister to intervene…..that says a lot!
He didnt have a TV growing up. Revenge for watching through the neighbor’s window, 🙂
Pathetic request … extend the suspension to 90 days until they acknowledge their wrong doing and promise to behave.
Let’s roll
“Oh GOD I know I messed, but is my considered view that you should just slap me on my wrist.”
“Dad, come on now, it is my considered view that you can punish me the other way not like this, now.”
“YES SON, I HEARD YOU. BUT YOU SEE SON, I HAVE SET RULES. THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH. IF I DON’T GROUND YOU FOR 30 DAYS, I WILL BE SETTING A VERY DANGEROUS PRECEDENCE. JOHN WILL DARE ME BY COMING HOME AT 11PM, MARY WILL BE BRINGING VARIOUS BOYFRIENDS WITHOUT FEAR OR SHAME. SEE SON, I AM HELPING YOU TO GROW INTO A NONCORRUPT AND RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN. SORRY BUT MY DECISION IS FINAL.
THANK YOU ZAMBIA FOR YOUR CONSIDERABLE YARDSTICK. USE IT, BETTER YOUR CITIZENS. YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD PARENT.
MMD Chief Bootlicker mwalubila kwisa?
Prime TV has the most useless upnd cadres masquerading as journalists. Their news items and analyses are so shallow and usually are Hakainde’a OPINIONS! Kasolo, don’t lift the suspension
Is it against the broadcasting laws for private media to cover upnd and other opposition parties. Don’t be so hateful. You pf were favourably covered by the defunct postnewspapers and the civilised mmd did not close the post. Just accept that you pf are undemocratic to the extent that you had to close the same postnewspapers that helped ascend to power. So shameful that you can shameless have the courage to insult upnd for no reason at. Anyway your days in power are not eternal.
Ikalafye naiwe..who said I am PF? The ruling party PF is actually more democratic and tolerant than that tribal cult masquerading as a political party
Dont worry both you and Jono Meno Meno will bend once out of power, even your stup!duty will no longer be on show…. BA pompwe imwe
Paul Nyathi|King Mswati’s twelfth wife has died. Inkhosikati LaDube’s passing follows the tragic suicide of the king’s eight wife, Inkhosikati LaMasango, last year. Dube, who was known by her official title Inkhosikati LaDube, was 31 years old and succumbed after a battle with skin cancer which she was reportedly being treated for at a South African hospital.
Nothando Dube, the twelfth wife of King Mswati the third, the monarch of Eswatini (former Swaziland), has passed away.
Her passing was announced on eSwatini Broadcasting and Information Services, Lusendvo Fakudze, the traditional governor of the king’s palace, known as Eludzidzini, SABC reports.
Complainant and Judge. I hope to see the same punishment being meted to ZNBC. This animal called IBA is just another government wing. I don’t even know why it called independent.
How can you appeal to the complainant. This same PS can easily succumb to Davis Mwila. If Mwila today gave him instructions he will definitely rescind the decision. Do you think PS can speak against Dora’s wishes? Zambia is dead democratically. You can met other punishment such as fines etc not closure ba dictator imwee.
Punishing prime TV for no apparent reason, I think it is not good just say that you want to be praised by your fellow friends.stop borrowing money from outsiders if you are a real in pf.
No there’s a reason for punishing them. But this is the same reason that DeadNBC also needs to be punished for
The suspension was inevitable because Prime TV has been ordered to train those upnd cadres they employed as journalists on ethical reporting. Ati “this animal called IBA is just another government wing”..What do you want it to be? UPND youth wing?
Keep saying you don’t bend to outside influence and see how they will punish you and slowly push your masters out of power. Just humble yourself and listen before you taint the same image you claim us in diaspora are denting. The outsiders do a lot for our poor than the greedy self enriching politicians
The outsiders you worship will one day face God’s wrath. In fact Jehovah has already started dealing with them.
PF cadre showing bravity
You are right Mr Kasolo, agreed 100%. I doubt that the EU has even looked at the law. They should not be criticising the lawful actions of the IBA, but they can criticise the law and lobby for its amendment if they are that aggrieved.
Which law nawe, publish it for all to see. You think EU is like your kantemba, one minute you want investment and funding from them. When they say we believe in respect for human rights and press freedoms you don’t like it. You can’t have your cake and eat it. So what are you train Prime TV that you have trained ZNBC?
You just made prime TV popular, after it reopens am sure it will have a larger audience than before…..ill calculated move
Ridiculous. Dora says she has not received the appeal, Kasolo who is PS in her ministry is also interim IBA board chairperson – where is the so-called ‘independent’ in this abbreviation, IBA? If ZNBC only ululates and disseminates PF propaganda, it is alright – anyone else doing it for someone else (assuming, as a lot of people are) is subject to be sanctioned. I think all this energy being exerted to ban a private media agency and the ‘flexing’ of ‘muscles only confirms that this regime doesn’t and has never given a t.oss about democracy, fairness, due process (which it parrots unashamedly on every forum by the way)
THE SAD THING IS THAT ORDINARY PEOPLE END UP LOOKING DULL BECAUSE OF MEDIOCA LEADERSHIP. WHY SHOULD ZNBC CONTINUE RECEIVING THE LICENCE FEE WITH THEIR BIASE REPORTING IN A SO CALLED CHRISTIAN NATION.
BEST WAY FORWARD IS TO BOYCOTT THE LICENCE FEE.
Zambia is not a banana republic without laws, no one is interfering in their nations. RB was better ,he used to tell foreigners off unlike the PF. Some people are very dull, does insults, maligning people and spreading Fake News amount to FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. This useless PRIME TV has been injuring people’s emotions everyday. The Genocide in Rwanda was started by a useless radio station just as useless as PRIME TV and close to ONE million people died. People with DIARRHOEA in there mouth like Prime TV should not be allowed to destroy this country, Who the Hell do they think they are. EU and America just mind your business, where were you when this useless prime TV was preaching hate and spreading fake news, *****S shame on you.
you mean the same RB who at one point was telling South Africans building some Mall in Lusaka that “don’t mind Zambians are stupid and lazy”
Bane Lets be real. It is this same type of thinking that hardens the understanding of the opposing side. am not Political But I believe Prime TV gave the Nation a clearer picture that helped us understand what was going on in Sesheke of which, as Zambians, we should work on and become a better Nation.
Even if Zambia has Laws, those in authority should not abuse the same laws or else we will loose our respect externally. We are not at war but the exchange of facts give a very wrong picture.
l think there is too much simple-mindness concerning the matter of PTV. Freedom of speech does not mean breaking the law. Ba Kasolo, you meted punishment on radio chakuti in Itezhi tezhi and they served the punishment. Equally, IBA had done this with other stations before. If really PTV broke the law make it stiffer even! Post behaved in the same way and they got what they wanted. Breaking the laws is not part of freedom of speech. There is too much stupidity in this country…………….!
The EU should not play HERO, they also have their own problems. Let them concentrate on their BREXIT and not popping their noses on something that does not concern them. Equally, the AMERICANS let them concentrate on building their MEXICAN border wall, they have their own problems. The PSYCHO PRIME TV must pay for it’s madness, how can this useless TV station employ UPNDead cadres as its journalists. This is just the beginning of the PRIME TV down fall. Before 2021, this useless TV station must be closed indefinitely. Stop begging for sympathy and little did I know that IBA cautioned you severally but thought you were untouchable, very silly. Please USA and EU read about the atrocities committed by this useless Prime TV station to the people of Zambia.
If the suspension letter from IBA was dated 4 February 2019, as Shawa’s letter says, hasn’t the 30 days lapsed then?
Comment: kasolo get us the loans we need so much from IMF since you are so resourceful….Do it now….
We wonder why Africa is Poor!! The Government works against the people.
EU, isn’t Kashoggi a serious matter? Never heard any comment from you. As you say in your language, remove the log from your eyes…..
Sorry upnd trib.als alias Opposition Trib.al Alliance, criticise until your head is swollen and sore, you can never be considered as an option for Zambia, not even by EU. Remember 2006 upnd trib.al “convention” from which your trib.al was born? A sure recipe for trib.al genocide in Zambia.
Do ZNBC staffers wear party regalia when reporting for their station? As Prime did in Sesheke?
Hahahahababababababn I thought I was the only one who noticed….Kikikik
The oposition will now use CNN SABC or BBC since DeadNBC does nt cover them and now private media is under threat! DeadNBC doesnt adhear to ethics but since its
Ati the opposition will now use CNN, SABC and BBC, well i have very good news for you. Go ahead to them and they will gladly hand you with a handsome bill which when you fail to settle, you will realise who is in charge. Do you think the media news outlets are for free? Zoona, the pathetic HH is a dunderhead for sure. Everything he has tried have failed, why not give it up? At one time, this confused chap HH lied that Trump is on his side, but Trump even welcomed and recognised President Lungu at the UN. Too many lies by HH and UPND, they suck!!!!
Few individuals on this platform who are supporting the closure of prime TV nobody had mentioned the wrong things which prime TV has committed or the wrong news apart from showing us what is happening on the ground.listen fellow country men the MOST useless television in Zambia is znbc which is good on dividing the country on tribal line.i watched znbc a long time ago.edgar start and end with big eyes Anton mwanza
Agreed, but problem is that there is currently no option, certainly not trib.al upndead, and most certainly not Trib.al Hacks. We will never forget the 2006 “convention” where trib.al pronouncements were made and sworn.
And with it upndead was born and replaced the vibrant upnd-Mazoka.
And that’s the best way we shall safeguard our institutions. Outside and undue influence should be avoided. Its really shocking how this regime change agenda is being pushed. The will of Zambians must be respected. Subverting our institutions will not work.
Clearly government does not like scrutiny and criticism. So if you want to avoid closure of your TV, don’t give government a ready made excuse. They are the law enforcers, remember? And don’t waste your time thinking NGOs and EU will fight for you, Nope! You are the ?ones to suffer the consequences, and all thise NGOs will move on to the agenda.
You don’t have to agree with me, ask Mmembe.
…..Clearly government does not like scrutiny and criticism. So if you want to avoid closure of your TV, don’t give government a ready made excuse. They are the law enforcers, remember? And don’t waste your time thinking NGOs and EU will fight for you, Nope! You are the ones to suffer the consequences, and all those NGOs will move on to the next agenda.
You don’t have to agree with me, ask Mmembe.
Why the fuss about PTV? Is it the only private station that can be used by those who want? Why hasn’t IBA suspended these others as well?
BR Mumba snr..Zambia’s no.1 boot licker. He has a PHD in ass lickin
Parity, common sense, reasonableness and etiquette in dealing with each other in civilised society requires that we deal with each other fairly. IBA action in this matter goes against the grain of normal expected conduct. Kasolo and Siliti ougt to know that they are not “know all and end all” in this matter, they ought to submit to the many voices of reason. With this intransigent attitude and abject arrogance they continue to exhibit, “they will turn up with poo at the in – laws”!! Life is a seesaw, the guy that is at the top today, can be rock bottom tomorrow and these two are no exception to nature’s rule.
This Guy Is So DULL! It is not about bowing to international pressure but a country image. Remember your humble leader is all over the place soliciting for investors to invest in Zambia, but where such dull heads like this one are present, who would want to invest? It is a simple math equation of the best way to trap a mouse give it the cheese. Until the world bank comes for its loan repayment is when you will listen. RESPECT PRESS FREEDOM & ENJOY THE FRUITS THAT COME WITH IT, STOP CRYING AT EVER CUT….
My brother you will bend as soon as the law turns against. Clock ticking, Govt has no money to improve the conditions in prisons. Think twice
My brother everyone bends, ask Kaunda or Chiluba its a matter of Time…Maybe even ask Mugabe, or maybe Zuma…Be humble while up there. the people who appointed you were elected to serve… we are also coming to sit there..and will also leave eventually the order of nature.You should see an old lion be mauled be hyenas then you understand.
The reason there is an uproar over this closure is that ZNBC is plainly , clearly , obviously biased and it does not get censured ! When ZNBC reports anything about the opposition it is in the negative. ZNBC should be neutral and should be the one to offer a level playing field to all political parties and not just favour the ruling party. We still have the one party state mentality , and as such we shall never develop beyond where we are because our thinking and our way of looking at things hasn’t moved on. It is still very warped.
Time is coming when you will need the same tv station u re closing today. You can ask kambwili
After the 30 day period, good citizens should ensure they help Prime TV to obey the law by refusing to watch their network shows. Give them a harder suspension!
Luna…tics
Freedom of expression is not barking anything that may come out of the mouth without giving it a thought. Little things add up to something big an grave! Private owned media houses should be mindful of what is being aired or disseminated to the public. Prime TV is pure a mouth of one tribal political party. Most of the things broadcasted are against what government does. Not even a single day has it praised government of the day for whatever positive strides it has scored. What type of a broadcasting station is this? In fact 30 days is not even enough for others to get a leaf of that irresponsible broadcasting.