President Edgar Lungu is concerned that the country is being polluted daily with falsehoods in the media that have the potential to endanger national peace, stability and unity and discourage domestic and foreign direct investment.
The President has also expressed concern that these lies in the end will disrupt or negate gains made on Zambia’s development priorities.
The President said evidently, fake news not only affects Government, but also all citizens and those who spread such falsehoods.
“In the past, I have restrained myself from responding to fabrications based on the hope that our reporters in Zambia will rise above fake news, and focus their energies on substantive issues which are key to the attainment of national development priorities espoused in the 7NDP and Vision 2030 – for the benefit of every Zambian. Unfortunately, fake news is seemingly worsening by the day and becoming an enemy of national progress, as progressive proposed legislation such as the Constitutional Amendment Bill, also known as Bill 10, has been deliberately distorted for cheap political mileage, at the expense of the greater good”, the president said in a facebook posting.
President Lungu said he is therefore compelled to respond to these falsehoods because it is a problem Zambians can no longer afford to ignore.
He said he is also cognizant of the fact that to some of his fellow citizens, his continued total restraint to respond to fake news may be misconstrued to be an admission of guilt – and nothing could be further from the truth than that.
President Lungu reiterated that any talk of his involvement in the illegal trade of Mukula is a complete falsehood which is aimed at trying to form a distasteful caricature of his administration.
“The media has great role to play in nation building. It has been said that knowledge is power and information enriches the mind. Therefore, if you, our reporters, peddle fake news, you will not only be failing your nation, but you shall also be failing to perform one of your basic professional duties, which is: to educate and inform as much as you can; and not mislead and misinform as much as you can”, he added.
He said Zambians should learn from the lessons of other countries throughout history that the nations that have suffered instability and violence did not suffer these tragedies overnight and by accident.
President Lungu said these tragedies were a direct result of, among other things, making falsehoods and careless-talk as truth and the order of the day.
“Let us all remember that instability, disunity, violence and wars are all processes. And that, spreading falsehoods and fake news are key factors in propelling the above-mentioned processes and underdevelopment”, he said.
“Let us all, therefore, jealously protect and entrench peace, harmony and stability in Zambia by deploring falsehoods with a passion; and eventually remove it from our nation’s political fabric. Falsehoods threaten national peace, harmony and stability. And there can be no national development anywhere, without national peace, harmony and stability”, he added.
They lie day in Day out. It is shame!!!
That’s the danger of being too quiet and humble, speculation and rumours fill the void. The President should engage in addressing the nation through press briefings more often. His advisors don’t seem to be helping on this score.
So you journalists just wake up and tell us President Lungu has said. He has said He has said He has said. The lack of professionalism is shocking! Where Where Where was he saying these things? Answer the Five Ws and H That’s why people are accusing you of not being trained and now want to muzzle you because you don’t display professionalism.
Okay help me understand this; so its falsehood only when its against PF but okay when its targeted towards UPND & HH? Grow up LungWu and smell the coffee, its time to pack your bags bwana
Online media is better than PF rallies. The likes of Lusambo mocking PF diplomats that they are doing nothing but cleaning toilets in diaspora.
That is pollution.
Corruption in Zambia starts and ends with Lungu. If he wants to dispute this let him take the authors of the Mukula Report. Their contacts and address are in public domain. He won’t do this because he knows they have much more dirty on him and his rotten PF regime
The rat has started feeling the heat in the kitchen
You are right Mr. President but the agenda of a TRIBO grouping masquerading as a political party will NEVER win! Let us develop this nation as you are doing and make the BOY jealousy HAGAIN. HAZALUZA HAGIAN! Mapatizya Formula!
I clean my toilet everyday and I have money to sleep on and please let me know if you cay pay me to come to your house and clean your toilet
No, the hardships people face everyday is not fake news, the 42 fire tenders and 48 houses is not fake news, the load shedding is not fake news…we do not need reporters to tell us how bad things are because it is a reality we deal with daily….this is a government of thieves!
Mr Lungu just resign. Let honest youngsters takeover. PF and UPND shall be disbanded.
Mr President you can not hide in fake news on mukula saga because the chief mentioned in the EIA report actually confirmed that you gave 100 containers in exchange for votes. We need to know if the chief is also telling lies.
By Patson Chilemba
Edgar Lungu’s statement that no corrupt element will be allowed to roam freely is an insult to the intelligence of Zambians, ruling PF member Colonel Panji Kaunda has charged.
Commenting on President Lungu’s statement during the Anti-corruption day themed ‘United Against Corruption’, where the President spoke out against graft in his written speech, Col Panji said if any one were to listen to President Lungu and did not know anything about Zambian, they would be clapping right now, praising the President as an ardent corruption fighter.
However, Col Panji said the only unfortunate part was that there was a huge variance between what President Lungu read in his written speech against his actions over the matter, saying corruption actually started and ended with…
Continued
…, saying corruption actually started and ended with President Lungu.
“It’s an insult to our intelligence. It’s a big joke. Unless there is seriousness from the President himself, from his heart, not reading that corruption is evil we won’t go anywhere,” he said.
Col Panji said the fight against corruption must start with the first family itself, saying the President himself should explain the source of his wealth, while at the same time telling the Zambian people where his daughter, Tasila, was getting the money for all the projects she was currently undertaking, including fencing the over 3790 hectares Forest Number 70 in Sinda, Eastern Province.
He said already there was a report from an American organisation revealing the wanton corruption in the Mukula illegal trade…
Continued
“There are reports that the daughter is building shopping malls where there used to be police stations, what is he doing about it? She has spent a lot of money fencing Chimutengo Forest, these are things the President must table in his own house” Col Panji said. “Like us the children of Dr Kenneth Kaunda, you won’t hear of us being involved in illegalities or that we had fenced off forests or were building malls where there used to be police stations. Let him begin with his daughter, where is she getting the money from.”
Col Panji said Article 52 of the Constitution of Zambia guided how ministers and members of parliament must behave, but under President Lungu, his ministers and permanent secretaries were involved and profiting massively from government projects. He said…
@Ubutala (1.5), Satanism in Zambia & THEFT starts and ends with HAZALUZA HAGAIN.
WHEN PRINCIPLED CITIZENS START POINTING FINGERS AT YOU, JUST KNOW THAT YOU ARE HISTORY. YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD ENOUGH EAR BUDS.
H. E. its because we want answers. if you keep quite on the most sensitive issues, we have no option but to listen and believe everything that we hear.
So says the thieving ka worst president on earth, you are the problem mune… just seeing you make me wanna……..
Prof. NO HINSONI has written the UN and HARM NEST to harm us using his university letterhead with TRIBO UNDERTONES HAGAIN! The TRIBO Prof. in South Africa is a disgrace to Zambia.
You HA wrong little boy @4 HAGAIN! The WASTE PRESIDENT H-EVER in Zambia was MWANAWASA.
So says the thieving ka worst president on earth, you are the problem mune… just seeing you make me wanna……..
HAZALUZA HAGAIN!
@5, The WASTE PRESIDENT H-EVER in Zambia was MWANAWASA.
Ba Lungu has EIA refuted the report? if not, then what are you referring to as fake news? the media you are referring to simply took the report and made news out of it. A man who responds well to truth only gets better mudala.
Oga boss, K15 to the dollar is not false hood, 42 fire trucks is not falsehood, 48 houses is not falsehood. So please Oga boss do not insult us
Load shading is fake news. There are no power cut in Zambia!
Mr President we are tired of this fake news from these critics who are just there to tarnish the image of this country.Do some thing sir,regulate some of these news houses before it is too late.We do not want another Luanda here please.All those invoved in fake news must be jailed for at least a good 7yrs.
@since ni since – kebe endalama shakwa noko
Kandile alanda… Can only guess which rock you crawled from… Utter and absolute nonsense
Fish starts rotting from the head!
There is no smoke without fire unfortunately!
The Chief already said he exported 100 containers during the ban. How is that fake news?
If you want to clear your name Mr president, being defensive in your answers and statements is not the best strategy! If you are as innocent as you claim, why not call for an independent inquiry into the alleged plunder of Mukula? Using public resources for personal gain is a crime! God did not give Zambia Mukula for a select few to benefit at the expense of all Zambians! In Bemba we say “Bakabolala balipama!” Even when you catch a thief red handed with your TV in their hands, they will still refuse they have not stolen! Show leadership Mr President and call for an investigation to clear your name!
And some people in southern claim that HH is an economist,how?Real Economists know the impact daily politicking and fake stories have on any economy globally.Or HH simply do not have the heart for the poor Zambians whom he wishes to rule(God forbid)!!Many opposition politicians are bad hearted.They even celebrate this bad economy as long as its not them in office.This is the reason why many of us cant vote for them because a caring politician should always wish Zambia to have a better economy!!!Opposition political leaders-my foot!!
Luanda! Kikikiki
PF cadres are too much kikiki
Ok. On a more serious note, the loss of national endangered species is a very serious matter. While we know that there is fake news out there, we are aware that the Mukula sage that emerged two years ago remains unexplained. Don’t forget there was state house presence at the scene.
The Chief confirms involvement. Unless ECL is calling the Chief a liar. The country is tied of all these scandals of corruption with no prosecutions. You asked for evidence and now you call it fake news. Then take the matter to court, sir.
For now PF=corruption
Is the Purchase of a Presidential Jet worth millions of Dollars for use by one person while the UTH and other Health Institutions have no medicine falsehood news? Why was your Vice President and others ministers evacuated to South Africa instead of being treated at UTH?? Maybe it is fake news as well. What are you talking about Mr. President and why should it worry nor bother you when you know it is fake news you just ignore that if you think you doing the right thing. You will control the Social Media as it is a Democratic right for every human being
Some people have very big bodies but have very small mabrains.
Correction;
You will not control the Social Media as it is a Democratic right for every human being
I HAVE NEVER SEEN SMOKE COME OUT WHERE THERE IS NO FIRE…TELL US OUR PRESIDENT…
Yabwela ba bioscope a makaka inu muzaciona! You thought this was the 70s where there are no undercover cameras. Fake yamene iyo is driving your debt ratio over 96% a mambala. Susha iyo nkhani timve!?
The face of an irresponsible president who lies through his teeth!! After all the scandalous corruption cases that were manufactured out State House he must think we are demented to think we believe the drivel from his mouth. Mukobeko and Chimbokaila are calling at the end of your term. Zambians are sick fed up with the regression in the living standards. We shouldn’t be where we are if we had a president who really cared for this country – not development motivated by huge kickbacks!
Its good to hear the president responding to the so called accusations. Anyway, no one can dribble the creator. Just wait and see the outcome soon. There is no smoke without fire!!!!! Pipo must learn to be real in handling national issues well. If what the head of state gas said is not happening,then, its fine!!!!!
We have been indecently demanding lungu deny allegations that he is a corrupt thief, every day,
Now look mr lungu…..people believe that you are indeed a corrupt thief.
Now a simple denial is not enough, as it would have been 3 years ago, now only declaration of your wealth will do, and that of your daughter with a real audit.
I have been telling you.
We have been telling lungu incessantly……
HAZALUZA HAGAIN because he is still an UNDER FIVE. Try MUTINTA this time, your Vice President or CHARMAINE.
Mr lungu,
As I said , it is too late for a mere denial that you not are a corrupt thief, the stakes are higher.
Now the best you can do to calm citizens and make them believe you are not a corrupt thief is an audit of you and your families wealth….
Nothing less nothing more will do,
If you are indeed not a corrupt thief, this should not be a problem and you should actually push for this
The Guardian
Mandarin language characters on a billboard in Lusaka
Show caption
Global development
China steps in as Zambia runs out of loan options
Southern Africa’s third largest economy is a textbook example of the increasing debt facing a fast-growing continent
Global development is supported by
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
About this content
Jean-Christophe Servant
Wed 11 Dec 2019 10.39 GMT
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Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, was having a power cut, so the only light in the restaurant was from Fumba Chama’s mobile phone. The rapper, better known as PilAto, had just finished uploading a new track to Twitter. The bitter-sweet lyrics (in Bemba) of Yama Chinese describe the concerns of many Zambians: “They put on…
Continued from previous…. The Guardian: The bitter-sweet lyrics (in Bemba) of Yama Chinese describe the concerns of many Zambians: “They put on smart suits and fly to China to sell our country. The roads belong to China. The hotels are for the Chinese. The chicken farms are Chinese. Even the brickworks are Chinese.”
Fake News is the bane of all govts worldwide. It’s a symptom of the failure of Democracy based on capitalist values. Unfortunately the greedy try to win power using these propaganda wars.
Good citizens cannot be swayed by reports compiled in foreign lands with no evidence to back it. Refuting the reports and moving on is the best strategy. It’s important not to feed the miscreants, they thrive on the attention which gives them the space to make good by demoralising citizens. There should just be a denial statement by PR. Court cases with hyenas can only serve their need for attention which they need to propel their ambitions.
At the end of the day, PF it’s good record for developments is undeniable. His Excellency had ruled successfully inspite of the huge difficulties…
His Excellency’s record is clear and top marks.
It’s opposition and the problems of multi-party politics that is causing this unpleasantness. No one with a fair mind is going to believe the nonsense premise of these juvenile reports.
”His Excellency’s record is clear and top marks.”
yes, 42/42, 48 miracle mansions, enswatini land, Mukula, $2 million bank account after 18 months in office,
It’s not alright for social media to peddle fake news or falsehood, but it is alright for our political leaders including and especially PF leadership (no names) to give us halftruthhoods.
Look bosses, the cause of fake news is simply lack of transparency. And you seem to think and prescribe that what we want is news about which roads and schools are being built. Boring stuff, why do you think no one watches ZNBC anymore? Boring, that is why, so dont choose news for us, we are mature.
Even simple things like power deficit, load shedding, power imports has been fake news peddled by government itself and its leadership. So what is wrong with social creating their own news?