MINISTER of Information and Broadcasting Services Chishimba Kambwili has directed district commissioners and town clerks countrywide to pull down political campaign billboards within three days.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Kitwe district commissioner Chanda Kabwe yesterday, Mr Kambwili said the country cannot be politicking through and through.
“I am directing all DCs and TCs to pull down campaign billboards. We only have one President and that is Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Pull down these campaign billboards within the next three days,” Mr Kambwili said.
He added that campaign posters are making some politicians think that they were also presidents.
He said the campaign period as prescribed under the electoral laws has a time-frame and that the country cannot be in a perpetual campaign mode.
And Mr Kambwili is disappointed by councils’ failure to maintain newly-constructed township roads across the country.
He said it is unacceptable for new roads to begin developing potholes while councils watch and do nothing about it.
“Councils should start budgeting for the maintenance of these roads. Government has constructed them at a huge cost and we need to maintain them. Let us also maintain drainages,” he said.
Mr Kambwili, who also toured Zambia Daily Mail offices, was in Kitwe to familiarise himself with operations of media institutions in the district.
On the challenges facing public media institutions, Mr Kambwili said recapitalisation is the way forward.
He said once the institutions are recapitalised and their statutory debt sorted out, adverts from Government departments must be paid for upfront.
He said he is personally committed to resolving the problems at Times of Zambia by ensuring that pronouncements are followed up with action.
At the Mail office, Mr Kambwili said Government has plans to clean up the newspaper’s books because at the moment, it cannot even borrow owing to huge statutory debt the newspaper owes Zambia Revenue Authority and NAPSA.
He reiterated his directive to state-owned media not to accept adverts from government departments on credit.
He also urged all public media institutions to curb casualisation.
At ZNBC, Mr Kambwili said plans are under-way to either demolish the current structures and build new ones or modernise them in line with current trends.
Mr Kambwili urged private media institutions to remain professional and guard against tribalism, hate speech and defamation of citizens.
But is Fat Albert Kambwili also Minister of local Government?
Kambwili has now become the self appointed president of Zambia.
Kambwli does not konw his job description. He is too pompus because Edgar Lungu fears him.
Bwana Minister sir, the idea of removing posters is good but the people who should remove these posters is not the local council. Political parties including the ruling should mobilize people to remove the posters. In the first place it was political parties that mounted these copies/pictures of heads anywhere everywhere. Are you saying the political parties will fund the council to do this dirty work??? No bwana minister use your cadres please.
I hope Mr Kambwili you read this post
Thank you.
The best statement would have been directing councils to clean up all their town within three days
Why have Zambians accepted ifiko as a new normal?
It’s such a shame for the whole country to be that dirty and no one is not bothered
I am utterly shocked
The country has been in election mode since your Party PF took office in 2011. You are responsible for the posters and the mess. When are the next by elections ?
Chishimba Kambwili must stop sleeping around with school girls. Stop that Kambwili the law u are abusing will visit u next year.
Newly constructed roads must have a reasonable warranty preiod. If they develop pot holes now then the contractor must be recalled to fix it ; and not the council.
Minister without portfolio. Ba president the your lost has been found. His minister of information why does he always feel the need to act bigger than his ministry. If you want to build you rep as a minister, do well in your ministry and bring development to your constituency, but don’t start doing another ministry’s job. Please spare us.
Mr. Kambwili seems not to know what the city council is suppose to do. It is not the duty of City Council to pull down those campaign billboards. The owners of those billboards are responsible to remove the boards. These are the qualities of some cabinet ministers. How do you expect our country to perform well and develop the country?
Bill boards are paid for and councils get revenue. Are adverts being banned in Zambia?
Rantings of well fed capon
I DONT SEE THIS ‘HONOURABLE’ CAPON BECOMING ANYTHING BETTER THAN WHAT IT IS
THIS IS HIS PLATEU PHASE AND NEXT IS A STEEP DIP!
The local councils serve the needs of residents. In other countries people pay council taxes to allow councils to clean up and look after local areas. Why is it always rocket science for Zambians to do things correctly? everyone wants to be a boss and everyone looks to the president to make directives before anything can be done. These are simple issues which should be dealt with at local level not waiting for a ministers to give instructions. Politics has become a lucrative business in Zambia and our local authorities need to evolve and find creative ways of maintaining the balance of campaign fever and cleanliness. Political parties have to pay a fee to compete, why can’t they lobby parliament to introduce a fee aimed at cleaning up after campaigns? Is this not job creation?
Seems HH is a big threat to give PF sleepless nights. They still want another term in govt with continued hunger, rotten exchange rates, poor governance, sicknesses etc. Tone down Mr Kambwili, you only have months to start pleading to the new incoming President.
We are in perpetual voting mode. Voting is around the corner in Eastern Province. There is no harm in leaving the posters till 2016. Zambians know who the republican president is.
Sir those billboards are paid for
This man should be caged in Luanshya.
In fact Kambwili s actual words were that opposition posters be removed, this was said on ZNBC s news on the 30 th of April. He is an obnoxious person who thinks he is in a dictorship.
This is astonishing because the same Kambwili in Luanshya has branded his vehicles with campaign messages for both himself and EL for 2016.
Advertising on billboard is a source of revenue not only for the Council but also for the advertising houses.When he talks about job creation,he is contradicting himself as a minister to pull down billboards because there are providing employment for some people.
As a Minister,he is supposed to analyze issues well before bursting his mouth.
If he has nothing to tell the DC in Kitwe it’s better he keeps quiet rather than hallucinating.