2020PF GIVING Price K10 Wednesday June 3, AWAY POWER

…to opposition falsehoods and media fake news

Mr Mumbi

Heed the warning from the Commonwealth Observer Report on Zambia’s 2016 elections who said ‘‘the media should establish a credible, independent, self-regulatory authority that sets out standards and appropriate codes of behaviour for the media. This is necessary to safeguard freedom of expression while holding the media to account in cases where the codes of behaviour are breached. Such a self-regulatory authority must have an effective complaints mechanism to allow members of the public to register complaints against the media where there are legitimate grounds for doing so.’’

MR MWAMBA

‘‘No matter how the opposition can try to tarnish the image of the ruling party on social media, it is different on the ground because it has continued to gain support from more Zambians.’’

THE Patriotic Front is giving away power by allowing unbridled lies in the media to flourish thereby undermining its authority, credibility and popularity, says a governance activist Edward Mumbi.

However, PF vice chairperson for mobilisation Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba has said even though the opposition can spread lies on social media against PF but they should know that they will cry in 2021.

Mr Mumbi warned that people were beginning to believe lies and that the PF was inept. “This negative media frenzy is dangerous and has seen many governments fall, and therefore the PF should wakeup.”

He said the PF is allowing the opposition to spread lies and failing to defend itself making Zambians begin to think that it is inept.

Mr Mumbi said in an interview this negativity was dangerous and had seen successful governments fall.

Mr Mumbi, a former UPND presidential advisor, said the PF must wake and ensure that it corrected all the lies by the opposition so that Zambians can have a clear picture.

If this continues we shall see the ruling party sinking because a number of people might be swayed by lies, Mr Mumbi warned.

He appealed to the ruling party to up their game to continue to gain support from Zambians. He noted that if the ruling party had capacity to defend itself from the lies the opposition cannot continue to stand and tell lies.

Mr Mumbi said the PF should correct things for the voters to know the truth instead of the lies being peddled.

And Mr Mwamba says those attacking him and claiming that he was only supporting President Edgar Lungu because he is broke must know that he has been a businessman since the UNIP regime and had never been bankrupt.

Mr Mwamba said the opposition had continued to peddle lies against the PF to decampaign it were wasting their time.

No matter how the opposition could try to tarnish the image of the ruling party on social media, it was different on the ground because it continued to gain support from more Zambians.

Mr Mwamba who is former UPND vice president for administration, said the opposition was wasting time trying to sway people on social media, the ruling party was on the ground to strengthen its grassroots in all corners of the country.

Heed the warning from the Commonwealth Observer Report on Zambia’s 2016 elections when it called for the establishment of an independent and self-regulatory public media submitted the following:

“The media should establish a credible, independent, self-regulatory authority that sets out standards and appropriate codes of behaviour for the media. This is necessary to safeguard freedom of expression while holding the media to account in cases where the codes of behaviour are breached. Such a self-regulatory authority must have an effective complaints mechanism to allow members of the public to register complaints against the media where there are legitimate grounds for doing so.” (Commonwealth Observer Report on Zambia’s 2016)