By Staff Reporter
The media should blame itself over the 16 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on newspaper sales, says Ministry of Information media director Thabo Kawana.
And Kawana said issues like laws bordering on defamation of the President and Public Order Act were promised to be addressed by the UPND, and that Cabinet was sitting around these matters and direction will be given soon.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kawana said the VAT has been introduced in the budget as it was merely suspended for a specified period, which period has now come to an end, adding that the media knew that it was coming to an end but did not make submissions for the suspension to continue when the budget was being formulated.
He said the period has expired and the next time it could be looked into would be the next budget and submissions will have to be made to present the media’s case on the matter.
“So I would rather even blame you as a media to say where were you when you were noticing that this vital holiday was expiring? Why talk about it now that it has expired? We would have fought for its renewal at the time it was coming,” he said.
Kawana said the Ministry could not have looked into the matter themselves as there were many things they were doing, including looking at issues like the Access to Information Bill.
“The media did not make a representation and therefore it lapsed. So this is a lapsed arrangement which can best be blamed; number 1, squarely on the media and then number two but even us as government we ought to have checked. But remember we had just gotten into office. So it was up to you people to tell us,” Kawana said.
He further argued against some of the arguments raised by Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa, in his article published in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian, where he accused President Hichilema of eroding human rights and democracy.
Kawana said for instance, the Ministry condemned and distanced the government from UPND member of parliament Heartson Mabeta’s threats to News Diggers that they would go the same Post route if they did not change course.
“Because the media have enjoyed free space under this administration which also realises that it rode on the back of the private media to be where we are today. So definitely we will be the last people to try to harass the media especially the private media,” Kawana said, but argued that the issue of KBN, where journalists were arrested over a leaked audio where presidential political advisor Levy Ngoma and Ministry of Home Affairs permanent secretary Josephs Akafumba were purportedly discussing sowing discontent in the opposition Democratic Party (DP), saying it different as the people purportedly in the audio have said it is fake.
He said the UPND administration remained committed towards fulfilling their promises.
“Laws like Defamation of the President, Public Order Act, all these were promised during the elections that they will be looked into and changed. So we want to assure the people that that stance has remained the same. It’s folly to try and hold government accountable as in they are not committed to these changes seven months into office,” Kawana said. “At least if we give two years, and someone can come and say look for all these two years and the sessions of parliament, you have not brought these before parliament. So we want to urge Dr Sishuwa and many other Zambians that are in his line of thought that these things will be attended to and he must just watch the space. In fact Cabinet is sitting around these matters and very soon direction will be given. So it’s not correct to say that government has changed direction.”
Kawana said the executive would not comment on the suspension on 30 PF members of parliament, the other issue Dr Sishuwa raised in his article, saying parliament had its own decorum.
“It’s got its own rules and privileges and as a member of that house when you break them you suffer the consequences,” said Kawana. “That is why you are finding that it is the same coin but different heads. Under speaker Matinini people were suspended. Under Speaker Mutti people are still being suspended. Your common denominator there is that there are rules and decorum that need to be followed.”
