Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
2002
from a state-owned and controlled
broadcaster to a public service, independent
and professionally run broadcaster.
It is an indisputable fact that in
its current form, and as suggested by
government in their bill, ZNBC is a
propaganda machinery of the ruling
Movement for Multiparty Democracy
(MMD),” the statement read.
The initiative to introduce the private
members’ bills has been driven
by MISA’s Zambian chapter, known
locally as ZIMA.
ALERT
DATE: 2002-11-14
PERSON(S): Arthur Simuchoba,
Chali Nondo
VIOLATION(S): Victory
On November 12, 2002, the Supreme
Court dismissed an application made
by President Levy Mwanawasa’s lawyer,
Michael Mundashi. Mundashi
was seeking the citation of Arthur
Simuchoba, editor of the privatelyowned
newspaper “The Monitor”,
and Chali Nondo, his chief reporter,
for “contempt of court”, for commenting
on an ongoing election petition
against Mwanawasa’s election in December
2001.
On September 16, Mundashi applied
to the court to cite the journalists
for “contempt of court” in relation
to an article published in the 16
to 19 August edition of “The Monitor”,
which alleged that Mwanawasa
had increased Supreme Court judges’
salaries “to soften the judiciary ahead
of the Presidential petition hearing.”
Mundashi told all seven Supreme
Court judges that the story, entitled
“Levy back-pedals on early polls”,
had cast doubt on the integrity of his
164 So This Is Democracy?
client and the judicial process. He
further argued that the newspaper
should have avoided publishing comments
suggesting that the president
had influenced the court into ruling
in his favour through the salary increment,
because such reporting was
prejudicial to a fair trial.
However, in his November 12 ruling,
Chief Justice Ernest Sakala said
that though he found the report to be
“very sarcastic,” the matter could not
be dealt with by the court. He suggested
that the case be handled by the
Director of Public Prosecutions, using
relevant Penal Code provisions.
Justice Sakala noted that both the
media and politicians with an interest
in the election petition had made
comments about the proceedings that
might be prejudicial to a fair trial.
“We view with grave concern the
ongoing statements in the press and
comments by the media and some individuals
on this particular petition.
Some of these statements and comments
in fact tend to cast aspersions
on the court itself while others are
deliberately calculated opinions on
what individuals think the final verdict
in this petition should be,” Justice
Sakala said. He warned all parties
to limit their comments on the
trial to factual statements or risk being
cited for contempt.
President Mwanawasa’s December
2001 election is being challenged
in the Supreme Court by three opposition
party leaders, who allege that
he was dubiously elected.
The case has attracted widespread
comment in the media, with both the
president and those challenging his
election saying they would win the
case.