FOI Bill, ZNBC Act to Be Tabled in Parliament
INFORMATION and Broadcasting Services Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha has said the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Act will be tabled in Parliament as soon as it resumes sitting. Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said in Lusaka Friday that Parliament which resumes sitting next week would put FOI Bill and ZNBC amendment Act on top of its agenda.
Speaking when he received a report from the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) on the recent Fringilla consensus, Gen Shikapwasha however said FOI Bill would require a committee to deal with all its applications in parliament.
MLC recently held a meeting at Fringilla Farm in Chisamba where media houses and the association agreed to launch a new media body called 'Zambia Media Council' (ZAMEC) in May this year hence the report dubbed - Fringilla Consensus.
Gen Shikapwasha assured the members that Parliament which resumes sitting Tuesday 23rd February will put FOI and ZNBC amendment Act on top of the agenda and will critically deal with all regulations. He commended MLC for its initiative to launch the forthcoming new media body ZAMEC saying the Government was looking forward to it and would give necessary support.
Gen Shikapwasha said he and other officials would critically study the report presented and come up with the way forward before Parliament resumed sitting.
He however said it was not true the Government was anti-media but it had always wanted to work with all media houses due to significant role it played in the country. He said it was for this reason the Government had decided to include journalists from both private and public media houses on President Rupiah Banda's trips to show how much it valued their work.
Its not true the Government is anti-media. We are so friendly to any media house. It is for this reason we include journalists on all presidential trips like next week where President Banda is going to China, he said.
Speaking earlier, MLC spokesperson Amos Chanda said the report presented major steps that would lead to the birth of ZAMEC which he said would be a driven organisation based on collective will of all members guided in the constitution and code of conduct. Mr Chanda said ZAMEC would have a good balance of media representatives and members of the public in order to achieve public confidence in the self-regulatory mechanism.
[Times Of Zambia]
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