My Reflections On MUVI Television’s 16th Birthday

Reporting from Embassy Park in Lusaka during the burial 
for former President Frederick Chiluba in June 2011

By Paul Shalala

It was February 2010 and I was unemployed.

I was doing internship at CUTS International Center in Northmead area of Lusaka just after I had left New Vision Newspaper.

Costa Mwansa was then the General Manager at MUVI TV and 4 years earlier he was my senior at Evelyn Hone College and he knew the political animal in me when it comes to political reporting.

Costa sent me an email asking if I could apply for a job to join MUVI TV.

Without hesitation, I sent in an application and I was called for interviews.

I passed the interviews and on 1 March 2010, I reported for work on the same day with Pennipher Sikainda (now Nyirenda) and Penelope Kapambwe (now Sikazwe).

Because our first names start with P, employees called us the three Ps.

The three of us were very close as we tried to settle down in the newsroom.

The day I reported for work, Costa was chairing the diary meeting and my first news idea was short down.

I had presented an idea on the challenges kids face when going to school due to the floods which were ravaging Lusaka.

Costa offered to groom me and from that time, I learnt how to present ideas for a community TV station.

Even my first narration for a TV report at MUVI TV was a mess, I was actually banned for a month.

After grooming and abit of panel beating, I became an unmistakable voice on MUVI TV's 18:30hrs Main News.

MUVI TV took me all over, locally and abroad.

With then opposition PF leader Michael Sata in
Senanga, Western Province in May 2011

I had the chance to fly abroad for the first time to Istanbul, Turkey to cover the United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

Then President Rupiah Banda attended the event and I covered it for MUVI TV, my first international assignment as a journalist and while there, I met my long time BBC mentor Umaru Fofana of Sierra Leone.

Locally, I used to cover President Banda and one time at the Lusaka International Airport (now Kenneth Kaunda International Airport), I asked him a very controversial political question (I can't remember it) and he answered me jokingly: "Iwe mwana bakutuma, sorry ulibe lead story lelo."

I covered Michael Sata in the opposition, travelled with him countrywide and I even covered his promise to restore the Barotseland Agreement at a rally in Senanga, Western Province in May 2011.

His massive rallies both in Mongu and Senanga actually gave me an indication that the man was heading somewhere as in 2008, Sata failed to have sizeable rallies in Mongu, but in 2011 he was a hero in Barotseland.

Hakainde Hichilema was another politician I covered extensively to an extent were to date, he calls me "Lozi Boy."

One rally I remember covering HH was in Choma in 2010 at Kings Ground (I hear that place has been turned into a mall) were he launched the "Real Change Campaign."

Another HH incident I remember vividly was in 2010 during the Chilanga Parliamentary by-election after Ngande Magande was expelled by MMD, Jimboz led by Chris Chalwe and William Banda almost beat him up, he was only saved by Elisha Matambo, Richwell Siamunene and others who whisked him to a classroom at Chilanga Primary School before Police fired teargas to dispess the unruly MMD cadres.

All in all, my job at MUVI TV was to report politics and my contract which I still have at home described me as a Politics Reporter.

With UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema at Chilanga Primary School
during the Chilanga Parliamentary by-election in December 2010

To cement my role, MUVI TV allowed me to travel to Berlin, Germany in September 2011 to study Politics and Governance at the International Institute for Journalism were I spent almost three months with 14 other journalists from Africa and Asia.

We were three Zambians on this training is: Morgan Kasuba a freelancer and Ernest Chanda from The Post Newspapers.

Apart from reporting politics, I think my highlight at MUVI TV was political analysis which i did almost every morning on the Sunrise Breakfast Show with Costa Mwansa and Mabvuto Phiri.

This show was so heated: Costa would always be the moderator and to strike a balance, Mabvuto would always support government and I would be the government critic on the show so that viewers get balanced views on any given topic.

This show made me a star and a villain at the same time.

Because of the show, many people around the country came to know me.

Every morning we would receive text messages concerning topics on discussion and one of the frequent contributors was Manix Kindaba of Solwezi who has since become a very close friend.

Politicians tuned in every morning and we would debate soberly on various issues such as politics, the Constitution making process, by-elections, etc with proper research.

We spent hours researching and when we go live on TV, we would speak with authority like experienced political scientists.

However, that analysis also gave us some enemies as the 2011 general elections drew near.

We started watching our backs because the truth we spoke on TV was hurting others.

When my two year contract was nearing it's end in February 2012, I notified management that I would not seek to renew it because I wanted to move on.

However, it took management two weeks to reply to me, they reluctantly accepted my departure and off I went.

Looking back, I smile at MUVI TV and the great person it created in me in just two years.

The experience I got, the contacts I made in the field and the ropes I went through are what has made me a journalist iam today.

I don't believe in burning bridges I have crossed, I believe in appreciating even the worst situations I have gone through because they make me who Iam today.

Interviewing President Rupiah Banda during the MMD National Convention
at Mulungushi Rock of Authority in Kabwe in April 2011

The sweetest memories I have of my time at MUVI TV was to rush to an incident in one of the compounds and we find other TV stations filming and when we arrive, everyone including those who were being interviewed abandon the interviews and start shouting "MUVI! MUVI! MUVI! MUVI!"

The saddest event was in a place called Nakachenje in Lusaka West were hundreds of MMD cadres ambushed our vehicle as we went to film a land wrangle and they beat up our driver Eddie, Dainess Nyirenda (now Sikamwaya) and Anita Kalwani.

The two ladies were actually threatened with rape and all equipment which included a microphone, tripod stand and camera we're confiscated by the Jimboz, an MMD security wing. (Not sure if this equipment was recovered).

Brian Mwale, Bruce Mwale and myself who had remained in the car survived the beating.

It is again at MUVI TV were I was the only TV reporter to have covered the January 14, 2011 Mongu Riots were an undisclosed number of Barotse activists were gunned down by Police.

All in all, MUVI TV shaped me, it gave me a great platform which I still appreciate to date.

Without MUVI TV, were would I be?

When I die and an obituary is written about me and my journalism career, MUVI TV will feature prominently in that write-up.

Happy 16th Birthday MUVI Television (Which fell yesterday).

The Zambian Constitution Is Just Defective On Presidential Term

By Pumulo Mungoma

Activists demanding for a new constitution

As a social commentator and promoter of civic education, I will closely follow the court case that petitions that the 2016 general elections must be deferred to 2020 as our current Republican President, Edgar Lungu must serve a full 5-year term. Interesting, not so?!

I once argued a few years ago that then President Rupiah Banda 'banamufwenga' as he should have served a full 5-year term as our constitution states that an elected president must serve 5-years.

It does not say anything about a President completing a term for a dead, fired or resigning President.

But maybe it is because Rupiah had not gone to seek interpretation from the courts of law to claimed to him.

But for this new case there is no need for some of you- who think are correct on the interpretation of the clauses of our constitution- to haul insults on the petitioners who are exercising their right to ask the courts to offer interpretation of some constitution clauses.

The move is welcome, and at the end it is up to the courts to tell us the way forward: to have elections next year or not.

Personally, I believe it is our constitution that is defective on many key areas. Neither should we start speculating as to who is really behind the petitioning.

Let us recall that at the time of the death of President Michael Sata (MHSRIP) it was not clear on what should happen as to who should act as president.

It had to take what I would call as “generosity’ from then Defence Minister Edgar Lungu to graciously hand over power to then Vice President Guy Scott- who later oversaw a hotly contested presidential by-election.

I also once posted to ask my Facebook followers on what they knew would happen (according to our constitution) in case the top two contenders, say Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema drew in a presidential poll. A run off? To cast a die? To have a chair’s separating by one vote? If so, by who?

Former Zambian President Rupiah Banda

That is how defective our constitution seems to be. It is not clear on many issues especially on successions.

It is understood that as Africans we feel uncomfortable with discussing death related clauses. As a result we end up tying ourselves.

Probably we need a new constitution! Let us wait and see! I will not say much as the case is under the courts of law.

However, the underlining factor is that our constitution leaves much to be desired, and we all stand to follow and learn on what the courts of law will say on this case.

Lastly, it is yet to be known how the “case” of Rupiah Banda, who took over from a deceased president but served for less than five years, would have a bearing on this case!

Editor's Note: The views expressed in this article are of the author 

Zambia's Former President Rupiah Banda To Monitor Nigerian Polls

Rupiah Banda during Kenya's 2013 elections

By Paul Shalala in Johannesburg, South Africa

Former Zambian President Rupiah Banda is next week expected to co-lead an election observation mission for the the United States-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI. 

On 14 February, 68.8 million voters in Africa's largest democracy will be choosing their leaders in the general election. 

The presidential election is pitting incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and former military ruler General Muhamadu Buhari.

"In his invitation letter, NDI senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa Dr Christopher Fomunyoh said President Banda’s experience will greatly benefit the NDI delegation as Africa’s most populous nation faces the most competitive election since the transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, " read part of the emailed statement to the media.

Mr Banda will co-lead the NDI delegation with former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, former Niger Prime Minister Mahamadu Danda, former Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and former governor of Colorado Bill Ritter.

The fourth Zambian President has previously led election observation missions to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Sierra Leone under the Carter Center and to Lesotho under the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa.

Tilyenji, Muliokela, Hichilema Declare Themselves Ready For Polls

Tilyenji Kaunda

By Paul Shalala

Opposition UNIP President Tilyenji Kaunda, Poor People's Party President Alex Muliokela and UPND President Hakainde Hichilema are the only presidential aspirants who have so far confirmed their participation in the forthcoming presidential by-election whose date is yet to be announced.

The by-election has been necessitated by the death of President Michael Sata who was yesterday buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka.

Last week, UNIP National Chairman Jonathan Kenani announced that the party's  35th national council committee meeting had resolved to adopt Mr Kaunda for the forthcoming presidential election and the 2016 presidential election.

35th UNIP national council committee

And Mr Muliokela says he is headed for a landslide victory as he has unparalled messages.

Hakainde Hichilema

"Zambia needs a man of my calibre for a President because of my hard work towards reducing poverty," said Mr Muliokela.

And Mr Hichileman in an interview with
journalists at Parliament on Monday after a thanksgiving ceremony for the late president, said he was ready to attempt the presidency for the forth time.

"I'm ready and we are ready as UPND. We will contest this election because we want to give the people a constitution that will avoid wastage of resources by giving the people good laws," he said.

Mr Hichilema contested and lost presidential elections in 2006, 2008 and 2011.

Edgar Lungu

The ruling Patriotic Front is tomorrow expected to convene a Central Committee meeting where issues surrounding the party candidate will be discussed.

PF Secretary General Edgar Lungu has since declared that the PF will stay on despite the death of its founder Michael Sata who led it from inception in 2001.

There are so far opposing views on how the PF will adopt its presidential candidate.

Some members are calling for the Central Committee to do so while others want an urgent General Conference to be convened to allow members to choose their candidate.

"We will not allow cartels and other highest bidders to hijack the PF. This party will stay on because Michael Sata instilled his vision and ideals in us the members," said Lungu during the requiem mass at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka yesterday.

Meanwhile, the former ruling party MMD is still in a deadlock as t who will lead it in the forthcoming polls.

MMD President Dr. Nevers Mumba and former President Rupiah Banda are said to be frontrunners in the battle to lead the party in the presidential by-election.

Nevers Mumba and Rupiah Banda

"We are mourning and its not appropriate for me to comment if am contesting or not. But for those who want to hijack the MMD, we have a strong constitution and no one can hijack it," he said in an interview on Monday.

And Mr Banda also refused to comment over the matter.

"Let us discuss those matters after we bury His Excellency President Michael Sata," said Banda, who led the MMD and the nation from 2008 to 2011..

Meanwhile, several other opposition political parties are not yet certain on who will contest the presidential elections on their respective tickets.

FDD President Edith Nawakwi, who lost the 2011 presidential elections, is reluctant to attach her name to the polls.

Edith Nawakwi

"I can not state whether i will contest or not. It is up to our National Secretary to disclose who is interested or not within our party," said Nawakwi as she smiled.

And ADD's Charles Milupi says his party will on Thursday hold a National Executive Meeting to decide whether to run for elections.

"We will have a National Executive Meeting on Thursday where we will decide whether to run or not. We will also decide who to run if that will be the case," said Milupi, who also lost the presidential vote in 2011.

The National Restoration Party (NAREP) is tomorrow expected to announce whether it will contest the elections or not.


Under Zambia's 1991 constitution as amended in 1996, the country is supposed to hold elections within 90 days of the the office of the President being declared vacant.

With 28th October 2014 being the date President Sata died, Zambia is supposed to hold the elections on or before January 26th, 2015.

Rupiah Banda, Elias Chipimo, NGOs React To President Sata's Death

 Below are statements issued by various Zambians and organisations in reaction to President Michael Sata's death in London last night

 _____________________________________________________

Brothers and Sisters, we find ourselves in mourning today with the devastating news of our President's passing.

Rupiah Banda

Michael Chilufya Sata was more than a public servant. He was a passionate competitor, a man of conviction and determination. He was also a loving son, a husband, a father, and to me, despite everything we have been through, a friend.

Above all, Michael Sata was a Zambian, in body, soul, and spirit.

 In these moments of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the President's family. Though the sadness weighs heavily on your hearts, may God grant you peace, strength, and resolve.

You may count on the support of your fellow countrymen in this difficult time.

It is natural that some people may feel a passionate reaction to this sadness.

But it is most important in this moment to remain calm; to reflect and honour the President with dignity. Others may be unsettled and searching for answers, but we must remain patient and have trust in one another.

 As a country, we have gone through this before, and we made it to the other side because we were united. 

Let this be a time that we set aside the ideas that separate us, and embrace the humanity and dignity that unites us as a country and defines us as a people.

For now, we all mourn and pray for the Sata family, who shall feel our love and compassion. But we will also remain strong, and remember that the darkest hour comes before dawn.

Rupiah Banda

Former President of Zambia

_____________________________________________________

 The Death of our President

Elias Chipimo

Today we mourn the passing of our republican president. Make no mistake about it, whether we voted for him or not, whether we supported or opposed his ideas or style of leadership, he was our president. His parting is a huge loss to our nation and brings to the fore memories of the passing of the late Levy Mwanawasa.

The passing of Mr. Sata comes at a time when we have just commemorated and celebrated our Golden Jubilee. It is a time that will therefore carry with it, bitter-sweet memories in the years to come.

Our immediate concern must be to mourn our departed leader and to console the first family and our nation. This must not be a time to campaign but a time to mourn. This should not be a time for division but a time to heal. There can be no joy in the death of another but only a sense of awareness of our own death and what we each must do while we are alive to make the most of the remaining time allotted to us by our Creator.

Let us reflect the Zambian spirit that shows there is more that unites than separates us. Let us mourn the passing of our president with the sense of dignity and unity befitting the death of a head of state.

Elias C. Chipimo
President
National Restoration Party (NAREP)
29 October 2014

_____________________________________________________

Statement by the Grand Coalition on the passing on of President Michael Sata

Father Leonard Chiti

The Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a new People Driven Constitution in Zambia has learnt with great shock about the passing on of the President of the Republic of Zambia, His Excellency Michael ChilufyaSata.

We would like to express our deepest condolences to his family and the people of Zambia over this loss.

Following the death of President Michael Sata, the Grand Coalition would like to inform the nation that we have cancelled our Press Briefing that was scheduled for tomorrow Thursday 30^th October 2014 at the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) in Lusaka.

Fr. Leonard Chiti

Chairperson, Grand Coalition Campaign for a People Driven Constitution in Zambia
  _____________________________________________________

STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT MR MICHAEL SATA

PRISCCA has received with shock and sadness news on the death of Republican President Michael Chilufya Sata. 

PRISCCA has in the past hailed the late president for his compassion for the less privileged and despised in society and specifically his compassion towards prisoners. He is the only president to have pardoned close to five thousand prisoners using prerogative of mercy in the short time he has been in office. He demonstrated his compassion by releasing deserving prisoners amid attacks from some sections of society who felt prisoners being pardoned were posing a danger to society.

Today, a dark cloud has fallen over the prison community. The prison community mourns because the late president and his administration also demonstrated compassion for the prison community by putting various measures in place to alleviate the suffering of prisoners. It was during his reign that we saw rehabilitation of prisons and also the completion of Mwembeshi Maximum B, Luwingu Prison in Northern Province and others. 

Zambia has indeed lost a gallant leader who will be remembered for many years to come by the prison community.

We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Sata family and Zambia as a whole. Let us put our political affiliations aside and mourn our president in peace. May His Soul Rest in Peace.     

Godfrey Malembeka

Executive Director

Prisons Care and Counselling Association (PRISSCA

 _____________________________________________________

NAREP YOUTH COUNCIL MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCES TO THE FIRST FAMILY, GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA ON THE DEATH OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT MR MICHEAL CHILUFYA SATA

On behalf of the NAREP Youth Council and indeed on my own behalf, may I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Sata family and the nation of Zambia on the death of His Excellency, President Michael Sata. The youths of NAREP stand in solidarity with his family and all Zambians at this sad time.

This is not the time to divide ourselves or start politicking the death of our President but to join the family and the nation to mourn our President. We urge all the youths and all Zambians countrywide to hold hands and Pray for this nation during this difficult time.

May the good Lord bless our Nation.

Issued by:

Frank Sichone

NAREP Secretary for youth and Sports.

29^th October, 2014

   _____________________________________________________

                                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Senior Chief Nsokolo of Mbala has joined the rest of the world and Zambians in mourning President Michael Chilufya Sata, the country’s fifth President who died in London on Tuesday Oct. 28 after an illness.

His Royal Highness has learnt with deep shock over the untimely death of the Zambian leader who he described as a “dedicated leader and a friend” because of constructive interactions the duo had before the demise of the President.

The Mambwe Chiefdom has since sent its heartfelt and deepest condolences to the First Family and indeed Zambians over the death of the President.  He has described President Sata a selfless leader, servant and a person who lived to bettering the welfare of the poor in society.

His Royal Highness has since appealed to the First Family and indeed Zambians to ensure President Sata’s life is celebrated with the honor and respect it deserves particularly that Zambia is just emerging from Celebrating its Jubilee to mark 50 years of independence.

Issued by:

Jeff .S. Kapembwa

Personal Assistant  (PA)

Chief Nsokolo

 _____________________________________________________

Press Statement

29 October 2014

MISA Zambia saddened with death of President Sata

Hellen Mwale

 The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia has learnt with deep sorrow about the death of Zambian President Michael Sata at the time Zambia is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.

 MISA Zambia will remember President Sata for his contribution towards media freedom which included making the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act of 2002 operational and allowing the Zambian media to self-regulate through the Zambian Media Council (ZAMEC).

We convey our deepest condolences to the President’s family as we mourn with the people of Zambia and pray for God’s comfort during this sad period.

 May the soul of our departed President rest in peace.

Hellen Mwale

Chairperson – MISA Zambia

29 October 2014