Media Freedom Under Threat - German Ambassador

German Ambassador to Zambia, Anne Wagner-Mitchel, has called on the Police to provide a safe space in which democracy can be exercised as tensions start to rise ahead of the August 12 general elections.

During the official opening of a practical course in safety and security for journalists, Ms Wagner-Mitchel commented that she had seen the political atmosphere in the country take a negative turn which was threatening the freedom of the media.

Previous peaceful elections gave Ms Wagner-Mitchel some sort of short-term hope for the upcoming general elections on August 12.

“Zambia has a history of multi-party democracy and peaceful elections. But currently, the political atmosphere is very rough and the freedom of the media is under threat,” she said.

Adding to this, she said that “journalists have been intimidated or harassed for doing their job…political cadres have attacked radio stations, threatened them or politicians featuring on their shows and tried to stop radio programmes live on air.”

Ms Wagner-Mitchel comes to the conclusion that such violent actions are a “terrible outcome for democracy.”

Not only are political cadres threatening media outlets, Ms Wagner-Mitchel noticed that government-funded media is not easily accessible to all political parties.

Echoing the words of Hanna Tetteh of the United Nations, the German Ambassador said that it is important that “media should give equitable opportunities for all Zambians.”

To finish, Ms Ms Wagner-Mitchel called on the police to uphold the rule of law within the country.

“I appeal to the Inspector General to convey to all his officers: the role of police is to defend the laws and values of the Republic of Zambia. The police should defend democracy, defend the competition of ideas and provide a safe space in which democracy can be exercised.”

Photo: Anne Wagner-Mitchel Twitter