PF Cadres Verbally Abuse Journalists
Patriotic Front cadres in Kitwe have verbally attacked the Mast Newspaper's correspondent Marilyn Rose for exposing President Edgar Lungu’s Uubomba Mwibala alya mwibala statement made during the Meet the President Dinner in over two weeks ago.
Rose had quoted the head of state using the idiom but had no idea she was on the wanted list.
The unruly PF cadres in full view of District Youth Chairman Kaboba Mukhuzo and other senior members verbally attacked the reporter with all manner of insults.
“I was covering Presidential Affairs Minister Freedom Sikazwe at the Kitwe City Council and after the assignment was done I just saw a group cadres coming towards me shouting on top of their voices that I was the one, when I looked around, they started insulting me and threatened me never to cover assignments organized by the PF because of the story I wrote,” the traumatized reporter narrated.
“This is the same girl who wrote that story, she was very foolish, we will not allow such bad writing, from today onwards you should stop covering PF organized programs” the PF cadres said.
And the Northern Region Media Club(NORMEC) has condemned the verbal attacks on the reporter.
NORMEC Secretary Clinton Masumba said it was disappointing that the cadres attacked the Journalist while some senior Members of the PF looked on.
“The Reporter was verbally attacked following her article that appeared in the Mast Newspaper on 12th February, 2018 headlined “YOU CAN ‘STEAL’…but tabatila kulya nembuto kumo – Lungu”, in which the head of state used the idiom “ubomba mwibala alya mwibala, tabatila kulya nembuto kumo.
“The incident happened when the unruly PF cadres spotted the Reporter after she covered Presidential Affairs Minister Freedom Sikazwe who was addressing Marketeers and accompanied by National Planning Minister Alexander Chiteme and Copperbelt Minister Japhen Mwakalombe at the Kitwe City Council,” Masumba said.
He said such attacks on media practitioners are an affront to freedom of the press in the country.
“NORMEC is alarmed with the abusive language used against the reporter such as “we will deal with you where ever we will find you like the way prostitutes are harassed” and threatened her from covering assignments organised by the Patriotic Front. It must be made clear that without media coverage, public events will have very little impact on the intended audience as the involved will not be able to deliver its messages to a wider audience,” he added
Masumba has further appealed to the Patriotic Front leadership through Christopher Kang’ombe, the District Chairperson to tame PF cadres that have no respect for other professionals.