(MISA/IFEX) – On 4 October 2000, Zambia’s Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Newsted Zimba named a thirteen-member team, dominated by civil servants, to serve on the country’s Film Censorship Board. The board is headed by Zimba’s permanent secretary, Susan Sikaneta, as chairperson, and her deputy as vice-chairperson. Other board members include a press secretary from […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 4 October 2000, Zambia’s Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Newsted Zimba named a thirteen-member team, dominated by civil servants, to serve on the country’s Film Censorship Board.
The board is headed by Zimba’s permanent secretary, Susan Sikaneta, as chairperson, and her deputy as vice-chairperson. Other board members include a press secretary from the Ministry of Information, a senior police officer, a senior government lawyer, a member of the country’s human rights commission, a deputy director of cultural services, two representatives from Christian broadcasting organisations, one from the state-owned broadcaster, one private broadcaster, one from a Christian church organisation, and a management consultant.
The appointments, which were gazetted in April, have been criticised by two of the country’s main journalism associations.
In a statement, the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA) rejected the new board as “unnecessary”. ZIMA Chairman Masautso Phiri especially criticised the lack of transparency and consultation in the appointment process. “We note that the board of thirteen is not reflective of the general public because the majority of members (eight) are government functionaries and three are from religious organisations… How did the minister arrive at this? What consultation was made before the appointments were made?” he said.
Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) President Hicks Sikazwe said in an interview with ZIMA that PAZA was against any form of censorship because people must be given the right to choose what they want to view.
However, Sikaneta defended the appointments in an interview, saying they were made according to the provisions of the Theatres and Cinematograph Exhibition Act, which allows the minister to appoint members of the Film Censorship Board. She said it was inevitable that government officials should initially dominate the board because the state was responsible for film classification. “Government does not restrain access to films in a liberalised media industry but must be concerned about what is shown to the public,” she said.
In his statement, Minister Zimba said all film houses and video libraries were required to submit to the Film Censorship Board films for classification with appropriate categories, as is the system in other countries. “This is done to ensure that the right audience, in terms of age groups, is exposed to suitable films,” he said.
However, in January, a government appointed “Task Force on Media Law Reforms” recommended the replacement of the Film Censorship Board with a Film Classification Board. When asked to comment on this, Sikaneta said the only difference between the two was in the name.
