Metro

Chinsali youth highlights challenges facing freelance journalists in rural Zambia

Published

2 weeks ago

June 11, 2024

Catherine Chansa, a youth from Chinsali District, has highlighted that limited resources were hindering journalists, especially freelancers, from fully utilising media freedoms.

Chansa pointed out that journalists, particularly those in rural areas, struggle to obtain adequate information to support their stories due to resource constraints.

Adding her voice to the debate on media freedom and the Cyber Security Act, Chansa told Zambia Monitor that harassment from those in authority was another significant challenge journalists faced in their line of duty.

“Many times, when a journalist writes a story critical of the government, they are followed, intimidated, and threatened with the closure of their media houses,” she said.

Chansa stated that although media freedom exists in the country, governments tended to exclude journalists and media houses from state functions for being critical or publishing stories that do not align with them.

Additionally, Chansa noted that limited resources and harassment from government officials had led the mainstream media to neglect coverage of marginalised groups, particularly in remote areas.

“The mainstream media does not effectively cover far-flung areas but concentrates on urban centers where information is more easily accessible, often due to better road infrastructure, which is not the case in rural areas,” she said.

Regarding laws regulating the activities of journalists, Chansa expressed the view that existing laws were insufficient to protect them and that the government should continuously refine or develop laws to ensure full protection for journalists.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

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Metro

24 killed, thousands displaced by flooding, landslides in Ivory Coast

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Isaac Dachen

At least 24 people have been confirmed killed while thousands of others have been displaced following devastating flooding and landslides in Ivory Coast’s largest city of Abidjan.

A statement on Tuesday by the National Office for Civil Protection (ONPC), said that the disaster came as a result of a week of heavy rains which were four times the usual volume in some cases.

The ONPC reported that the 24 deaths were as a result of “torrential rains from Thursday 13 to Saturday 22 June”, and warned of the risk of collapsed buildings.

“Two more people were missing after being swept away by the waters”, the ONPC statement added.

In a fresh update on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said the eight people had died after the exceptionally heavy downpours.

“In the commune of Yopougon, Sodexam recorded 214 millimetres (8.4 inches) of rain in a day. The normal level is 50 millimetres (two inches),” it said.

According to the Ivorian Meteorological Agency (IMA) which also gave an update, the recent rainfall was particularly violent with more than 200 millimeters (8 inches) in some districts, four times the usual amount in a day.

“Informal settlements are particularly vulnerable because of poor storm drainage among homes often built quickly without zoning regulations.

“The flooding and landslides have also caused significant damage across the city, flooding houses and roads,” the Ivory Coast National Office for Civil Protection said in a report.

“At least 271 people who were trapped after the rains have been successfully rescued,” it said.

Metro

Mininum Wage Saga: ‘Be patient with Tinubu’, Presidency begs Nigerian workers

Published

13 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerian Presidency has, once again, pleaded with citizens to be patient with the President Bola Tinubu administration and avoid piling unnecessary pressure on it as it is working round the clock to transmit the proposed bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly once it is ready.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, who made the appeal on Monday, gave the assurance following a warning by the Organised Labour to the President not to send the minimun wage bill to the National Assembly without consulting and reaching an agreement with its leadership.

In a statement on Sunday, the labour leaders had alleged that there were plans by Tinubu to transmit the bill to the Assembly without the government and the unions reaching a compromise, and urged the President to resist the temptation of doing so without adequate consultations.

But while responding to the allegations by labour, Onanuga, in an interview with journalists on Monday, wondered what the rush for the transmission of the bill was all about.

He had earlier lampooned the labour leaders over their stance on its demand for N250,000 as minimum wage, asserting that the demanded by the workers’ union was unreasonable and unsustainable, warning that the Federal Government cannot channeled all its resources to meet such demand.

While admitting that he had no knowledge of the date for submission, he pleaded for more time.

“People should be patient,” he stated. “The President is working round the clock to ensure that the bill is ready and would be transmitted to the National Assembly in due course,” he added.