Ruling party distances itself from attack on newspaper

Zambia's ruling party, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), on Friday denied that it had authorised any attack on the media, after claims that its supporters had attacked newspaper vendors. "We are committed to a democratic regime and believe in the freedom of the press," MMD spokesman Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika told IRIN. The Post, a privately owned daily newspaper, alleged that supporters of the MMD had attacked its vendors and confiscated copies of the newspaper at its printing plant in the capital, Lusaka, on Wednesday morning. Amos Malupenga, The Post's executive editor, told IRIN that an MMD official had threatened the newspaper on air on the state broadcaster, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, on Tuesday night. However, Mbikusita-Lewanika told IRIN that the party had reprimanded the official. "We have gone on air to announce that we will not condone hooliganism," he said. The Post has been running a campaign for almost a month, calling for the prosecution of a former senior health official, Kashiwa Bulaya, who is alleged to have diverted for his personal use millions of dollars meant for the purchase of antiretrovirals. The newspaper had accused President Levy Mwanawasa and other senior government officials of shielding Bulaya because he had testified in favour of Mwanawasa when his presidency was challenged in the Supreme Court by some opposition parties. Kellys Kaunda, chairman of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in Zambia, has appealed to the MMD leadership to restrain its members from resorting to violence to silence The Post. "If the cadres are incensed by The Post's way of reporting they may go to court, where their grievances will be handled by a body legally constituted to handle disputes. As a party in power, MMD has the responsibility of setting a good example of what it means to be a law-abiding citizen. What they are proposing to do as a way of demonstrating displeasure will breed anarchy in the nation," Kaunda said in a statement. The government has since announced it would prosecute Bulaya.