By Charles Chisala
WHEN they fail to do their job, the media steps in and plays its role as the Fourth Estate. How does the press check the failures, excesses and abuses of the three arms of government?
The private media can be a useful partner of the government if it is allowed to play its role as part of the Fourth Estate. The unearthing of numerous corruption scandals under different administrations has given even more weight to this truism. Where the media and the government recognize, accept and respect the role of each other, they become good partners in governance and national development. The people are the ultimate beneficiaries.
The continued exposure of corruption scandals and wanton looting of public resources by some individuals and cartels, as well as the remedial measures that government has instituted in response have proved once again that a critical and vigilant media that is independent from external influences is an asset to the the nation.
The scandals would have been swept under the carpet by the perpetrators, their accomplices and sponsors, and the ultimate loser would have been the poor citizen in Kansuswa Township in Mufulira, Kalikiliki Township in Lusaka or the villager in Mufumbwe District.
In recent months Zambia’s private media outlets as well as social media have been providing the public with glimpses of the alarming impunity with which some public officers and government officials, some quite senior, have been sharing huge kickbacks and dipping their long fingers in the state’s bow of broth in the last and current administrations.
This for the sole purpose of corruptly awarding themselves huge government contracts using proxies and hastily incorporated companies without following the public procurement regulation. The media has been exposing how, using relatives, friends and fellow political party members as willing fronts, some public officers in successive governments have been amassing wealth through all kinds of shady deals negotiated and sealed in dark corners with fellow equally corrupt Zambians and foreigners.
The sensational exposures moved President Hakainde Hichilema to warn public workers to put the interests of the people first. Indeed, Government has a lot of legacy and new dirt to clean up in the civil and public service. The private media can help achieve that by doing what it has lately been doing – exposing official corruption. The greed of some holders of public office entrusted to manage the affairs and resources of the nation has the potential to hamper or derail the implementation of economic development programmes, poverty reduction and social protection programmes.
It is the government that will, unfortunately, shoulder the blame.
This is where the role of an independent media becomes important. It must constantly watch out and quickly expose any abuse, misuse or theft of public resources, abuse of office and violation of human rights so that the authorities can institute remedial measures to protect the public good. Lately, the private media, both print and electronic, has boldly stepped in to help government protect the public interest, albeit not without challenges. There has been backlash from the same government it is meant to benefit and the perpetrators. Journalists and media outlets have often suffered retribution. The weak and greedy have faltered along the way and have either curled into silence or joined the gravy party.
But a section of the private media and some brave individual journalists are generally proving to be the real protectors and defenders of the public good.
Although this, as stated, has often come with the expected backlash from those who would like to keep the rot under the carpet, away from the hazy eyes of members of the public, who are the same tax payers they are robbing, the private newspapers, radio stations, television stations and online publications have stood their ground.
When the three arms of government – the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary – crumble under the heavy, oversize boot of political or corporate capture and therefore fail to perform their constitutional mandates on behalf of citizens; when these institutions of governance fail to observe and uphold the separation of powers and surrender their independence to one of them such as the Executive instead, there’s no one to check this arm of government on behave of citizens. Impunity and arrogance take over. It’s the citizens who suffer the consequences.
This is when the media steps into the gap. It begins holding all the three arms of government to account on behalf of the people. In short, the media becomes the fourth, albeit unofficial, arm of government by casting the spotlight on their wrongs. That is why it is referred to as the ‘Fourth Estate’.
As the country gets nearer the 2026 elections, this role will become even more visible and louder. It’s a matter for close observation by media watchers, trainers, scholars and pundits on the role of an independent private media in a fragile democracy like Zambia.
The State, including the Presidency, benefits when the media vigilantly and courageously exposes corruption, abuse of office, looting of national resources and violation of human rights. That is its rightful role. There should be no bad blood between the two camps.
A strong, independent and courageous private media is an asset to the nation as can be seen from the way it has in many cases helped government to address misconduct among its officers and constitutional office holders. Conversely, a timid, corrupt, compromised and conformist media that only sings praises for the same powerful people and institutions it is expected to put under constant surveillance and hold accountable is as useless to the society in which it exists and operates as a deflated tyre is to a motor vehicle.
It would therefore be a humongous tragedy if respected privately owned television channels, radio stations, newspapers as well as online publications shirked their noble role of the Fourth Estate and joined government-owned media outlets in parroting official government and ruling party positions and narratives on national issues such as governance, service delivery, economic management/mismanagement, human rights and corruption.
The private media is expected to be an effective partner of government by relentlessly and impartially digging out the dirt from under the carpet, where corrupt authorities and political leaders always want it to remain, and expose it to the public. That is how a critical, independent media supplements the efforts of opposition political parties, governance activists, pressure groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) in holding those in power accountable in a functional constitutional democracy.
The relationship that should exist between government and the private media can be summed up in the words of South African born international stand-up super star comedian Trevor Noah at a White House banquette Hosted by President Joe Biden in the United States on May 1, 2022.
Noah said, “The independent media can be irritating, but it’s a necessary evil because it provides extra checks and balances as the Fourth Estate for the benefit of the people.”
True. Where a truly independent and critical private media is absent, fissures emerge in the structured flow of information between the leaders and the governed. When citizens are starved of a diversity of sources of information for them to make well-informed choices and decisions, speculation, half-truths and outright lies take over. The information gap could potentially portend disaster for the nation. For without a truly independent media there cannot be democracy. Where there is no democracy, there is no freedom, where there is no freedom there is no peace, where there is no peace there is no development and where there is no development society perishes.
Charles Chisala is a senior journalist and communication consultant.
