We have noted with interest a recent media release signed by one Nlayidzi Force Gambule registering a concern about recent media reports carried by local newspapers.
Gambule’s concerns, he alleges, are precipitated by articles carried by various media houses alleging cases of corruption being investigated by the Directorate on Corruption ad Economic Crime (DCEC).
He was particularly irked by the reality that the concerned media houses had revealed “damaging and sensitive information implicating members of the society and purporting to be emanating from the DCEC.” He further decried that the said articles are not only “wreaking reputational and integrity of the operations of the DCEC.”
We can only hasten to remind Gambule that in its quest to fulfill its duties on the public’s right to know, the media always does its very best to send enquiries to the parties involved including the DCEC public relations office which for the longest time has failed in its duty of ensuring that enquiries are responded to timeously. Our newsroom has sent many enquiries to the DCEC and Gambule and his team would at best only confirm receipt of the enquiries without any action. Your concerns about the media coverage of alleged corruption investigations against former president Ian Khama, his brothers and the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) amongst others, are cases that we are aware you are investigating. As the media industry, we don’t report cases with malicious intent, as we have a duty to inform the public whose interest drives us in the execution of our duties. We urge the DCEC to partner with us rather than just wholesalely condemn us and threaten to take us to task for our reports. Remember, a threat to the media is a threat to democracy. Help us perform our functions efficiently by responding to our questionnaires fully cognisent of the fact that we do it for the public good and it’s not self-serving at all. For the umpteenth time, we want to remind the DCEC that the media should not be misconstrued as enemies of the State in a Republic served by a government with a human rights slant. At best, the media can only be regarded as a partner and a vehicle that the DCEC can use to disseminate pertinent anti-corruption messages.
The DCEC public relations office has a duty to serve the public as a public office. It has to execute its functions with diligence and without unnecessary delays, which have become a common worry. We also urge you to provide answers to our enquiries and end the adversarial tendencies that tend to defeat the purpose of the existence of the office the DCEC. The DCEC should strive to work closely with the media rather than issue threats to media practitioners. We are alive to the DCEC Act, which is not media friendly.
“When you’re not doing good, theworld’s going to be against you.”– Miguel Cabrera
