PRESS STATEMENT
August 9th, 2022 Ndola
The Ndola Press Association -NPA is appalled with the behaviour of protesting bus drivers and their conductors at Ndola’s Mulungushi bus station which has resulted in the injury of one of our Members Ms. Charlotte Sichunda.
It is unfortunate that Sichunda has been injured while performing her noble duty of informing the nation on an important matter.
Ms. Sichunda has since been rushed to Ndola Teaching Hospital for medical attention by officers from the Road Transport and Safety Agency – RTSA who were on the scene, and her camera was secured by ZANIS.
Ms. Sichunda was this morning doing her professional duty covering Copperbelt bus Operators who had run amock with police over the reduced bus fares where our member was caught in the mix and hit with a stone.
It is unfortunate that the drivers and their conductors resorted to throwing stones and among other objects while Minister of Transport and Logistics Frank Tayali was addressing their leadership.
in which one landed on our member who is also an employee of Diamond TV resulting in serious bleeding.
Information reaching is that Ms.Sichunda was not only injured but verbally harassed by some unruly bus drivers conductors.
We want to remind our sources and the general public that Journalists are not harmful but neutral players who will ever be present on such gatherings for theirs is to inform educate and entertain.
It is actually the duty of everyone to protect Journalists as they execute their duties.
Further, we want to call on media houses to invest in the safety of Journalists even as they are deployed to perform their role of informing, educating and entertaining the masses.
We call upon the bus Operators association to term their members and dialogue with relevant stakeholders on the matter rather than resorting to run throwing stones on innocent citizens.
In the same vein, we call upon the police to move in and bring the culprits to book as letting them go Scot free is a threat to free and independent media landscape.
We commend the medical team at Ndola Teaching Hospital for the swift attention given to our member.
An attack on one journalist is an attack on all journalists.
issued by Frank Ching’ambu
NPA President-0968852899
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ABOUT NPA
The Ndola Press Association is an organization of Journalists, Public Relations Practitioners, Professional Photographers and also includes students. The Association is based in Ndola, Copperbelt,.