TopStar digital migration project a scandal – Kambwili
Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili has described the TopStar digital migration project as a scandal.
Kambwili explained that the national signal distributor has failed to deliver to the expectations of the Zambian people, saying it is not serving their interest.
He accused TopStar of commercializing the digital migration project.
“TopStar is a scandal, they are not supposed to be content providers and signal carrier,” Kambwili said.
The former Information and Broadcasting Services Minister stated that Zambians are being exposed to channels that have no value on their lives.
He has since urged TopStar to increase local content on its platform in a bid to grow the country’s film industry and create jobs for the citizenry.
“Now what they are doing is actually exposing the Zambian viewership to things that have no meaning on their livelihoods or their culture,” he explained.
The NDC leader charged that TopStar has only come to milk money using government facilities that where installed at a very high cost, rather than giving Zambians what is important to them.
”How do you expect government spend $281 million, to install digital equipment and only to go and give it to a private entity where they give them 60% and government through ZNBC 40 %, that’s a scandal. So what do you expect from that an arrangement? Obviously they will be biased towards showing what comes from their country of origin. It is very unfortunate and this has stop,” he said.
Kambwili becomes the second stakeholder in less than a week after the Media Owners Association of Zambia (MOAZ) to express his displeasure at the implementation of the digital migration project by TopStar.
On Friday, MOAZ revealed in a statement that a number of licenced local television channels have not yet been switched on by the national signal distributor, a situation it described as “discrimination”.
MOAZ vice-president Evans Banda urged TopStar not to default on its mandate by ensuring that it acts immediately to switch on all licensed local television channels. Banda said MOAZ had been following this matter with keen interest as the digital migration project was implemented to promote national development and pluralism in the media landscape.