GOVT FINDS NO LAW TO HELP HH SAVE CAMNET

GOVT FINDS NO LAW TO HELP HH SAVE CAMNET

By ZR Reporter

We have not found any law upon which to advise President Hakainde Hichilema to halt the termination of CAMNET TV channel from DSTV and GOTV platforms, government discloses.

During a briefing in Lusaka today, Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana recalled that Mrs Victoria Chiluba, during the funeral service of her late husband Pastor Moses Chiluba, called on the Head of State to save CAMNET TV from being terminated from DSTV and GOTV platforms.

He disclosed that following the appeal, the Presdient tasked the Ministry of Information and Media to deal with the matter conclusively.

“The Ministry carried out preliminary inquiries, which revealed that the contention was a contractual matter between CAMNET TV and MultiChoice Africa Holdings, an international company domiciled in South Africa,” he said.

“Consequently, the Ministry reported the matter to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for investigation and recommendation.”

“After a thorough investigation, which included meetings with CAMNET TV and MultiChoice Africa Holdings representatives, the CCPC has confirmed that the decision by MultiChoice Africa Holdings to discontinue carriage of CAMNET TV on their DSTV and GOTV platforms is purely contractual and that there was no evidence to support any anti-competitive trading practices by MultiChoice Africa Holdings in the pay television market.”

He said according to the findings by the CCPC, CAMNET TV consistently failed to meet the agreed-upon performance standards outlined in the Channel Distribution Agreement (CDA), specifically regarding feed availability and on-air hours, which led to concerns by MultiChoice Africa Holdings about equipment damage and a decline in service quality.

Mr Kawana said the Ministry notes from the CCPC Report that MultiChoice Africa Holdings repeatedly communicated these performance concerns to CAMNET TV station and the issues remained unresolved for years.
“In view of the foregoing, the Ministry has found no legal comfort to advise His Excellency the President to halt the termination of CAMNET TV channel from DSTV and GOTV platforms,” he said.

“In the alternative, we advise CAMNET TV to either negotiate a revised contract or explore the option of using other service providers such as TopStar and Muvi TV.”