NGOCC PROUD OF MAST NEWSPAPERS WORK

Speaking when she paid a courtesy call on The Mast Newspapers in Lusaka this morning, Ms Mwale encouraged the employees not to give up on their work.

“We took up this opportunity to simply come and pay a courtesy call on you. First and foremost we would like to congratulate you for this responsibility and of course we recognise that you (Ms Kayongo) are coming in at a very difficult time…the civil space is being constrained, there are also a lot of things happening on the political landscape. But we recognise your ability and we wish to extend our commitment. We will support you as an organisation. We appreciate that despite the difficult circumstances, we have continued to receive tremendous support from The Mast in terms of our work as NGOCC,” Ms Mwale said.

“We greatly appreciate your support…we also came to appreciate how you are settling down, how things are recognising that the media has not been spared from the heavy political hand out there. We came so that we could just encourage you to continue with the good work that you are doing. We also recognise that we cannot do our work effectively without the support of the media. We have enjoyed a cordial relationship with The Mast this far. This is something that we will always be proud to indicate out there because there is so much we are doing together. We would also like to acknowledge that despite everything that has happened, we are still working well with The Mast. You have never stopped supporting our cause as NGOCC.”

And The Mast Newspapers Chief Executive Officer Likezo Kayongo said the newspaper will continue speaking for the marginalised in society.

“Everyone here has the energy to work. If we say we give up today….where will this country go? People out there are looking up to us…we cannot disappoint them. We just have to do what we can to survive. It’s not about money but about hard work. We have a good team which is dedicated,” said Ms Kayongo.

Meanwhile The Mast Newspapers Editor-in-Chief Larry Moonze thanked NGOCC for the support the organisation has been giving the newspaper.

“We are happy that you came to visit us. We would also like to thank you for the support you have been giving us. We greatly appreciate the good relationship we have with NGOCC,” said Mr Moonze.