The Editor Zambia
The latest controversy surrounding the Non-Governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) and its call for President Hakainde Hichilema to apologise to Gary Nkombo illustrates how one NGOCC board chairperson Beauty Katebe, a known opposition supporter and Bemba tribalist has chosen to ride on the purported beef between the president and Nkombo to advance her poisoned agenda.
At the centre of the debate is not what the President said during campaign rallies but on how advocacy organisations leaders like Ms. Katebe frame public issues to serve their own selfish interests hinged on personal hatred attacks and hegemonic tribalism. 
According to the one man show statement of Ms. Katebe using the NGOCC, family members who are not contestants in an election should not become subjects of political attacks.
Someone who has not followed Ms. Katebe’s political rantings against the UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema would swallow such ‘concerns’ as being centred on protecting the image of women.
But we have documented NGOCC’s political involvement under Beauty Katebe, who has presented herself as though she is a member of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance being blatantly against President Hichilema and UPND government.
Her shameless selective advocacy has already demonstrated her political alignment to Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance using the NGOCC platform.
Again, we are imploring the Lusaka Times, where the article appeared that the reporting of the story also deserves examination.
The article largely reproduces NGOCC’s statements and demands without providing substantial context surrounding the President’s remarks.
Readers are informed that President Hichilema referred to Gary Nkombo as a “traitor” and “sellout” during campaign rallies, but little explanation is offered regarding the broader political dispute that gave rise to those comments or the precise references to Nkombo’s mother.
In any case, the misinterpreted reference does not amount to insulting. On Tonga, it’s a daring term used against someone who may have wronged you.
Nkombo himself has remained silent on this reference because he understands the meaning.
Lusaka Times should also know that the comments were coming from a typical well- known political agitator and die-hard tribal hegemonic hater of President Hichilema.
What Katebe and the Lusaka Times should understand is that balanced reporting benefits from presenting sufficient context to enable readers to assess competing claims.
Without that context, audiences may struggle to distinguish between factual reporting and the framing advanced by one party to the dispute.
Another notable aspect is the repeated use of emotionally charged language. Descriptions such as “political violence against women,” “soft targets,” and “safety risks” carry significant moral and legal weight.
Such terms may accurately describe some situations, but they also require careful explanation because they can influence public perception beyond the specific facts under discussion.
Journalistic practice generally distinguishes between reporting allegations and establishing facts. In election periods, especially, language should be attributed clearly to those making the claims rather than presented in a manner that could be interpreted as established reality.
The timing of the statement is also politically significant. With only weeks remaining before polling day, virtually every intervention by influential organisations is likely to be viewed through a political lens.
This is where Beauty Katebe’s statement unfortunately falls.
Civil society organisations like NGOCC under one Ms. Katebe have already become part of the campaign narrative of the opposition, especially the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and its regionalised support base.
One can make this acute conclusion because their so- called interventions that are highly masked focus on one issue while other contentious gender issues receive comparatively less attention.
The article concludes by describing NGOCC under Ms. Katebe, as a “consistent voice on political conduct throughout the campaign period and little or nothing on real gender issues.”
Readers may reasonably evaluate consistency differently depending on the full record of NGOCC’s public interventions during the election campaign.
Advocacy organisations strengthen their credibility when they apply the same standards regardless of which political actor is involved.
Our good lady fails lamentably in this area since she has been on the warpath against the UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema for her own personal considerations that have nothing to do with gender issues.
As election campaigns intensify, public confidence will depend not only on the conduct of politicians but also on the impartiality of civil society organisations like NGOCC, which under Ms. Katebe has lost all its credibility.
