Lusaka, September 14, 2017—Catholic Media Services (CMS) of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) is deeply saddened and grieved with the death of Zambia Daily Mail Journalist Sithembile Siwawa Zulu.
It is a great loss to the media fraternity here in Zambia. We at Catholic Media Services mourn the loss especially that she once worked at our radio station; Yatsani radio now Radio Maria Yatsani Voice. We send our heartfelt condolences to the grieved husband and family for this great loss of a young life.

As the Catholic Church Media, we commend the government that it has instituted investigations in what led to her death after giving birth.

We are however, concerned, that maternal death continues to take our mothers’ lives even when access to medical services especially during prenatal and post-natal times is available.
We therefore appeal to the Ministry of Health to consider investigating all cases of maternal deaths that have gone unreported or even receive a hashtag in the media.

This is the right opportunity for the government to address the many challenges that expectant mothers face as they give life.

For journalists, the development such as this should also be a wakeup call to take serious interest in investigating and reporting community issues besides politics and entertainment.

This should propel journalists not only to report speeches from the powers that be but also give a voice to those that receive services such as health and how it is offered to them.
Issued by Rev. Fr. Winfield Kunda, CMS Executive Director & ZCCB Communications Director