6.2 Alerts and Communiques Communiqué-7th April (ZNBC) United Party for National Development (UPND) Deputy Secretary General Patrick Mucheleka accused the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) of abusing state-owned; Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) on a daily basis to parade huge numbers of fake defections from UPND. In a statement released to the media, Mr. Mucheleka further accused the ruling party of blocking the opposition from holding meetings while allowing PF members to continue campaigning. Communiqué-8th April (News Diggers) LUSAKA Chief Resident Magistrate Lameck Mwale found Chishimba Kambwili with a case to answer in a matter he was being charged with defamation of the President in relation to his remarks. Communiqué-14th April (KBN TV) MISA Zambia received a report from KBN in which the office of the Inspector General of police was requesting for video footage which was aired on Tuesday 13th April, 2021 in which alleged PF cadres harassed a civil servant, threatening violence on suspicion that the victim was a UPND supporter. The matter was followed up with KBN TV station manager Joe Simata who confirmed the incident to be true and that they had given police the said footage. However, he said the alleged cadres invited KBN to cover the harassment of the civil servant whom they accused of working against the government of the day. Alert-14th April (News Diggers) MAZABUKA Central UPND Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo said News Diggers Media Limited had demonstrated the importance of investigative journalism in the country and has set benchmarks for the industry. Debating on the report of the Committee on media, information and communication technologies, Nkombo said the government should provide a platform for investigative journalism to flourish so that the country can benefit from this type of journalism. Communiqué-15th April (Daily Mail) The executive should speed up the process of enacting the Access to Information bill to enable journalists to easily write stories that can benefit the public, Parliament heard on Tuesday. Chifubu member of Parliament (MP) Frank Ng’ambi Said the piece of legislation will allow journalists to freely undertake investigative reporting Dr.Ng’ambi said this when he moved a motion to enable the house adopt the report of the committee on Media, Information and Communication Technologies. “The bill will make it easy for journalists to get information from Public officers. It will also enable the public to have easy access to information.” Dr. Ng’ambi said. Communiqué-15th April (Daily Mail) Elections should not be synonymous with violence, so journalists should be given space to tell the story as they see it professionally at any given time. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya said reporters should be allowed to operate in a free environment as the country prepares for the August 12 elections. Ms. Siliya, is who is also government spokesperson has since reaffirmed government commitment State of the Media in Zambia 23