3.3.1 ATI law progress Side by side with the general elections held on the 11th August 2016, the country also held a national referendum on the enhancement to the Bill of Rights. This was perhaps the one most important opportunity for the ATI process to receive a huge boost since part of the Bill of Rights contained articles that would have enshrined press freedom and access to information in the constitution of the land. Article 23 was of the Bill of Rights draft is particularly progressive towards the attainment of a free media devoid of government interference as quoted below; Freedom of media 23. (1) Subject to clause (3), the freedom and independence of electronic, broadcasting, print and other forms of media is guaranteed. (2) The State shall not exercise control over or interfere with a person engaged in – (a) broadcasting or the production or circulation of publications; or (b) the dissemination of information through any media. (3) The State may license broadcasting and other electronic media where it is necessary to regulate signals and signal distribution. (4) Public media shall(a) independently determine the editorial content of their broadcasts or communications; and (b) afford fair opportunity for the presentation of divergent views and dissenting opinions. But, with the holding of the referendum and its abysmal performance and suffering a devastating No vote, the hopes of a truly free press, one that would be enshrined and protected under the most sacred part of the supreme law of the land, were almost certainly dashed, at least for the foreseeable future. This effectively meant such a progressive bill remains on paper, without effect, forcing several interested stakeholders to come up with alternative modalities to ensure that such pieces of legislation are not allowed to gather dust on the shelves and eventually suffer a natural death. Is it feasible, only time will tell? The hope of every ATI and press freedom advocate is that there should be other ways to have these pieces of legislation to find themselves in the statute books. In the same light, Airtel Zambia observed that access to information and other fundamental freedoms were essential for society to forge ahead in the pursuit of development. Speaking at an ICT and New Media workshop in Kitwe, Airtel Zambia head of corporate communications and government relations Yuyo Kambiambi expressed optimism that more people would have access to important information critical to decision making further noting that ICT and new media were now considered a necessity as opposed to a luxury. This is because without media, people in societies would be isolated, not only from the world but also from their own governments, lawmakers and other decision makers. 19