• ALERT Date: October 18, 2008 Person/institutions: ZNC and Muvi TV reporters Violation: Beaten On October 18, ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) supporters beat up reporters from Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) television and Muvi Television. The supporters undertook a solidarity march in favour of their presidential candidate, Rupiah Banda. • ALERT Date: October 20, 2008 Person/institutions: Solwezi FCC Radio Violation: Threatened On October 20, James Kapita, provincial chairperson of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in Zambia’s North Western province, instructed Solwezi FCC community radio station programmes manager to stop running political adverts for opposition parties and threatened to revoke its license once the ruling party won the presidential by-election. Station manager John Kamwanga said in a statement dated October 21 and emailed to MISA-Zambia and later in a telephone interview on October 27 that Kapita called the radio station claiming that he had received instructions from the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mike Mulongoti, not to allow any political advertisements and programmes on the station. Kamwanga said that Kapita, who was speaking over the phone, started issuing threats when he was asked to produce the letter from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to back his claims. Kapita accused the radio station of turning down MMD political adverts. The station however explained that MMDs Benny Teatamashimba collected quotations from the station on October 16 and never came back to pay and book airtime. • COMMUNIQUÉ Date: October 22, 2008 Person/institutions: ZNBC Violation: Other The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) says it temporarily withdrew Patriotic Front (PF) political adverts from television because the party violated the terms of contract by not remitting payments, The Watchdog, a Zambian online publication, reported on October 22. ZNBC Public Relations Manager Mirriam Tonga says other political parties except the PF had paid for their political adverts as of last week. Tonga told ZNBC news in Lusaka that the PF only made part payments to date, despite several reminders. She said ZNBC had resumed airing PF’s political advert following the advancement of payments. PF President Michael Sata was quoted by The Post newspaper threatening to take legal action against ZNBC for not airing his party’s political adverts. • ALERT Date: October 30, 2008 Person/institutions: Mutuna Chanda Violation: Banned/Threatened On October 28, Mutuna Chanda, a reporter with The Post newspaper, was ejected from the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) campaign rally in Kitwe, a town in the Copperbelt province of Zambia. Party supporters told him they did not want the newspaper at the rally. According to a report by The Post on October 30, Chanda was forced out of Freedom Park, the venue of the rally, by threatening supporters who accused The Post of reporting lies about their presidential candidate. Chanda was saved from being beating outside the campaign venue through the intervention of the police and other MMD supporters. So This Is Democracy? 2008 -123- Media Institute of Southern Africa