• ALERT Date: November 15, 2008 Person/institutions: The Post Violation: Other The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) have distanced themselves from UPND’s Gwembe Member of Parliament Brian Ntundu’s call on the government to “sort out” The Post newspaper. MMD party spokesperson Benny Tetamashimba said that the ruling party has got nothing to do with those calling on the government to sort out The Post. And UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma said yesterday said that what the MP said in parliament was his personal view and did not reflect the views of the party and its policy on media freedom. • ALERT Date: November 17, 2008 Person/institutions: Media Violation: Other On November 17, newly appointed Information Minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha promised to look at the pending media laws. According to the report monitored by MISA Zambia on Muvi television on November 17, Shikapwasha said that he was waiting for the list of media laws to be compiled by his Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Nyirenda, for him to commence work on the pending laws. • ALERT Date: November 24, 2008 Person/institutions: Media Violation: Legislation On November 24, MISA Zambia, the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), the Media Council of Zambia (MECOZ), the Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), the Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) and the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post newspaper expressed strong concern over calls by some opposition Members of Parliament to regulate the media through a statutory body. In a press statement signed by the six media organisations and read by MISA Zambia chairperson Henry Kabwe the media associations condemned the calls for such regulation because media freedom and the public’s right to know were the cornerstones of any vibrant democracy and could therefore not be regulated through a statutory body. He said that such regulation would stifle freedom of the media, an important platform on which the Zambian people expressed themselves. • ALERT Date: November 25, 2008 Person/institutions: Media Violation: Threatened/Legislation On November 25, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha said government had no choice but to regulate the media through statutory means because the press had failed to do so. In an interview with the Times of Zambia, Shikapwasha said that the media had proved during the presidential by-election of October 30 that it was incapable of self-regulation. • ALERT Date: November 26, 2008 Person/institutions: Frank Bwalya Violation: Victory On November 26, the Zambia Police dropped charges against Radio Icengelo station manager So This Is Democracy? 2008 -125- Media Institute of Southern Africa