STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA 3.1.2. Socio-political and Legal Environment in the first Quarter Of note in the first quarter were the suspected ritual killings that rocked the Copper Belt town of Chingola, leading to violent protests from residents owing to supposed inaction and failure to bring the vice to a halt. The unrest degenerated to looting and attacks on foreign nationals who were suspected to be behind the spate of killings16. This prompted the government to dispatch soldiers to help police in quelling the riots which also spread to other provinces. The impact of this situation is the danger of the media being caught in the crossfire caused by the tension and security instability, which is often used as an excuse to prevent the enjoyment of freedom of expression and of the media. This is arising from the existence of many laws inimical to the press in the statute books, among them sedition, public order, state security and criminal defamation, among others17. This was witnessed in the unrest caused by the suspected ritual killings when police arrested a prominent clergy man, Bishop Joseph Kazhila while live on Chingola’s Kokoliko Radio to discuss the said killings. Such a move has the potential to impose (self) censorship on the journalists and media houses as they do not wish to be caught in the web of the law both with law enforcement agencies and media regulatory bodies. Interruption of live broadcasts is in itself an affront on media freedoms and the media’s editorial independence. This was further against the backdrop of failure by authorities to release information to the public and the media on details pertaining to headways made regarding the suspected ritual killings. This inhibited the work of the media in disseminating information and fulfilling their function as a proverbial conveyor belt that relays information to the public. The media should be seen as partners in information dissemination and management of such civil unrest, to avoid misinformation and speculation. On this, SACCORD issued a statement advising government to improve on information dissemination particularly in relation to the ritual killing incidents, stating that: We make a strong appeal to the Zambia Police Service to give daily updates to the citizens in Chingola on what is happening. Citizens in the 16 17 https://www.lusakatimes.com/2020/01/09/chingola-residents-riot-over-ritual-killings/ Chanda and Liswaniso (1999), Ndawana (2016) pg. 19