STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA as the Station, despite having its license cancelled remained private property and there was no record of any criminal case against the station. Such action, therefore, seemed to suggest heavy handedness and bad faith on the part of government. Several stakeholders, such as the Human Rights Commission and the Law Association of Zambia questioned the treatment accorded to Prime Television, with the Law Association of Zambia issuing the following statement30: The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) is deeply saddened and gravely perturbed by the cancellation of Prime Television’s (Prime TV) broadcasting licence by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) on 9th April 2020. In the Press Release issued by the IBA on the said date, the IBA stated that the cancellation of the licence was done in ‘Public Interest’ pursuant to section 29 (1) (j) and (k) of the Independent Broadcasting (Amendment) Act No. 26 of 2010 ( the ‘IBA Act’), which stipulates that the Board may cancel a broadcasting licence if, ‘the cancellation of the licence is necessary in the interest of public safety, security, peace, welfare or good order’ or ‘the Board considers it appropriate in the circumstances of the case to do so.’ Although the IBA has discretionary powers to cancel any licence that it issues under the IBA Act, LAZ notes that in its Press Release, the IBA did not go further to explain to the public, in whose interest the decision was professedly taken, the basis of the decision, the security and peace concerns as well as other circumstances in issue and whether the IBA itself had complied with the entire provisions of section 29 of the IBA Act, which stipulates this in section 29 (2)31 Other trends worth noting in the socio-political and legal environment in the second quarter include attacks, harassment and threats of violence on media houses perpetrated by political cadres. Among some of the prominent attacks were those recorded on Mpika, Muchinga and Isoka FM Radio stations. The stations featured UPND President, Hakainde Hichilema on phone interviews 30 31 Quoted in excerpt See https://www.themastonline.com/2020/04/12/laz-questions-iba-police-action-on-prime-tv/ pg. 29