is because Minister of Information and Broadcasting (MIBS) Mutale Nalumango announced on January 16 2005 that government was appealing against the Lusaka High Court ruling. This ruling compelled her to submit to Parliament the names of board members recommended to sit on both the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) boards. These were the names as recommended by the two ad hoc committees appointed under the ZNBC (Amendment) and IBA Acts. On December 23 2004 Lusaka High Court Judge Gregory Phiri ordered the Minister to submit the recommended names to Parliament for ratification and ruled that her decision to veto the names of board members was bad law, irrational and null and void. In passing the said judgment the judge applied the Mischief Rule of Interpretation which states that when interpreting statutes one should try and find in the words or phrases the mischief that Parliament intended to get rid of when passing a particular statute. In this instance the mischief was clearly to minimise government control in the operations of the media. Therefore, in applying this rule in passing judgment Judge Phiri observed that the two pieces of legislation represented a clear and deliberate effort at reform of the law and circumstances that previously existed, and that the two laws were clearly and deliberately aimed at detaching government from direct day-to-day control of both the public as well as private media organisations in the country. In a new development, Information and Broadcasting Services Minster Vernon Mwaanga announced on January 6 2006 that the government is seeking advice from the Attorney General over ratification of names of the two boards Conclusion The essence of press freedom in any country is to ensure that government is accountable to the public and to afford the citizenry greater understanding and participation in the developmental affairs of country. This will only be achieved in Zambia when necessary legislative measures are fully operational. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -130- Media Institute of Southern Africa