N early 17 years after the re-introduction of political pluralism in Zambia, the media landscape is still fraught with numerous legal pitfalls which impact negatively on press freedom and freedom of expression in general. The reason is simple: Although the country embraced multi-party democracy in 1991, there have been no concomitant changes to the legal regime to buttress the new democratic culture. In order to facilitate the transition from single party rule to multi-party democracy, the then Republican president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda succumbed to public pressure and allowed the Parliament to remove Article Four of the Republican Constitution, which proscribed the formation of opposition political parties. That change, effected in December 1990, still remains one of the most significant legal reforms undertaken so far. Following the historic multi-party elections in 1991, the public had expected the new government to repeal repressive laws that had characterized the single-party era of 18 years. But so far, only two progressive pieces of legislation aimed at enhancing media freedom have been enacted - the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Amendment Act (number 20) of 2002 and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Amendment Act (number 17) of 2002. Worst still, these Acts are yet to be implemented fully. The process was delayed by a long legal battle between the Government and media over interpretation of the key provision on whether or not the Minister of Information should continue to have a say in the selection of Board members of the IBA and ZNBC. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Government. The Minister has yet to take the proposed names of Board members to Parliament for ratification. After ratification, the Boards are expected to operate independently, thereby enhancing the degree of editorial independence to be enjoyed by the national broadcaster. The MMD government has procrastinated constitutional reforms, resulting in no significant changes to the county’s legal regime over the last 16 years. Against this backdrop, the media faces daunting challenges in its operations. Journalists are subjected to crude threats and other forms of intimidation mainly by the ruling political elite determined to silence all critical voices who challenge the status quo. However, as the year 2007 drew to a close, the constitutional reform process appeared to gather momentum with the commencement of sittings of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in December. The NCC will scrutinize and debate the report and draft constitution of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) and adopt the final recommendations to be enacted into law by the Parliament. If partisan politicking does not polarize the constitutional conference, and the delegates refrain from trivializing the serious issues, the NCC could change the course of the whole reform process that has in the past been derailed by political expediency. Media-Government Relationship As in previous years, acrimony continued to characterize the media-Government relationship in 2007, with the latter intensifying its attacks on media institutions, particularly those that are privately owned. By far the most damning statement was made by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mike Mulongoti, in his address to trainee journalists at the Post newspaper, the only privately-owned national daily. In his speech on September 10, 2007, Mulongoti said it would be “unacceptable” for journalists working for public media to criticise the Government. Mulongoti, who has since been criticised by the media and civil society for his statement, said: So This Is Democracy? 2007 -112- Media Institute of Southern Africa