Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha confirmed having issued orders to deport Clark on 5 January in Lusaka when he addressed ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) cadres who gathered at his office demanding the immediate deportation of Clark. Clark, in his weekly column, The Spectator, is said to have referred to President Mwanawasa as a muwelewele (a fool) and called two of his cabinet ministers offensive names. Several groups condemned the minister’s actions. The Post’s Deputy News Editor Amos Malupenga described the action as “barbaric and unreasonable”. He argued that Government should have found a better way of dealing with the issue instead of resorting to deportation. Thankfully the fight for media freedom was greatly boosted when on 26 April, Lusaka High Court Judge Philip Musonda quashed the deportation order issued by the Minister against Clark, saying it was unlawful and violated freedom of expression. In his ruling, Justice Musonda said the deportation order violated Section 26 (2) of the Constitution because there was procedural impropriety in the way the order was issued. He said that Clark had shown that his constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and the right not to be discriminated against were violated by the State. Keeping media in the dark Another incident occurred on 3 February 2004 when the media and the public were barred from attending a tribunal that was launched to investigate allegations of professional misconduct levelled by President Mwanawasa against Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mukelebai Mukelebai. Tribunal Chairperson Judge Esau Chulu, who presided with judges Philip Musonda and Charles So This Is Democracy? 2004 120 Media Institute of Southern Africa BOTSWANA LESOTHO MALAWI MOZAMBIQUE However, the period saw attacks on constitutionally entrenched rights, particularly that of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. This was brought to the fore on 5 February 2004 when Roy Clark, a columnist for the privately owned Post newspaper was given 24 hours in which to leave the country for allegedly having insulted President Levy Mwanawasa and two cabinet ministers in an article published in the Post newspaper on 1 January, 2004. NAMIBIA There were no significant changes that affected the legislative environment for the media. There were also no new legislative measures that affected the media, but the struggle, as earlier alluded to, to have The Freedom of Information Bill re-introduced and passed in Parliament, continued though no significant progress was made. SOUTH AFRICA Legislative Environment SWAZILAND The six media organisations involved in the suit were The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chapter, Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), Zambia Media Women’s Association (ZAMWA), Society of Senior Zambian Journalists (SSZJ), and the Post newspaper’s Press Freedom Committee. TANZANIA The judge said he had found that the Minister erroneously believed she had power to veto the nominees, or to reject or modify the recommendations of the committees under the law. ZIMBABWE ZAMBIA decision was made in bad faith, particularly because she had concealed her reasons for the decision. ANGOLA State of the media in Southern Africa - 2004