SECTOR 1 Activists believed that the referendum held alongside the general elections on the 11th August 2016 would be a step in the right direction. Zambian citizens were asked: Do you agree to the amendment to the Constitution to enhance the Bill of Rights contained in Part III of the Constitution of Zambia, and to repeal and replace Article 79 of the Constitution of Zambia? The referendum specifically revolved around: • The expansion of the Bill of Rights (Part III) in the Constitution, involving additional articles on civil and political rights and new articles on Economic, Social, Cultural, Environmental and special rights; and • The repeal of Article 79 of the Constitution, governing the amendment of the Constitution, and its replacement with a new Part, 19A. The referendum was negated by the failure to meet the first threshold for any amendment. For the referendum result to be considered valid, Article 79 (3) of the Constitution requires that any amendments to Part III of the Constitution, or to Article 79 itself, must have the endorsement of 50 percent of eligible voters. Since the number of eligible voters was estimated at 7,528,091, this meant that 3,764,046 voters had to vote ‘yes’ for the amendment to be passed. Since only 44.44 percent of the eligible voters voted, the attempt to amend the Constitution failed. According to the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy (EISA), 1,852,559 (24.6 percent of eligible voters) voted ‘yes’. Panellists agreed that while the proposed amendments were seen as an improvement on the current Bill of Rights, they remained “vague when it comes to media freedom and access to information.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.0 (2013:2.8; 2011:2.1; 2009:2.5; 2007:2.3; 2005:2.0) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2017 13