SECTOR 1 The Penal Code Cap 87 has a number of clauses that impact on the impact on the media in terms of criminalization of defamation of president and there are clauses that confer the president with power to ban publications, seditious practices, obscenity etc. “The constitution does guarantee freedom of expression, but the problem is… that the subsidiary legislation such as the Penal Code, the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Act, and so forth, takes away from this.” These derogations “are subsidiary to the constitution”, and “should therefore be challenged”. While provisions in the Penal Code and NGO Act, among others, take away from media freedom, “the constitution is the supreme law of the land and that is why we have an almost thriving media, academic and civil society.” Defamation of the president “should be a civil wrong, but instead it is criminalised in this country, so this hampers freedom of expression.” Adding to the broadness of the constitution as it relates to the media are the derogations in Article 20 (3) referring to public safety, public order, national security etc, which are couched in very broad terms. Members felt this leaves room for personal interpretation. The constitution expressly protects freedom of expression, “but it does not protect the media”, despite subtle implications that media are protected in this regard. In this vein, media freedoms need to be stated more explicitly and with greater specificity in the constitution, which in its current form only confers these rights on individuals, and not institutions. “If these rights are conferred on individuals, in practice there is a limitation on the media, which are institutions.” 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: 2.8 (2011:2.1; 2009:2.5; 2007:2.3; 2005:2.0) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2013 13