State of the media report Q1-2021

they would be having a series of workshops for journalists and media association and to this end one
was prepared for 1st April 2021.
Further on, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary Mr Amos Malupenga
conducted a protest and was joined by MISA Zambia Chairperson Ms Hellen Mwale at the Zambia
Police Force Headquarters to demand action from the Police regarding safety of journalists on 12
March 2021 after three incidents at which party cadres attacked three radio stations which featured an
opposition leader. This showed commitment by policy makers towards media safety of policy makers.
Additionally, MISA Zambia issued a statements on 10th February 2021 condemning the acts and
urged the Republican President to take action on unwarranted attacks by cadres against the media.
Consequently, during his address to the National Assembly on 12 February 2021, President Edgar
Lungu reaffirmed his commitment to protecting the media in Zambia and assured journalists in
Zambia that the state would not allow anyone to harass them during the course of their duty and as
Zambia headed to the polls.
Following this statement by the President, police based in Mbala district arrested several PF cadres
that went to Luswepo radio station to interrupt a live radio programme featuring opposition leader
Harry Kalaba of the Democratic Party - DP in an attempt to curb the unruly acts.
Further, it is also pertinent that a law is enacted as part of the statute books to specifically guarantee
media freedom. In the current scenario, press freedom is only mentioned in passing in Article 20 (2)
of the Constitution which states that: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution no law shall make
any provision that derogates from freedom of the press”. However, there is no prescription of the
privileges and special protection accorded to journalists and media houses in the enjoyment of media
freedom. And, as though to clawback this implicit provision, there exist several laws that are inimical
to media freedom and, at face value, nullify the clause on press freedom. The lack of an explicit law
on press freedom means perpetrators of such heinous attacks on media houses are charged with
misdemeanours, often getting a slap on the wrist or mere admission of guilt fines. This situation has,
thus, encouraged and not deterred would be offenders and cadres alike from attacking media
practitioners and outlets as shown from the table above.
Another notable occurrence was the attempted use of the National Pensions Scheme Authority and
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) against News Diggers following a series of stories on defective
medical supplies procured by the Ministry of Health, leading to public outcry and eventual
administrative action against the supplier, Honeybee Pharmaceuticals. The company is reported to
have requested for compliance information about News Diggers from the two regulatory authorities

15

Select target paragraph3