STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA Meanwhile, MISA Zambia in the period under review was quoted by The New Vision Newspaper publication under the heading: “do not be troubled over Access To Information (ATI) Bill, MISA urges citizens.” The MISA Zambia National Director Mr. Austin Kayanda assured citizens saying: “citizens [should] not to be troubled because the Access to information Bill, which is yet to be presented to Parliament for enactment, has not been doctored and will be tabled in the House in its original draft form.” The MISA National Director Mr. Kayanda argued that the media body was pleased with the contents of the Bill because nothing had been tempered with other than updating what was originally drafted. He was quoted saying: I cannot disclose its contents at this stage, but from what I was given and deliberated upon, as MISA we are happy with the bill because it has not been doctored. I can assure the nation that if what I saw is the same content that is going to be presented in parliament then we are happy with it. As regards the continued delay in the enactment of the Bill, the MISA National Director noted that there is urgent need to ensure that the bill is enacted into law as its benefits are for the betterment of all Zambians - journalists and ordinary citizens alike. “Just like other bills of national importance have been enacted at supersonic speed, we need the same political will towards the Access to Information Bill,” he said. He made an appeal to government through the ministries of Justice and Information and Broadcasting to ensure the long awaited Access to Information Bill is enacted into law. It has been argued that stakeholders are casting doubts on the authenticity of the content of the draft bill owing to the fact that there has been a lot of back and forth pronouncements on the bill. For example, in the first quarter of 2019, the Lusaka Times online publication carried a headline, “Access To Information Bill will not be presented in the next sitting of Parliament” and attributed the statement to Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary, Mr. Chanda Kasolo, saying that the Access to Information Bill will not be presented in the next sitting of Parliament which opens on Tuesday 14th February, 2019. 9