STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA According to the Mast Newspaper, the IBA Director General, Ms. Josephine Mapoma emphasised that the action against the radio stations followed the unprofessional conduct in which Lutanda Radio conducted itself which posed a risk to national peace and security. Ms. Mapoma said the decision to suspend the licence was made following an emergency board meeting held at the IBA offices on Friday. The Mast further reported that: “Prior to this, the radio station was given an opportunity to be heard during a hearing held on 15th November 2019, in which it admitted its unprofessional conduct. On 12th November 2019, the Authority followed a breaking story that alleged that Lutanda radio in Kasama was promoting tribalism on air. This prompted the Authority to investigate the matter further and obtained soundbites of the programme,” she said. “After conducting its investigations and analysing the recordings, the authority found a number of breaches: airing a programme deemed to promote tribalism and hate speech. The guests together with the presenter of the programme were mentioning individual names (Hakainde Hichilema) and a particular ethnic group (Tongas) by passing derogatory, demeaning and tribal remarks likely to result into disorder and disrupt the peace of the public. This was in breach of Section 33 of the Principal IBA Act of 2002 which stipulates that ‘every licensed broadcasting service shall develop a code of professional standards which shall have respect for human dignity, rights and freedoms, and contribute to the tolerance of different opinions and belief…” The decision to suspend the radio station’s licence was however lifted a month later. It was reported in a communique on the 19th December 2019 that “IBA lifts suspension on Lutanda radio station’s broadcasting licence.” The IBA in the communique stated that: 21