Zambia assented to by the Republican President on 19 December 2018. Amendment to ZNBC and IBA Acts Towards the end of the year, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Kampamba Mulenga presented the second amendment to the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) which sought to: • Repeal provisions relating to the imposition and collection of the television levy; • Review the appointment of television levy inspectors under the Act, and • Delete definitions, provisions relating to the imposition and collection of the television levy.4 During the same period the Minister presented the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) (Amendment) Bill outlining the procedures for the payment and collection of television levy.5 The proposed amendments sought to shift the responsibility of collecting the television levy from the corporation – ZNBC to the IBA. Minister of Finance, Felix Mutati proposed this change in the collection of the television levy from the existing system of ZNBC collecting the levy through monthly electricity bills or through the purchase of power units from the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO). The Minister also proposed an increase in the monthly television levy from K3 (US$0.3) to K5 (US$0.51). Ac4 The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2017, No. 18 dated 27 November 2017 5 The Independent Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017, No. 19 dated 27 November 2017 cording to the Minister this would enable the public broadcaster to improve coverage across a wider subscriber base. In a submission to the parliamentary committee on information and broadcasting, the general secretary of the Zambia National Union of Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators (ZUBID), Andrew Mpandamwike presented the organisations strong opposition to the amendments. According to a news report, he pointed out that the Independent Broadcasting Authority was a regulator and could not combine its role with that of being a fund manager, let alone a funder of ZNBC’s public mandate. He added that his union perceived the proposed amendment as a mechanism to fund operations of the IBA, which was not a player in the public broadcasting service, a mandate placed on ZNBC through an Act of Parliament. According to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Ms Mulenga, quarterly reports on funds raised would be communicated to members of the public, introducing an element of accountability to the tax payers. The Minister’s view essentially was that the amendments were meant to institute some measures of control on the use of the collected television levy. Despite objections by civil society organisations which included MISA Zambia, the two Bills were subsequently passed by Parliament. Further objections were raised through a petition by 100 unionised employees together with members of management at ZNBC. They signed a petition against the decision to shift the responsibility of collecting TV levy from the corporation to IBA. The campaigners also submitted a petition to the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly proposing a fur- So This is Democracy? 2017 123