Zambia
While the Zambia Daily Mail Limited
showed interest in expanding to radio,
Lusaka-based Muvi TV resolved their
economic challenges by decreasing staff
salaries by 75 percent and reducing the
number of working days for staff. This
decision to reduce salaries and working days was made following a visit by
Zambia Revenue Authority officials over
alleged unpaid taxes.

JOURNALIST SAFETY
A number of major occurrences during
the year 2017 point to the need to guarantee safety of journalists in Zambia.
While the incidents may not include
death, there were incidents that are
cause for concern.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The stickiest point on the political and
media landscape is undoubtedly the absence of an access to information act in
Zambia to date.
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression should be granted in a democracy like Zambia. To gain full potential
as regards to the exercise of these freedoms, enactment of the Access to Information (ATI) Bill into law should be a
must.
Enactment of the ATI Bill into law has
been promised since 2002 and successive governments have campaigned
on the premise of enacting the legislation but they have all not lived to their
promises; and yet again, the Patriotic
Front government have followed suit.
This hope was renewed when the Justice
Minister Given Lubinda reported at the
2017 Universal Periodic Review that the
draft ATI legislation was finally ready for
public scrutiny and would be tabled in
Parliament for enactment.
By the end of the year however, this renewed energy and hope for finally having ATI come to fruition was dashed as
no step had been taken by government
to fulfill its earlier promise.

Enactment of the
ATI Bill into law has
been promised since
2002 and successive
governments have
campaigned on the
premise of enacting
the legislation but they
have all not lived to
their promises; and
yet again, the Patriotic
Front government have
followed suit.
In March of 2017, reports of a violent
attack on journalists by United Party for
National Development (UPND) supporters, at the party’s press briefing at its
secretariat incensed MISA Zambia. In a
statement MISA Zambia condemned the
attacks on Silumesi Malumo of Radio

So This is Democracy? 2017

125

Select target paragraph3