reportage’ by some media houses. His narrow interpretation of surprised activists who are aware that ATI law facilitates increasing transparency, accountability and citizen participation in the governance process as citizens will be able to access public information from public institutions to enable them make better informed decisions or contributions. MEDIA AND ELECTIONS On 20 January 2015, Zambians went to the polls to vote for a president in the country’s presidential by-elections. These elections came after the passing of the Zambian President, Mr. Micheal Sata. The pre-election period was fraught with tension as the Patriotic Front witnessed an unprecedented fight for the ¬presidency, which also drew in members of his family that included the late Sata’s stepson, nephew and widow. The opposition – the Movement for Multiparty Democracy was also plagued by factional battles. In the post-election period the opposition denounced the elections as a sham, by the opposition, after the ruling PF candidate Edgar Lungu won by a narrow margin of 27 757 votes against Hakainde Hichelma of the United Party for the National Development. The election was noted for record-low voter turnout of only 32.33% of the registered population. MISA-Zambia noted that during the campaigns leading to the elections, a number of political parties raised concerns regarding biased and unfair coverage by the media. In the main, the ruling party used the public media to their advantage leaving very little space and sometimes none for the opposition parties. 86 So This is Democracy? 2015 According to Media Monitoring Africa report on the media coverage of the Zambian Presidential Elections, the reportage mostly on what politicians were saying and did very little to interrogate what these pronouncements meant for the electorate. This resulted in minimal coverage given to critical issues such as health, employment, and poverty. Reporters Without Frontiers agreed with the opinion that media coverage was very partisan during the campaign. The main opposition party, the UPND filed a complaint against the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) for failing to cover the rallies of its candidate, Hakainde Hichilema. After 51 years of independence, the government’s firm grip on the print media continues despite past promises by the leadership to loosen this grip and privatise the affected newspapers.