to the President by the Anti-Corruption Commission chief, informing him of an investigation on one of his advisors. …government continued to threaten closure of online media as most were deemed to be critical of government. BROADCASTING Broadcasting digital migration partially achieved During the period, Zambia managed to partially meet the digital migration deadline and successfully migrated on 17 June in line with the International Telecommunications Union’s deadline. Government opted for a three-phased approach to migration for fear that other citizens, especially in rural areas would be disadvantaged. Government signed a contract with Chinese firm Star Technologies of over US$273 million for the second and third phase of digital migration. The partial migration has taken place under Phase 1. In this phase, only towns along the line of rail were able to migrate to digital broadcasting by the deadline of 31st December, 2015 while those in the remaining areas of the country continued to receive the analogue signal. Phase 2 will cover all provincial centres while the rest of the country will migrate under phase three. 88 So This is Democracy? 2015 Evidently, government’s decision to derogate from the digital migration policy presented dire consequences as certain conflicts and inadequacies were observed with some players opting to use their own route through satellite broadcasting, while the levels of public awareness on digital migration remained staggeringly low and the level of preparedness equally saddening. The government waived duties on certain equipment in a bid to boost the digital migration process, thereby cushioning some costs to be incurred by broadcasting companies. The operationalisation of the Independent Broadcasting Authority presented a level of independence in the allocation of frequencies and broadcasting licences. It is hoped that there will be steps made to transform the authority into a truly autonomous body through curtailing the ‘direct’ appointment of board members by the minister of information, to include a more open, independent process as originally envisaged in the IBA Act. Electronic Media Statistics: Full broadcast Radio Television 80 17 Test transmission 7 1 Construction permits 6 17