STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBA enactment of the Bill, It is widely anticipated that the bill will be presented in the next parliamentary session for debate and subsequent enactment.12 Similarly, the United Independence Party (UNIP) in Southern Province called on the church and civil society organisations to join hands and press the Patriotic Front (PF) government to enact the Access to information Bill as Parliament resumes its sitting. UNIP provincial chairperson Captain Robert Mukengami (retired) said that the information Bill was important for Zambia’s democracy and good governance. Captain Mukengami said that currently, the information Bill was just a fight for the media without stakeholders such as CSO’s church and NGO’s being involved. “As UNIP in the province, we are urging the PF government to come up with strategies on how the information Bill will be enacted when parliament resumes sitting, this is very important to the country’s good governance. We believe this is not only for the press but for all Zambians”.13 The enactment of the ATI Bill to law is one of the outstanding agendas existing and gathering dust on the tables of those with the responsibility of tabling it. The fear of unknown and lack of political will are some of the reasons why to date Zambia has no ATI law despite having so many political pronunciations’ from the subsequent political parties that have formed government. One can only hope that parliament will table the Bill once its sitting commences, for now, the long wait continues. 3.4 Freedom of expression during the 2ndquarter Freedom of expression and of the media in Zambia seemed to have taken a similar pattern like the previous quarter. The media remained tight lipped with the quest to protect their jobs and operation licences. Despite being told by President Edgar Lungu that the media will remain free under his leadership, the period under review suggests that Freedom of expression and of the media is deteriorating in the Nation. The majority of the respondents interviewed were in agreement that the media were under intense pressure to survive hence causing the levels of freedom of expression continue to depreciate in the nation. 12 New Vision, 24th May, 2017 13 Daily Nation 6th June, 2017 19 | P a g e