Zambia: Press freedom, media and elections

Edda Costarelli, October 2001

Freedom of the press and media in Zambia clearly fail to find proper guarantee in the Public Order Act and face conditions that are deeply prejudicial to their full realisation (World Press Freedom Review 2000). As John Sangwa (1998) reported, the Zambian media has been struggling to expand the boundaries of freedom of expression. Press freedom is not discussed in any detail in the Constitution (1996), but is inferred from the general freedom of expression provisions, which include freedom to hold opinions, receive, impart and communicate ideas and information without interference, whether to the general public or to any person or class of persons. In addition, Article 20 provides: "Subject to the provisions of this Constitution no law shall make any provision that derogates from press freedom".

• In 1992, shortly after the elections, the Ministry of Information appointed a Media Reform Committee to carry out an audit of Zambian laws affecting press freedom. Although the committee identified twenty-six laws inconsistent with freedom of expression no action was taken to follow up on these findings.
• Attacks on freedom of expression by the Zambian authorities continued. Despite self-congratulatory government statements on the subject, 1999 was characterised by a deep-seated antagonism towards the media that showed little sign of dissipating. On 16 February 1999, for instance, the Minister of Education, Godfrey Miyanda, called on Legal Affairs Minister Vincent Malambo to stiffen punishment for offenders of the libel and defamation laws to avoid that some sections of the press abuse press freedom, reportedly "disparaging" people with impunity (West African Journalists Association 1999).
• In 2000 the World Press Freedom Review reported that the government repeatedly attempted to exclude independent media from reporting on government events. An example of this was the case of Majid Ticklay who was deported in January 2000 on grounds that he promoted ethnic division and racial discrimination. He had published a letter in a privately-owned newspaper encouraging Zambians of Asian origin to play a more active role in politics.

In 1995 the government proposed to set up a statutory body to regulate licensing and, most crucially, control the "ethical conduct" of journalists. The Media Association of Zambia (MAZ) would therefore replace the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), an existing voluntary association of journalists, and it was made mandatory that all media organizations subscribe their staff to the association. PAZA sought judicial review of the government's decision, claiming that the initiative was in bad faith and not in furtherance of democratic ideals (Sangwa 1998).

References

CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA 1996, IN The Laws of the Republic of Zambia, 1995 Edition (Revised), Volume 1, 120, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/Constitution%20of%20Zambia%201996.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 29 Oct 2007).

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH & AFRONET 2000, "Memorandum: the Need for Human Rights Benchmarks", the World Bank's Consultative Group Meeting on Zambia, Lusaka, 16-18 July.

THE POST 2001a, "Press Association Condemns attack on Sata", 13 November.

SANGWA, J 1998, "Press Freedom in Zambia" IN Southern African Media Law Briefing, 1, July.

WEST AFRICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION 1999, "Minister Calls for Tougher Libel Laws" IN Freedom Link, April.

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM REVIEW 2000, "Zambia".