Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

ZAMBIA
State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
UPDATE
DATE: 2002-11-26
PERSON(S): Opposition political
parties, media in Zambia
VIOLATION(S): Legislation
On November 22, 2002, Minister of
Information and Broadcasting Services
Newstead Zimba presented three
media bills being put forward by the
government for first reading in Parliament.
The bills being presented are
the Zambia National Broadcasting
Corporation (ZNBC) [Amendment]
Bill, the Freedom of Information
(FOI) Bill and the Independent
Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Bill.
The bills were originally scheduled
to be presented on 8 November. However,
Zimba deferred them until a later
date, without offering any explanation.
The deferral came a day after
media associations, which had been
championing private members’ bills
on similar subjects, wrote to the minister
demanding that amendments be
made to the government bills in exchange
for the media associations’
support.
Following the bills’ deferral, Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting
Services officials held consultations
with media associations and various
other stakeholders in order to reconcile
their differences on the bills. A
second reading of the ZNBC [Amendment]
Bill was to be held on November
26, while the second reading of
the FOI and IBA Bills was scheduled
for November 27.
The ZNBC [Amendment] Bill removes
the power to issue broadcasting
licences from the minister of information
and broadcasting services
and transfers it to the IBA, which will
be created under the proposed IBA
Bill. The IBA would regulate all aspects
of broadcasting in Zambia. In
addition, the ZNBC [Amendment]
Bill gives the current ZNBC, which
is a cash-strapped, governmentowned
and controlled broadcaster,
power to collect television licence fees
in an effort to boost its revenue.
The FOI Bill aims to give Zambian
citizens and residents, for the first time
ever, the legal right to seek information
from government ministries and
departments and any organisations
operating in the public domain. However,
defence and security organisations
have been exempted from the
bill’s provisions.
The opposition had initially intended
to present their own versions
of the bills, namely the Broadcasting
Bill, FOI Bill and IBA Bill, as private
members’ bills on 5 November. However,
they were prevented from doing
so by National Assembly Speaker
Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, who
cited Article 81 of the Constitution.
Article 81 stipulates that bills with financial
implications must be cleared
by the president before being brought
to Parliament. The opposition accused
the government of deliberately frustrating
them by using the provision
even though the financial implications
of their bills were similar to those of
the government.
The media associations which have
been advocating for the private members’
bills, including the MISA’s Zambia
Chapter, known locally as the
Zambia Independent Media Association
(ZIMA), have agreed to support
the government’s FOI and IBA bills,
as long as the government incorporates
amendments which will bring
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