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Zambian media associations reject calls for
statutory regulation for the press
On 24 November 2008, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Zambia, Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), Media Council of
Zambia (MECOZ), Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), Zambia Media
Women Association (ZAMWA) and The Press Freedom Committee (PFC)
of The Post Newspaper expressed strong concern over calls by
some opposition members of parliament to regulate the media through
a statutory body.
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In a Press Statement signed by the six media
organisations and read by the MISA Zambia Chairperson Henry Kabwe,
the media associations condemned the calls for such regulation
because media freedom and the public’s right to know were
the cornerstones of any vibrant democracy and could therefore
not be regulated through a statutory body. He said that such
regulation would stifle freedom of the media, an important platform
on which the Zambian people expressed themselves.
Kabwe said the thinking by the MPs is an indication that Zambian
democracy was in danger and added that it was regrettable that
some Parliamentarians have chosen to condition the enactment
of the Freedom of Information Bill to statutory regulation.
"They have unreasonably continued to state that for the FOI bill
to be enacted, there must first be statutory regulation. This
is unfortunate because the FOI Bill is meant to benefit the Zambian
people while the media is just but a few of the beneficiaries
to the FOI Bill which is still pending. We have explained many
times that the two must not be confused in the manner the Honourable
MPs are doing." He said.
He urged the government and progressive Members of Parliament
(MPs) to rescind their calls because they were being made in
an emotional manner and subjectively. Kabwe said the calls were
made on a report in which the Chairperson for the Parliamentary
Committee on Information and Broadcasting, Honourable Robby Chizyuka
presented and that had nothing to do with media regulation.
"We would like to remind the government and those MPs calling
for such regulation to note that there are available laws in
the Electoral Act of 2006 that govern the media conduct during
elections. For example, the Electoral Code of Conduct of 2006
under Chapter 12 sections 4 and 5 provide a channel for addressing
issues of unfair treatment or coverage by the media during the
course of election campaign. It provides for correction and retraction
of published information in cases were misrepresentations were
made. It also empowers the parties and indeed all the players
during an election to lodge in their complaints in writing to
the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to request an erring
media organisation to take necessary steps to correct the misrepresentation."
He said.
Kabwe added that the Zambian media is still guided by archaic
colonial laws which are still embedded in the Penal Code. The
Penal Code of the 1930s which codifies the Zambian criminal laws
under section 53 empowers the President to for example, ban publications
in his ‘absolute discretion’ that he feels are contrary
to public interest. Kabwe added that if all these laws were unleashed,
the media could be rendered useless parrots.
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We urge the government and the Parliamentarians to rescind their
decision to support statutory regulation and allow the media
to regulate itself through the Media Council of Zambia (MECOZ)
so that our country can continue to be the beacon of true democracy,
where divergent views are tolerated and respected as a universal
right as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights which protects freedom of expression and the
right to hold an opinion. We must not allow our emotions to wash
down our democracy because of minor differences or mistakes in
the media that could be ironed through dialogue and established
channels for lodging complaints on conduct of the media." Kabwe
said.
He further called on the Government and the members of parliament
to seek ways to implement the Independent Broadcasting Authority
(IBA) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)
Acts of 2002.
Rashweat Mukundu
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring
MISA Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: + 264 61 232 975
Fax:+264 61 248016
Mobile: 00 264 813 675 362
E mail rashweat@misa.org, misaalerts@gmail.com
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