If a new Bill passes in Zambia, the government will have more control over the press than ever before, reports Anthony Kunda in Lusaka
THE Zambian government is gearing itself to gag journalists through the establishment of a media council which will have the power to license or bar from practice any journalist flouting set standards – much to the anger of journalists and human rights activists.
Information and Broadcasting Minister David Mpamba and his permanent secretary, Laura Harrison, recently launched a Media Council Bill for public debate through the press and other forums.
Mpamba said the Zambian government is only trying to “ensure professionalism. We have made an undertaking to foreign donors that this Bill will be subjected to public debate. This is purely a discussion paper. It is not yet law.”
But most of Zambia’s media organisations – among them the Zambia Independent Media Association, the Press Association of Zambia, the Media Resource Centre, the Zambia Union of Journalists and the Zambia branch of the Commonwealth Press Union – have variously criticised the Media Council Bill as being draconian, obnoxious and irrelevant.
President Frederick Chiluba’s government, nonetheless, seems insistent. Harrison told a group of journalists who attended one of her press conferences: “Why are you afraid of the Bill? … As a ministry we have no apologies to make because it is our duty. Just give us your views. We do not want to undermine your freedom.”
According to the draft Bill, written by the attorney general’s office, all journalists will have to be licensed by the council. To qualify, journalists must be 18 or older, must have a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication or journalism from a university or college recognised by the council, or should have completed, at least, a two-year course in journalism.
Among other punitive measures the Bill contains is three months’ imprisonment for practising without a license.
Kondwani Chirambo, chairman of the Zambia branch of the Commonwealth Press Union, said: “We are opposed to this absolutely irrelevant piece of legislation which seems to be targeted at specific individuals.”
Fred M’membe, editor of The Post, the country’s sole independent daily, similarly pointed out: “We have no doubt that the Bill is not targeted at journalists in state-owned media. The target is The Post and other independent media. We won’t be fooled by the government’s stupid machinations.”
M’membe said he would do whatever it takes to have the Bill trashed. “We will oppose this Bill up to the International Court of Justice, unless we are assassinated. It is the actions of these fools that are tarnishing the image of our country internationally and when we launch a world campaign against their inhuman Bill they will accuse us of being unpatriotic.”
Robby Makayi, principal consultant of the Media Resource Centre, said: “Politicians are not the right people to define what press freedom and responsible journalism are.”
Makayi said, aside from that, there are already “enough punitive laws and we certainly don’t need others”. He cited the Penal Code which, among other things, empowers the president to ban any publication at his pleasure, without necessarily giving reasons.
Edwin Musaika, chairman of the Zambia Union of Journalists, said the curtailment of press freedom would affect the public at large.
“Journalists are mere purveyors of ideas and information. When you restrict them, that will be an infringment of the right of information to the people of Zambia. A free press exemplifies the freedom of expression of every citizen,” Musaika said.
Alfred Zulu, a prominent human rights activist, said: “If the Media Council Bill is enacted, that will symbolise the emergence of a proper dictatorial government.”
The media organisations have since formed a Media Liaison Committee to spearhead the struggle which has presented a petition to the Ministry of Information.
Among other things, the petition states that journalists will only agree to a “self-regulatory body which is in line with the practices in democracies like Sweden, United States and Britain. The agenda seems to be one of criminalising the journalism profession.”
There has been no response from the government to the petition.