New impetus for constitutional reform

Three new bills set to be tabled in parliament and an upcoming constitutional review could see the media gaining more independence in Zambia. The Independent Broadcasting Authority Act, Freedom of Expression Act and the Broadcasting Bill, are all intended to provide greater freedom of expression to enhance democracy, say opposition parties and NGO's who are backing them. The bills follow intense lobbying of opposition members of parliament (MPs) by the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA). The Independent Broadcasting Authority Act, if passed, would provide for the establishment of an independent broadcast authority that would regulate the industry and grant licences to prospective broadcasters. Presently, the minister of information and broadcasting has the power to unilateraly withdraw broadcast licences or reject any application for a licence. The members of the authority would be drawn from a cross-section of society. The Freedom of Expression Act aims to enshrine in the constitution the freedom of the press, while the Broadcast Bill aims to give legal status to broadcasters other than the state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. However, opposition lawmakers have already encountered some resistance from the government over the new legislation, notably by the leader of the house, Enoch Kavindele. He summoned the parliamentarians backing the bills and allegedly instructed them to withdraw them so that the government could present its own versions. But the opposition MPs, led by a prominent Lusaka lawyer Sakwiba Sikota, threatened to take the matter to court if the government stood in their way. "It is our constitutional right as backbenchers to move a private members motion in the house," Sikota told IRIN. He added that the government had paid lip-service to media-friendly legislation over the past decade and could not be trusted to push for such legislation now. The government has since asked the parliamentarians to "re-word" the bills before they are tabled when parliament resumes at the end of this month. It was also announced that President Levy Mwanawasa would appoint a commission to review the constitution, with media reform being a central theme. However, critics have alleged the government's constitutional review could be used by Mwanawasa to divert attention from the government's handling of the current food shortages, and his legitimacy as head of state after controversial presidential elections last year. "They [Mwanawasa's government] came into office without a programme of action," Fred Mutesa, a political analyst from the Department of Development Studies at the University of Zambia told IRIN. "They are playing populist politics by announcing constitutional reforms - which are in fact being championed by NGO's - when the real [need] in Zambia is [to focus on] bread and butter issues. People are hungry and they have no jobs, that is what Mwanawasa's government should immediately address if they want to be seen to be working," he added. But Sipo Kapumpa, information and research officer at ZIMA, has welcomed the announcement of constitutional reforms. "We need constitutional protection with regard to freedom of expression like our friends in South Africa and Malawi. Once this is constitutionally entrenched, any other law that frustrates free expression shall be reviewed and in the end what we will see is the flood gates being opened for all bad laws to be reviewed and changed," he said. This would be the fourth time the Zambian constitution has been reviewed since independence in 1964. But Ngande Mwanajiti, Executive Director of the local rights group, Inter-Africa Network for Human Rights and Development, was less positive about the constitutional review. "To me this is a smoke-screen aimed at diverting attention and gaining political mileage in the likely event that there are fresh elections," he said. Mwanawasa currently faces a Supreme Court appeal against his election victory last year. He has vowed to step down as president should it be found that his narrow poll win in December was illegal or fraudulent.