ZNBC Opposition Coverage Challenged

he United Party for National Development (UPND) has made a formal complaint concerning ZNBC’s coverage of the opposition to the Attorney General Likando Kalaluka. 

UPND lawyers M Associates write, “We are instructed to officially lodge our clients’ complaint under Section 112 of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016 as read with Paragraph 9(4) of the Electoral Code of Conduct against the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) for its perennial unfair treatment or coverage of our clients in the course of the election campaigns leading up to the national polls on August 12th, 2021.” 

‘’Our clients posit that for a long time, but more so now during this campaign period, the ZNBC never covers the campaign programmes or roadshows of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema or the UPND in its news bulletins despite being the largest opposition party in the Country. In that regard, even adverts and advertorials of our clients, including important events such as the hosting of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) to the African Union (AU), Ms Hanna Tetteh on 3rd June, 2021 by Mr. Hakainde Hichilema at his residence, are not covered by the ZNBC. The only exception to the coverage is when the ZNBC are reporting our client in bad light. This is certainly not fair by any standards under our electoral rules,” it continues. 

Biased media coverage is just one of a number of concerns relating to the prospect of free and fair elections in August. Earlier this week the Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) released data showing that police disproportionately disrupt or attack political rallies hosted by the UPND, compared to any of the other major parties. 

CCMG, MISA Zambia and the Committee to Protect Journalists have all raised concerns regarding biased media coverage during the campaign period, with CCMG steering committee chairperson Fr Emmanuel Chikoya calling on the ECZ to urgently abide by a recent court order to ensure public media allocate equal access to all parties and candidates. 

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to stop harassing private broadcaster Muvi TV and ensure independence of media ahead of the upcoming elections following threats that Muvi’s licence would be revoked. CPJ labelled the threats as an attempt to censor private media ahead of elections.