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The Media Liaison Committee (MLC) has reaffirmed that the process to enact the Zambia Institute of Journalism (ZIJ) Bill—a media self-regulatory framework—will proceed, despite opposition from some media owners.
Seven media organisations recently called on the government to withdraw the proposed bill and instead strengthen the existing self-regulation mechanism.
However, MLC Acting Chairperson, Felistus Chipako, said the ZIJ was the result of wide consultations and will help foster accountability among journalists, free from state control.
Speaking during a media briefing on Monday at Four Pillars Lodge in Lusaka, Chipako said the ZIJ was not designed to surrender media independence but to uphold professional standards while shielding the press from political interference.
“The Zambia Institute of Journalism represents the final nail in the coffin of politically engineered statutory regulation aimed at muzzling the media under the guise of professional oversight,” she stated.
She emphasized that the ZIJ Bill reflects the aspirations of journalists across Zambia for an ethical, independent, and self-governed media sector.
The MLC, she added, is finalizing the revised draft of the bill and has resumed high-level engagements with the Ministry of Information and Media to ensure the final law captures the will of the profession—not the ambitions of politicians.
Chipako also provided historical context, recalling how government after government—from as early as 1993—had rejected proposed self-regulatory models by the media sector, starting with the Chiluba administration’s Media Reform Committee.
“Enough is enough. The days of government surveillance disguised as oversight are over. We are reclaiming our profession. This time, we are doing it on our own terms—and we are not turning back,” she declared.
She cited the 1995 rejection of the Media Reform Committee’s recommendations and the state’s creation of the Media Association for Responsible Conduct as the beginning of attempts to control media accountability.
Further efforts through bodies like the Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), she argued, undermined journalistic independence.
On Sunday, the government denied reports that it had initiated the process of enacting the Zambia Institute of Journalists (ZIJ) Bill or generated any cabinet memo to indicate any intention to initiate such a bill.
Chief Government Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, said the bill was instead initiated by private Journalists who were seeking a modification of the Zambia Media Council Bill which was withdrawn by the government because of the inconsistencies.
Mweetwa was responding to reports that the government had embarked on a process to enact the ZIJ Bill during a media briefing in Choma, Southern Province on Sunday.
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