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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000985 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO ZA
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT'S CHRISTMAS "CRACKER" FIZZLES 
 
REF: LUSAKA 951 
 
LUSAKA 00000985  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Michael Koplovsky for reasons 1. 
4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Progress by journalists and the Zambian 
government (GRZ) on media self-regulation appeared endangered 
December 22 when Vice President George Kunda sent the 
Ministry of Information (MOI) his own draconian media bill, 
based in part on Zimbabwe's media regulations. Kunda's 
strident approach took media associations by surprise in 
light of Information Minister Shikapwasha's recent, more 
conciliatory gestures. After publicly denying the vice 
president's involvement, the MOI privately indicated that 
Kunda faces GRZ pressure to abandon his bill. Kunda may have 
interjected himself into the issue in reaction to a fresh 
round of critical press. However, he has been the 
government's go-to man for delivering bad news of late, a 
role he could be reprising. Media contacts are trying to 
remain hopeful that continuing dialogue with the MOI will 
yield a more constructive outcome. End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) The MOI called in Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) 
Vice President Amos Chanda December 22 to read a new GRZ 
draft of proposed statutory media regulation. Chanda told 
EmbOff that Ministry employees informed him Vice President 
and Minister of Justice George Kunda, unhappy with the GRZ's 
original draft, had sent MOI a personally revised version. 
Kunda's version of the media bill includes insertions from 
Ugandan media regulation and the Zimbabwean Media Act. A new 
15-member media council -- appointed by the MOI and largely 
comprising non-journalists -- would have the power to fine or 
recommend three years imprisonment for journalists operating 
contrary to regulations. The Minister would be empowered to 
change the media regulations at any time, in "consultation" 
with the council. The bill requires licenses for practicing 
journalists and defines -- and therefore restricts -- who can 
be a "journalist." The council, however, is empowered to 
bestow the moniker on others as it sees fit. As in Zimbabwe, 
a separate Zambia Institute of Journalists would act as a 
"policy advisory group" for the GRZ. Media organizations 
would be required to register all editors with both bodies. 
 
¶3. (C) Media bodies were caught off-guard by Kunda's version 
of the bill. Kunda's confrontational stance on media 
regulation is at odds with Shikapwasha's more moderate tone 
and cooperative approach on the issue. In a December 10 
meeting with the Ambassador (reftel), Shikapwasha said the 
GRZ's six-month ultimatum to media to regulate themselves was 
intended to spur serious progress toward a professional code 
of conduct. (Note: Charge has requested a meeting with Kunda, 
a request the VP has thus far successfully dodged. End note.) 
Shikapwasha told the press December 17 that the GRZ would 
extend the deadline to allow media more time to finalize 
their own self-regulation plan. He joined the Ambassador 
December 14 at the opening of a USG-funded PAZA workshop 
focused on media self-regulation. Following the workshop, 
Shikapwasha and Chanda continued the dialogue on media 
regulation and reviewed the GRZ's original draft plan for 
regulation. In a December 23 meeting, Shikapwasha reportedly 
reassured journalists that the ultimatum deadline would not 
be an issue. He added that if the media's self-regulation 
proposal were modeled on South Africa's, the GRZ would 
unlikely introduce its own version. 
 
¶4. (C) On December 28, Shikapwasha publicly disavowed Kunda's 
intervention and claimed authorship of the revised bill came 
solely from within the MOI. However, the following day, 
Shikapwasha called Chanda with a private reversal: Kunda was 
under pressure from within the GRZ to back down on "his" 
bill. The MOI said if the Media Liaison Committee pulled an 
ad campaign launched December 28 in the private print media 
decrying Kunda's "cold hand of censorship," Kunda would 
abandon his bill, meet with media bodies, and support 
adoption of the media's self-regulation plan, now scheduled 
to be finalized in February. Journalists at PAZA,s December 
30 year-in-review press conference expressed cautious 
optimism that self-regulation would come to fruition. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment: The thin-skinned Banda administration 
frequently lashes out in the wake of criticism by the 
independent press. Kunda has been singled out recently, and 
the revised bill may simply have been a knee-jerk reaction to 
the negative press. On the other hand, Kunda has been the 
government's go-to man for delivering bad news lately - 
including the implementation of a restrictive NGO bill and 
accusing diplomats of interference in domestic matters. It 
may be giving the vice president too much credit, but his 
unexpected and risky parry appears to have lit a fire under 
PAZA to complete its self-regulation proposal. President 
Banda has thus far been silent on the issue. Shikapwasha's 
 
LUSAKA 00000985  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
private comments on December 29 indicate Kunda's capitulation 
and have renewed journalists' hopes for a positive conclusion 
to the media regulation saga. 
KOPLOVSKY