VICE PRESIDENT'S CHRISTMAS "CRACKER" FIZZLES

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

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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

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private comments on December 29 indicate Kunda's capitulation
and have renewed journalists' hopes for a positive conclusion
to the media regulation saga.
KOPLOVSKY