Zambia Media Critique

Dishonesty, corruption and greed have characterized the adoption process of parliamentary and local government candidates ahead of this year’s general elections by leading political parties. Up to now both the Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) who are the clear front runners in this year’s election have not published their full list of adopted candidates. Some adopted candidates who have received their sponsorship/adoption certificates have been posting snapshots of their certificates on social media much to the annoyance of their opponents most of whom performed better in primary elections but were left out by their parties. Sporadic intra –party protests and demonstrations have broken out in various parts of the country spearheaded by supporters of candidates who have been left out despite having proved their popularity at grassroot level and mobilizing party members to campaign for their respective parties. It is now abundantly clear to a...

Having spent nearly a fortnight in Berlin Germany at the invitation of the Konrad Adenear Stiftung (KAS) Media Foundation on a political bloggers study and dialogue tour, I wish to share some lessons on political communication. Zambia goes to the polls on August 11, 2016 in an election never before experienced in the country’s history. This is because for the first time Zambians will have to elect a President with a threshold of 50 + 1 percent votes the first of its kind since the country returned to multi-party politics. In addition to this the position of mayor is now electable and Zambia will also host a referendum on the bill of rights alongside the general elections. The political parties in Zambia require excellent mass communication skills and tools to enable them to effectively reach out to all Zambians. Our interaction with communication staff from the Christian Democratic Union CDU in Berlin was insightful. Mobile first The penetration of mobile telecommunication t...