The Stakeholders’ Roundtable on Freedom of Expression was meant to build the capacity of participants and popularize what constitutes and the limitations of the right to freedom of expression based local and international instruments. Therefore, the stakeholders’ roundtable had legal experts making keynote presentation with discussants from civil society, law enforcement, media, artists, internet activists, the donor (GIZ) and other stakeholders.
Mr. Richard Mulonga, CEO for Bloggers of Zambia highlighted the limitations surrounding the freedom of expression to set the context of the meeting. Mr. Mulonga stressed the point that the right to freedom of expression is human right number one because without freedom of expression no human being can demand any other right such as access to quality health, education and other services. Therefore, it is important to popularize this right of freedom of expressionbecause of some important observations we have made and that the right of the freedom of expression is not properly understood in our context. This is because sometimes we do not stay within the limits of the freedom of expression and sometimes we do not demand for the freedom of expression because we do not know what it is.
The stakeholders roundtable was officiated by the Minister of Information and Media Honourable Chushi Kasanda. In her opening remarks, the Minister enthusiastically made a pronouncement that government will not impose any unnecessary restrictions and violations on the right to freedom of expression.
In addition, the Hon. Minister also retaliated government’s commitment of supporting citizens who speak out peacefully for themselves and for others and where journalists are reporting truthfully, fairly and objectively on various issues of public discourse. The Hon. Minister concluded by encouraging everyone present to continue with such interaction and decentralize the education and awareness raising on the right to freedom, especially among the majority youth who may want to benefit from this information.
The presentations at the meeting were on why freedom of expression is considered the cornerstone of democracy and the legitimate provisions for restrictions that exist. Stakeholders discussed the state of freedom of expression in Zambia and the illegitimate restrictions to free expression online and offline after a presentation from experiences of a CSO leader, MacDonald Chipenzi.
The roundtable had attendance from representatives from government ministries (Ministry of Information and Media, Ministry of Science and Technology) ,journalists, artists and activists, civil society actors and leaders, bloggers and students was hosted to open the conversations on freedom of expression in Zambia this year. It also provided a platform to share experiences and thoughts on the state of freedom of expression in the country.
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