CPJ calls on Zambian president to champion the media as World Press Freedom Day host

The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote to Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema expressing concern over recent attacks on journalists and legislation that negatively impacts the media, as the country prepares to host the United Nations’ World Press Freedom Day 2026 Global Conference on May 3.

The letter also calls on Hichilema to create a safe and enabling environment for the media to operate freely and independently during Zambia’s August 13 election period. While acknowledging Hichilema’s public commitments to media freedom, CPJ said April’s harassment of journalists by suspected ruling party supporters and the enactment of unduly restrictive cyber laws undermine these convictions.

CPJ highlighted the sedition and criminal libel cases against Zambian Whistleblower journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo as emblematic of how unduly restrictive laws can be misused to intimidate and silence the press.

Read the full letter here.