Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya says the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) cannot be sold without prior approval from Parliament. Ms Siliya said the heightened campaign of misinformation on the sale of ZNBC is mere propaganda.
She said this in Parliament yesterday when she presented ministerial statement on the ongoing implementation of the
ZNBC sale subject to parley approval – Siliya digital migration project.

“ZNBC is a public broadcaster and will remain a public institution without merging or being taken over by any private company. It can opt to enter into an agreement with any media institution for business purposes. “ZNBC has interest in GOtv Zambia Limited and MultiChoice Zambia Limited in which it holds 75 percent and 49 percent shares respectively. It also holds 40 percent shares in TopStar Communication Company Limited,” she said.
Ms Siliya told the House that in an effort to reduce the burden on the national treasury, a special purpose vehicle was created between ZNBC and Star Times to carry the loan for the project.

She said TopStar is not in direct competition with local television stations as it is an aggregator of content from different sources, including content from local stations. “The merger is merely a merger of interests in a joint venture and not of two independent institutions such as ZNBC and Star Times,” she said. Ms Siliya said the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission granted a conditional authorisation for the proposed merger between ZNBC and Star Times.

She said ZNBC has not merged with TopStar and that it remains a 100 percent independent entity. Monze Central Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Mwimbu (UPND) asked what law has been used to merge ZNBC with TopStar when one is a private entity owned by foreigners and the other is a statutory body.

But Ms Siliya urged MPs not to believe everything they read on social media. She was responding to Bangweulu MP Anthony Kasandwe (PF) who wanted to know why there is misinformation on ZNBC’s partnership with TopStar