IN a development that has sent ripples across the Zambezi, a Zimbabwean journalist has been formally drawn into a high-stakes espionage trial involving Zambian opposition leader Fred M’membe.
The case, which centres on a documentary produced by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), took a significant turn this week as senior Zambian government officials testified regarding the legal standing of the Zimbabwean media personnel involved in the production.
The High Court of Zambia heard startling testimony on Tuesday suggesting that no official accreditation was ever granted for the Zimbabwean journalist to conduct professional duties within Zambia’s borders.
This revelation came during the ongoing trial of M’membe, the leader of the Socialist Party, who is facing grave charges under the republic’s State Security Act.
State witness Rosaria Lubumbashi, the editor-in-chief of the Zambia News and Information Services (Zanis), provided crucial testimony regarding the administrative background of the case.
Lubumbashi told the court that Zanis, which is mandated to facilitate accreditation for both local and foreign journalists, has no record of any application related to the journalist or the documentary in question.
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The documentary, titled The Grand Regional Scheme: How Foreign Powers and Local Elites are Destroying Africa Part 1, is the central piece of evidence in the State’s espionage case against M’membe.
According to Lubumbashi, lack of formal paperwork was confirmed following a high-level internal inquiry.
“I guided the Press office to respond accordingly,” Lubumbashi testified before the court, explaining the process that led to the discovery.
She detailed how, on December 4, 2023, she received correspondence from Zanis managing director Loyce Saili inquiring if the institution had processed accreditation for a Zimbabwean journalist. After instructing officers to verify records, the feedback confirmed no such application had ever been filed.
“The response was that Zanis did not receive any application from a Zimbabwean journalist to carry out Press work while in Zambia,” Lubumbashi said.
This lack of accreditation was formalised in a letter dated December 6, 2023, issued on an official Zanis letterhead.
Lubumbashi emphasised that Zanis’ role is critical in interpreting government policy and disseminating information, making bypass of its accreditation process a serious procedural and legal oversight.
The documentary at the heart of the storm was produced by ZBCtv and broadcast in September 2023, strategically timed shortly after Zimbabwe’s contentious August general elections.
The production focused heavily on objections to the appointment of Nevers Mumba as chairperson of the Sadc election observer mission to Zimbabwe.
Mumba’s report said the 2023 Zimbabwe elections that saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa win a controversial second term did not meet regional standards following widespread reports of vote fraud.
During the broadcast, several prominent Zambian opposition figures and government critics were interviewed, including M’membe.
The content of the interviews and the documentary’s broader narrative, drew the ire of Zambian authorities.
Mumba reportedly described those interviewed for the ZBC production as being “anti-Zambia”.
The fallout from the broadcast was swift.
On November 15, 2023, Zambian police moved to arrest M’membe alongside four other high-profile politicians: Raphael Nakacinda, Chilifya Tayali, Emmanuel Mwamba and Given Lubinda.
All five had appeared in the ZBC production. The charges brought against the group are among the most serious in the Zambian legal code.
They were charged under section 3(c) of Zambia’s State Security Act, a provision that criminalises the communication or passing on of information “intended to be directly or indirectly useful to a foreign power,” in this case Zimbabwe.
The Act specifies that such information must be deemed “prejudicial to the safety or interest of the Republic of Zambia.”
Prosecutors alleged that between August 26 and September 16, 2023, M’membe, “jointly and while acting together with others,” used the documentary to communicate information that threatened the security interests of the State.
Earlier in the proceedings, judge Mwaka Ngoma granted a State application to amend the indictment, which required the accused to take a fresh plea.
M’membe again denied the charge of espionage.
The leader of the Socialist Party has consistently pleaded not guilty throughout the process.
The penalty for espionage under the State Security Act is severe, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The involvement of ZBC — a State-controlled broadcaster in Zimbabwe — adds a complex diplomatic layer to the trial.
The Zambian court’s focus on the lack of accreditation for the Zimbabwean journalist suggests the State may be looking to prove that the production was not merely a journalistic endeavour, but a clandestine operation intended to undermine the Zambian government.