Force telecommunications companies MTN and Bharti Airtel to commit to maintaining internet connectivity for all Zambians during the lead up and aftermath of the country’s general elections on August 12th.
 
Across Africa, authoritarian leaders are using internet shutdowns as a means to cover up electoral fraud and violence and maintain their grip on power. In 2020, eight African countries including Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe restricted access to the internet or social media at some point. In January 2021, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni enacted a five-day total shutdown during the country’s general election, concealing what the US State Department concluded were “many credible reports” of electoral irregularities.
 
Zambia now looks to be headed the same way. As voters prepare to head to the polls on August 12th, President Edgar Lungu is putting measures in place to severely limit the democratic space for opposition parties. His government has enacted a blanket ban on political rallies and in April passed the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Bill, which allows authorities to arrest Zambians for expressing dissenting viewpoints online. Having shut down most of the country’s independent media outlets, President Lungu’s government is now turning on Zambia’s last remaining democratic safeguard: the internet.
 
The internet is fundamental to maintaining free and fair elections in Zambia. The majority of voters get their news from online sources and rely on the internet for information about how and where to vote. The internet is also critical for documenting instances of electoral fraud and violence, as well as for allowing election monitoring groups to carry out their work. It is therefore vital that access to the internet remain free and unrestricted.

As the largest telecommunications providers in Zambia, MTN and Airtel have a unique responsibility in maintaining free and fair access to the internet. Authoritarian regimes typically pressure telecommunications companies into ‘switching off’ the internet at a time which suits them – this cannot be allowed to happen in Zambia. MTN and Airtel must commit to resisting all government pressure for an internet shutdown and must alert the press and internet monitoring groups when such requests are made.  Only then can democracy prevail in Zambia.