The introduction of taxation on online political content aligns with international standard practices used by governments to broaden their tax base, according to Frank Bwalya, the Director of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) Presidential Campaign media team.

Bwalya told Zambia Monitor that people should not be apprehensive about the introduction of such taxes, assuring that it would not stifle any business operating online.

“It is standard practice throughout the world that whenever governments see people and organizations making money, they get interested and start to collect taxes on behalf of the people,” he stated.

Addressing media freedoms, Bwalya acknowledged the existence of media freedom in the country, even though certain people had been arrested and media houses closed in the past.

He argued that under the UPND government, the media and public were more free to express themselves without hindrance, unlike in the past when journalists faced intimidation and harassment by cadres.

“Media freedom is the freedom enjoyed by the press and everyone involved in public communication, such as radio stations, televisions, newspapers, online publications and new media like digital media,” Bwalya stated.

Bwalya, a trained journalist, added that media freedom was guaranteed by various legislation and the constitution, which was the supreme law of the land.

However, he was quick to mention that some media houses were abusing this privilege.

He further commented on the advantages and disadvantages of the Cyber Security Act, stating that it was in place to protect people and guarantee freedom of expression.

“As a matter of fact, it is enhancing freedom of expression and allowing people to express themselves in a sober manner,” Bwalya said.

He also commended the mainstream media for highlighting issues affecting people in the country, although he noted an information gap, especially for people in rural areas.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

The United Kingdom has threatened to deport a physically-challenged Nigerian, Anthony Olubunmi George, after living in the country for over 38 years.

The threat to deport George, 61, came after officials said they discovered he had come into the country with a forged entry stamp in his passport after he left Nigeria at the age of 24 in 1986.

The Guardian UK reports that though the Nigerian has no criminal convictions, he had also made several applications for leave to remain in the UK, which the Home Office has rejected, most recently on 7 May.

“When George arrived, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Rishi Sunak is the ninth to hold office since George has lived in the UK,” a report in another British tabloid said.

“He has endured many periods of homelessness and disclosed he has lost count of the number of friends who have given him shelter over the years, adding that he no longer has any close family in Nigeria.

“In 2005, his previous solicitors submitted a forged entry stamp in his passport and have subsequently been reported to the police and the legal regulatory bodies.”

George reportedly told the Guardian he knew nothing about the passport stamp until many years later, while his current lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, cited his poor previous legal representation as the reason for George’s problems, and has lodged an appeal against the latest refusal.

“In his most recent refusal, Home Office officials said: “Unfortunately this is not something that is considered an exceptional circumstance.”

A previous Home Office rejection of his case states: “It’s open to your family and friends to visit you in Nigeria,” he noted.

While speaking on his situation, George said:

“I don’t know how many different sofas I’ve slept on – too many to count. I don’t have my life, living the way I’m living now. My health problems since I had my stroke are my biggest worry. All I’m asking for is some kindness from the Home Office.”

George’s case, according to the report, is the second of such in recent weeks involving Africans facing a huge disappointment with the UK Home Office after spending several years in Britain.

Only last week, a 74-year-old Ghanaian, Nelson Shardey, who has resided in the UK since 1977, was refused “indefinite leave to remain despite being in the country for most of his adult life,” the report said.

Shardey who has never left the UK and has no criminal convictions, is said to have suffered two strokes which left him with problems with speech and mobility in 2019, but that has not deterred the UK from going through with the process of deporting him.