Claim:
On February 28th, 2026, President of the Economic Freedom Fighters political party Mr. Kasonde Mwenda posted a video on his Facebook page with the caption: “BEWARE HH signs new LAW! A charge of K100,000 penalty on all individual Zambian Smartphone Users failing to pay monthly phone broadcast TAX coming after 2026 Elections if UPND WINS”. The claim attracted more than one thousand views and comments.
Verification:
iVerify Zambia fact-checked and found as misleading Mr Kasonde Mwenda’s claim regarding the financial cost of the penalty units. While it is true that the draft Broadcast Levy Statutory Instrument for the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Act No. 26 of 2025 proposes an administrative penalty of 100,000 units for failure to pay the prescribed monthly Broadcast Levy, the claim that this amounts to K100,000 is misleading. As of April 2024, one penalty unit was valued at K0.40 (40 ngwee), meaning the proposed 100,000 penalty units would translate to K40,000, not K100,000 as prescribed in Statutory Instrument No. 25 Of 2024, the Fees and Fines (Fee and Penalty Unit Value) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024.
The Broadcast Levy is in line with Section 11(1) of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Act No. 26 of 2025 which stipulates a payment of a prescribed monthly broadcast levy “from a person in possession of, or who uses, a prescribed device capable of receiving a broadcast signal”. Under the draft statutory instrument referenced to in Mr. Mwenda’s claim, this levy is to be collected monthly through entities categorised under Regulation 3(2) and the Second Schedule, and these are Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers, and the agency responsible for Motor Vehicle License collection.
Rating Justification
This claim was selected for fact-checking because it was made by a prominent political figure, has circulated in the public information space and relates to an issue of public interest concerning the national broadcaster, a significant player in Zambia’s information ecosystem. As the country draws closer to elections, and indeed at any other time, fact-checking plays an important role in debunking certain claims, and clarifying whether widely shared information is accurate, misleading, or false. This helps citizens make informed decisions based on verified evidence, and enables relevant stakeholders to take appropriate response actions. The public is however advised that the claim appeared on a platform with a documented history of publishing unverified information.
Evidence:
