Claim
On 15th February 2022, Tikambeko News posted an article on their Facebook Page stating that the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) had terminated contracts of 5 directors because they shut down the internet to allow the Patriotic Front (PF) party to rig the 2021 General elections. The article followed a press statement on termination of contracts of employment for five (5) Directors issued by the ZICTA Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Hanford Chaaba on 15th February 2022. However, the press statement did not state why the contracts of the Directors were terminated. The post by Tikambeko News attracted a lot of comments from the public.
Rating Justification
The Fact Checking Process has established as false the claim by Tikambeko News that the 5 Directors whose contracts were terminated were involved in shutting down the internet during to allow the Patriotic Party government to rig the 2021 General elections.
iVerify contacted one of the Directors whose contracts were terminated on 16th February 2022 to ascertain facts of the story. The Director was not in a position to disclose the reasons for the termination of the contracts but clarified that it was not because of the internet shut down during the 2021 General elections. The iVerify team contacted ZICTA, requesting the institution to clarify the story by Tikambeko News on the 5 fired Managers. The ZICTA Acting Director General, Mrs. Pethel C. Phiri responded to the iVerify inquiry on 15th March, 2022 explaining that the claim by Tikambeko News on the fired five (5) Directors was “inaccurate”. The dismissal was due to internal administrative procedures and decisions which the Authority indicated could not be shared with the public.
Therefore, it is false as claimed that the 5 Directors whose contracts were terminated were involved in shutting down the internet during the 2021 General Elections.
