23 Facts About Fred M'membe

Fred M'membe was born on 11 March 1959 and is a Zambian journalist known for his editorship of the Zambia Post.

Fred M'membe has received numerous international awards for his reporting.

Fred M'membe went to St John's Secondary School, where he did his junior secondary, and later went to St Francis in Malole, where he completed his senior secondary.

Fred M'membe worked for a time as an accountant before moving into journalism in November 1990.

Fred M'membe is a qualified member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has a Master in Economic Policy and Planning from the University of Zambia.

Fred M'membe holds a law degree from the University of Zambia and is an advocate of the High Court and Supreme Court of Zambia.

Fred M'membe met Mike Hall, a Malawi-born journalist who covered Southern Africa for the BBC and UK and US newspapers.

Chiluba's government banned the edition and charged Fred M'membe, managing editor Bright Mwape, and special projects editor Masautso Phiri with possession of a banned publication and state secrets, causing the three to go into hiding for several weeks to avoid arrest.

Fred M'membe's co-defendants were acquitted by the Lusaka High Court on 18 August 2000, though the judge ruled that Fred M'membe himself still had to answer the case.

Fred M'membe soon found himself in conflict with Mwanawasa as he had been with Chiluba, and was arrested on 12 February 2002 on defamation charges following publication of an article in which he quoted opposition lawmaker Dipak Patel as calling Mwanawasa a "cabbage", an apparent reference to Mwanawasa's condition following a serious traffic accident that left him with slurred speech.

Fred M'membe stated that he believed the charges to be "politically motivated", and that Patel was their primary target.

The charges against her were dismissed by a judge in November 2009, but after Fred M'membe published an op-ed piece from a Zambian lawyer living abroad in Kabwela's support, he was charged with contempt of court.

Fred M'membe was convicted in June 2010 and sentenced to four months' hard labour.

In July 2011, Fred M'membe again faced a charge of contempt of court for defying a ban not to print "libelous" articles about presidential candidate Rupiah Banda.

Documents filed in Court show that an offer was made by Fred M'membe to pay the monies demanded by the former employees into court, which offer had not been accepted.

Fred M'membe was arrested and charged with attempting to prevent the arrest of her husband, but was acquitted the following year.

Fred M'membe was previously arrested in connection with she and M'membe's journalistic work in 2016.

Fred M'membe is the proprietor of the Mast newspaper which after the closure of the Post has remained one of the few critical and independent voices providing checks and balances to the Zambian government.

In 2018, Fred M'membe founded the Socialist Party, splitting off from the Rainbow Party.

Fred M'membe was the party's candidate for president in the 2021 Zambian general election and is still President of the Socialist Party in Zambia.

Fred M'membe is married to Mutinta Mazoka, a politician, newspaper owner, and the daughter of United Party for National Development founder Anderson Mazoka.

Fred M'membe was the third recipient of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Press Freedom Award in 1995.

In 1995, Fred M'membe won the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism".