(MISA/IFEX) – The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho has acted decisively to ensure that public and private media have equal access to public information about the upcoming Commonwealth Speakers’ Conference in Lesotho starting on 2 November 2005. On 31 October, media houses in Maseru – which include the Lesotho Defence Force Public Relations […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho has acted decisively to ensure that public and private media have equal access to public information about the upcoming Commonwealth Speakers’ Conference in Lesotho starting on 2 November 2005.
On 31 October, media houses in Maseru – which include the Lesotho Defence Force Public Relations Office, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Southern African Press Association (SAPA) and Agence France-Presse (AFP) – were refused information at the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Lesotho about the Commonwealth Speakers’ Conference. The reason given by the authorities was that the information would first be transmitted to the government-owned and controlled Radio Lesotho before being transmitted to the independent media.
Following the incident, the MISA-Lesotho approached the National Assembly for clarification and was informed that the public officials involved acted in accordance with a mandate from government authorities. MISA-Lesotho responded that these public officials were merely custodians and not proprietors of public information, adding that the act was a gross violation of media freedom and the right to access information.
The deputy clerk of the National Assembly, Rethabile Maluke, was eventually authorised to transmit the information to the independent media in addition to the state media.
This case illustrates the need for the ongoing MISA-Lesotho campaign for the transformation of state media into public service broadcasters so that a truly free, robust and pluralistic media with diverse views can become a reality in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
