Lesotho Alert 10 April 2012 State media crew barred from opposition All Basotho Convention rally A crew from the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service (LNBS) was, on Monday 9 April 2012, barred from covering the opposition party All Basotho Convention¹s (ABC) rally in Qacha¹s Nek, nearly 150km from the capital, Maseru. LNBS senior television producer ŒMapitso […]
Lesotho Alert
10 April 2012
State media crew barred from opposition All Basotho Convention rally
A crew from the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service (LNBS) was, on Monday
9 April 2012, barred from covering the opposition party All Basotho
Convention¹s (ABC) rally in Qacha¹s Nek, nearly 150km from the capital,
Maseru.
LNBS senior television producer ŒMapitso Ts¹iu told the Lesotho Chapter of
the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Lesotho) that the crew was
setting up their equipment in readiness to cover the rally when in her own
words ³the ABC leader told our crew to leave the rally because we are
allegedly selectively about which of the ABC rallies we cover.²
Qacha¹s Nek is the hometown of the incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha
Mosisili and ABC are hoping to cause an upset in the upcoming general
elections, slated for 26 May 2012.
ABC spokesperson Lerotholi Pheko confirmed to MISA-Lesotho that the LNBS
crew was Œ¹asked to leave¹¹ the rally.
State media in Lesotho have been accused of giving the newly formed
Democratic Congress (DC), led by Prime Minister Mosisili more airplay in the
run-up to the May election. This has caused political parties who are also
are participating in the poll to complain and demand fair coverage on the
campaign trail.
On 27 March 2012, MISA-Lesotho wrote a letter to the Lesotho Television
(LTV) management expressing concern about the State media¹s tendency to give
prominence to the ruling DC. While to a certain extent LTV has started to
show broadcasts of other political parties, MISA-Lesotho observes that the
station still needs to improve in this regard.
However, MISA-Lesotho is also concerned about the manner in which the ABC
conducted itself during the Qacha¹s Nek rally. Media freedom is one of the
cornerstones of the same democracy that political parties like the ABC
preach about in their manifestos.
Hence, a failure to use available channels to air out grievances on the
media by opting to bar journalists from reporting on events not only
curtails media freedom but also hinders the public¹s access to information,
considering that in a democracy, informed citizens tend to make informed
choices.
MISA-Lesotho appeals to all political parties in Lesotho to allow the all
media, private and public, to cover their rallies without any hindrance.
For more information please contact:
Thabang Matjama, MISA-Lesotho
Office: +26622320941 / Email: misalesotho@gmail.com
Levi Kabwato
Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 232975
Fax: +264 61 248016
Fax to e-mail: 088622208
Mobile: +264 81 809 9555
Skype: levisonk
www.misa.org
www.windhoekplus20.org
www.pacaia.org
(1992 – 2012) Celebrating 20 years of advocating for media freedom and
freedom of expression in Southern Africa
