12 Media houses including Power FM radio and Pasme radio were also attacked during live shows in April and October 2019 respectively, for hosting divergent views. Civil society condemned these practices, warning that they will lead to self-censorship of the media. They advocated for tolerance of views, and called upon authorities including the Zambia Police to hold perpetrators accountable. ASSESSMENT The destruction of journalistic tools and arbitrary arrests of journalists in Angola and harassment of journalists by investigating authorities in Botswana and e-Swatini and violent attacks against Malawian, Mozambiqan and Zambian journalists go against Principle 6 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, which provides for protection of journalists exercising their rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and Principle 20 which calls for States to guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners and take measures to prevent attacks on journalists and other media practitioners. ACCESS TO INFORMATION The right to access to information is a fundamental human right that enables citizens to make informed decisions and effectively participate in the governance process, while holding duty bearers accountable. A robust access to information regime not only safeguards against abuse by public officials but also permits the public to play a role in shaping the policies of the state. In Malawi’s constitution under section 37, the National Access to Information Policy (2014) and the Access to Information Act (2017) provide a framework for the actualisation of the right to access information. However, since the enactment of the ATI legislation in 2017, the state only recently set a commencement date for the law, with the Information Minister Gospel Kazako, gazetting it on 30 September 2020. This prolonged delay is an indication of political unwillingness to facilitate citizens’ access to information possessed by the state. Notwithstanding a supporting framework, MISA Malawi has reported several incidents where journalists have been barred from accessing information at state house, government meetings and courts, stifling the principle of open justice. In July 2020, suspected members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) barred Nation Publications Limited’s investigative reporter Golden Matonga from covering court proceedings of former President Peter Mutharika’s bodyguard. In March, DPP and United Democratic Front (UDF) supporters also barred reporters from Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) from covering a parade the two parties had organised in Lilongwe, and on February 18, 2020, during the first session of Parliament for 2020, Members of Parliament barred journalists from covering proceedings. In Lesotho, the Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro on September 14, 2020 announced the government’s move to classify some of its information as “confidential government information” and prosecute media houses that publish such information. He added that “... anybody who is not authorised to be in possession of classified government documents is committing an offence”, and that it is “illegal for the media to be in possession of classified documents”. The lack of an access to information law in Lesotho further makes it difficult for the media to execute their mandate. In a 2020 Transparency Assessment, it was revealed that 70% of the sampled ten public institutions and government ministries denied access to reasonable information requested, or acted with high levels of secrecy. According to the study, only 30% of the institutions displayed an average level of openness in allowing access to public information. For allowing live broadcasts of their proceedings, in December 2019, the Public Accounts Committee of Lesotho’s Parliament was lauded by MISA Lesotho for promoting Access to Information and Press Freedom. Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo CREDIT: ONLINE