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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

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