or have a political relationship with one another. After the former Communications Minister and now leader of new opposition party ABC, Thomas Thabane, quit the ruling party, Cabinet appointed LCD Secretary General and then Minister of Trade and Industry, Mpho Malie, to act in that ministry until the holding of elections in February 2007. Mpho Malie presided over the selection of the board calling upon the public, in October 2006, to nominate candidates to the board and for interested people to submit their curriculum vitaes (CVs) for selection. However, the outcome and composition of the current board does not reflect the diversity of Lesotho society. The new members of the board include Malie himself, who acted as Communications Minister at the time of the selection process. Others are Teboho ’Mokela, wife of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications; Refiloe Lehohla, sister of the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and of the Chief Justice; and private lawyer, Salemane Phafane, who regularly represents the government and the ruling party in criminal defamation lawsuits against the media. Phafane is also the maternal uncle of Mrs ’Mokela. The other board member is Paseka Khetsi, a lawyer and brother of the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour. Many members of the broadcast media are incensed by the selection of the board along partisan lines and perplexed at how Malie could have submitted his application to join the board. At the time applications were solicited for short-listing, he was the minister responsible for such selection and he could not and should not have selected himself. People wonder if ’Mokela recused himself from assisting the new minister in his selection when it came to the nomination of his wife. Another key development this year was the closure of private radio station, Harvest FM, on allegations brought by senior civil servants. Harvest FM, now back on air, had several run-ins with the government, which accuses the station of negative reporting against the ruling elite. The print media The end of 2007 saw the emergence of many newspapers joining the country’s fragile print media market. The new development ushered in hope that print media plurality would provide much-needed platforms for people to express their views. The scramble for advertising has, however, sparked a silent war among some newspapers. These media wars are even resulting in attacks communicated through newspaper columns. The beginning of 2008 saw some newspapers being freely distributed to increase public reach and attract advertisers. Projections for 2009 There are promising signs for Lesotho’s media as, by the close of 2008, a new Communications Policy became effective. The policy moots new regulatory reforms that call, among others, for the transformation of the state broadcaster into a public service broadcaster. This is a welcome development following a long and overdue call for the national broadcaster to represent all voices in Lesotho. This had been triggered by a need for an independent, professional broadcasting board that will serve the interests of the people and not the ruling elite. The policy envisages that the state broadcaster will be accountable to an independent board with a goal of serving the public interest. It will be editorially independent and any content restrictions or requirements will be contained in its charter along with other clear guidelines on management and editorial issues. The new policy draws some of its provisions from contributions made by the local MISA chapter in its position paper on the Communications Act, especially with regards to the transformation of the state broadcaster. One such adoption from the MISA Lesotho policy paper is the need for regulatory independence in implementing policy without interference from politicians or industry lobbyists. The new policy envisages universal access of media content by a wide populace in the ‘mountain So This Is Democracy? 2008 -33- Media Institute of Southern Africa