tion. What is clear, however, is that it is easy to promise change but next to impossible for those in power to walk the talk and let go of the public broadcaster. The amended Communications Act (2016), which subjects all presidential appointments of MBC and Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) boards to national assembly screening, became effective on 1 June 2017, but most critics, including MISA Malawi, doubt the new law will change how MBC has been operating if its conduct during the 2017 by-elections is anything to go by. The amendment of the Communications Act (1998) was a key milestone in the push for transformation of MBC from state control to a public service broadcaster and government’s continued interference with MBC programming is retrogressive and regrettable. Digital Migration Malawi is making commendable progress as far as digital migration is concerned. At the time of writing this report, the Digital Broadcasting Network Limited Company was completing work on a transmitter in Dowa District, central Malawi, to increase signal distribution and coverage from 70-90% of the country. Signal distribution stood at 48% of the total population before the migration from analogue to digital. As stated in our 2016 report, however, awareness is still a challenge as most Malawians do not understand what digital migration means for the country. ACCESS TO INFORMATION President Peter Mutharika surprised many critics when he, on 10 February 2017, assented to the Access to Information (ATI) Act which the National Assembly had passed on 5 December 56 So This is Democracy? 2017 2016. Many people argued that Mutharika would not sign the Act, considering the various instances over the past few years, when government had tried to derail and block the process both in and outside the National Assembly. Mutharika’s signing of the Act concluded a process that started in 2004 and pushed the country into the limelight as one of the few countries on the African continent with an access to information law. Deliberate attempts to strangle the media, delay in implementation of the Access to Information Act, impunity of the ruling elite, existence of old and new draconian laws and low media penetration in the country, remain major challenges, which require strategic planning and persistent monitoring in 2018.