basa bar s Salaam oroni h la a iara ,QWURGXFWLRQ Talk of a media policy in Lesotho reached fever-pitch ahead of the 2012 general elections and for a short time after the poll. Ever since, the country seems to have moved farther away from adopting the proposed media policy. The Receipt and Access to Information Bill has been gathering dust in parliament shelves since 2000; the Lesotho Communications Act (2012) is being implemented partially and there are still 14 pieces of legislation that threaten media freedom, pluralism and diversity. And, despite having held its first ever democratic elections in 1993 and witnessing the growth of private print and broadcast media, the mountain kingdom of Lesotho still has no express guarantees for media freedom and freedom of expression. As it has been noted in previous editions of this report, media in Lesotho operate in a very hostile legal environment. Therefore, this current country report looks into importance of adoption of the draft media policy, passage of Receipt and Access to Information Bill of 2000 and speedy implementation of the Lesotho Communications Act (2012). It also argues that the lack of political will in Lesotho is what stands in the way of media reform in Lesotho. 1997 and the second in 2000) that fairly represents both the government and citizens aspirations with regard to the development of media in Lesotho. The draft media policy has the following three main important areas that are agreed to by concerned parties: • • • Review of current laws that are not favorable to media development Development of code of conduct and obligations for the media practitioners Establishment of co-regulatory and Self regulatory mechanisms for electronic and print media respectively. /HJDOUHIRUPV The current draft media policy, developed in October 2010, is a hybrid of two draft policies (the first drafted in Despite Lesotho being a signatory to ICCPR and ACHPR, the following 13 pieces of legislation remain functional and are not favorable to media freedom and freedom of expression. 1. Obscene Publication proclamation No. 9 of 1912 2. Sedition Proclamation No 44 of 1938 3. Printing and Publications Act, 1967 4. Official Secrets Act, 1967 5. High Court Act, 1978 6. Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, 1981 7. Internal Security Act (General) Act, 1984 8. Emergency Powers Order 1988 9. National Assembly Elections Order 1992 10. Constitution of Lesotho 1993 (Article 14 (2)) 11. The Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act, 1994 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\" dian Ocean :K\DGRSWWKHGUDIWPHGLD SROLF\"