/HVRWKR 12. Police Service Act 1998 13. Financial Institutions Act, 1999 Not making it into the list of laws above is the Lesotho Communication Act of 2000, as it was repealed and then replaced by the Lesotho Communications Act of 2012. This law among other important issues, advocates for establishment of Broadcasting Dispute Resolution Panel whose main functions would be; • Prepare a broadcasting code of content • Review and seek to resolve all disputes regarding broadcast content • Refer all unresolved disputes to the Authority [Lesotho Communications Authority], with recommendations. The establishment of the panel is paramount given the fact that radio stations in Lesotho have proven to be powerful in agenda setting and influencing people’s decisions and perceptions. Radio stations in Lesotho are mostly run under severely low professional skill and poor management. Programmes moderation and content are very poor, thereby risking violation of most the laws listed above. In the absence of the envisaged panel, the only disputes resolution mechanism that is currently operational are the courts of law, whose costs may not be affordable to most radio stations – and indeed other media houses – in Lesotho. In this regard the Lesotho Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Lesotho) has embarked on an intensive policy advocacy project whose main objective is to influence the pas- 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\" sage of Receipt and Access to Information Bill, 2000 and the adoption of the long-standing draft media policy. 0HGLD)UHHGRP There were relatively low reports of media freedom violations in the year under review. However, the threat of legal sanction that continuously hangs over journalists is psychologically menacing. Most of the recorded violations occurred towards and during the National Assembly Elections in May, 2012. While low reports in media freedom violations may viewed as encouraging, MISA-Lesotho is worried by the number of journalists who are choosing to keep quiet about the violations they suffer, especially journalists from State-owned media. This fear will, without doubt, make it difficult for the Chapter to offer practical support to journalists who come under fire. &RQFOXVLRQ Despite an unfriendly legal environment, media in Lesotho still make commendable efforts in executing their duties. The risks for doing this, however, are very high as any one of the laws cited above can be used to clamp down on journalists or media houses that may be seen to have stepped out of line. This situation, inevitably, makes advocacy for an access to information law a key priority in advancing development and sustaining democracy in Lesotho.