STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2022 President Armando Guebuza, who regularly deployed heavy handed tactics on the media. While President Nyusi portrays himself as an ordinary citizen determined to protect human rights, the landslide victory that secured him a second term was characterised by unprecedented levels of election related violence and other irregularities. “Thus he is increasingly perceived as powerhungry and adamantly committed to protecting his own image and interests,” according to a BTI country report on Mozambique.(2) The use of legislation to obstruct civil society organisations from strengthening their work around public interest and social justice issues is becoming a dominant trait of the current government. The introduction of the Creation, Organization, and Operation of Non-profit Organizations Bill is one such example. It has been presented under the guise that in complying with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations, Mozambique is seeking to curtail money laundering activities. Conversely, there are certain clauses of the legislation heavily focused on over-regulating non-governmental organisations and curbing their activities instead. In a country where the political economy of private media is intrinsically linked to activities carried out by CSOs, the law will have serious ramifications on independent voices supported by donor funding. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS To understand the principles behind the configuration of Mozambique’s media framework, one has to understand the composition and structure of its democratic institutions such as Parliament. While in principle Mozambique is viewed as a democratic state, the hegemonic tendencies of the Frelimo party clarifies why preservation of the status quo appears to be the preoccupation of successive governments. As the Navigating Civic Spaces in Mozambique report explains: “Historically, the party-state has firmly censored the freedom of expression and participation of citizens and groups.”(3) 50 Barriers to the work of the media include changes to the Criminal Code in 2014, defining defamation of senior state officials as a crime against state security. Similarly, the social communications law seeks to create statutory media regulation and limit the presence of foreign correspondents, and the broadcasting law will restrict what the government calls foreign content. While Law 34/2014 — the law on the right to information — and the respective regulation — Decree 35/2015 — essentially paves the way for the right to information as guaranteed in Article 48 of the Constitution — the problem lies in the implementation. Although various public bodies have set up websites and taken to social media to interact with citizens, the drawback is that it is surface level engagement and lacks a strategic and coordinated approach. Detailed information related to financial audit reports, public contracts or even public procurement reports or topical information is still closely guarded with public officials and institutions turning to the Law on State Secrecy to deny access to information of public interest. (4) MEDIA PLURALISM AND DIVERSITY While both government-owned and independent news media exist in the country, a significant number of media outlets are directly or indirectly controlled by the authorities or members of the ruling party, Frelimo, which considerably undermines their independence. Television, which is a popular medium in Mozambique, is government controlled through the local editorial offices of TVM — a national network. STV, a popular private channel and Portuguese RTP Africa and Brazilian-owned TV Miramar are widely-watched. State-run Antena Nacional radio is extremely popular. State-controlled daily Noticias is the leading newspaper, while O País is the most popular independent daily. Savana and Canal de Moçambique are independent weeklies with a fairly high profile.