SECTOR 1 Government files tend to be labelled either “secret” or “confidential”. Recently, MISA-Lesotho submitted information requests to four ministries and four parastatals. After 31 days, none of the eight institutions had released the information requested, let alone replied to MISA. One panellist said he/she had tried to get ministry performance audits from the office of the Auditor General, but was told the information was in a safe and that the responsible Minister had ordered that the reports should not be released for 10 years. “Even the public accounts committee of parliament does not get to see these reports. The public accounts committee only gets what they are given,” another panellist stated. Students, too, struggle to access information for their research theses, and panellists felt it would be very difficult for ordinary citizens to access information. A national communications strategy that focussed on improving information flow through the use of communication technology was developed in 2009. However, panellists believed the strategy is simply “window dressing” by government to give the impression that it is making changes. “But nothing ever happens,” panellists said. “There’s a whole culture of people not being able to define public information.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.3 (2008 = 1.4 ; 2006 = 1.2) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2010 19