MISA interventions on the RTI Campaign in this reporting period. The meetings scrutinised campaign achievements and failures and strategised on the way forward. On July 2008, the coalition for the RTI Campaign met Members of Parliament Community Development Committee in Dodoma to lobby them to support both Media Services and Right to Information bills. The MPs commended the submission and urged the coalition to make further arrangements for MPs to have study tours in countries where good examples of media legislations are In Lesotho, MISA’s Regional Secretariat worked with the national chapter to develop a submission on the Communication Bill and policy that the government gazetted. The impact of the Lesotho process is that the government has taken into consideration the submission by MISALesotho and has asked a consultancy firm to merge the two documents. In Malawi, MISA Malawi appeared before the Media and Communications Committee of Parliament in December 2008 to further advocate for the passing of the Access to Information law. MISA-Zambia held two key meetings with the Ministers of Information and Broadcasting Services to lobby the government on the FoI. The use of popular arts has been most used in Zimbabwe and Zambia. In 2008 Zimbabwe had 10 road shows in cities to popularise freedom of expression and access to information. Local performers of music and theatre were part of the road shows. Other literature, including flyers, booklets was distributed to audiences. In Tanzania MISA mobilised civil society to campaign to lift a government ban on Mwanahalisi newspaper. Similar campaigns were run in Malawi and Lesotho to lift government bans on Joy Radio and Harvest FM respectively. Both stations are back on air. MISA-Tanzania also held various stakeholders’ meetings On December 13, 2008, the Botswana government passed a Media Practitioners Act aimed at among others to control the practice of journalism through mandatory registration of journalists. Prior and after 28 the act was passed, MISA mobilised local and international civil society to campaign against such a law. More than 28 international media freedom organisation signed a petition expressing grave concern in the unilateral manner in which the government acted in passing the law. The petition also called on the government to repeal the law. The government responded to the petition in all local media alleging that MISA and its allies where misconstruing the objects of the Act which was allegedly not to control the media. MISA-Botswana is continuing its lobby work against the law and is supporting litigation against this law. In Namibia following the ban of the popular radio programme, The Chat Show, MISA’s regional secretariat in conjunction with the local chapter organised a series of meetings with the public broadcaster and the Minister of Information to lift the ban. MISA Mozambique carried a national survey on the “State of Freedom of Expression in 33 districts in Mozambique. The report was produced and disseminated in 2009. The report included interviews with citizens to assess their general knowledge about the first question: what do you understand about right to information? There were a great number of interviewees who did not know how to respond and from those who responded it was concluded that they define the concept right to information in different ways. Ten provincial dissemination workshops were organised which drew 700 people. Opportunities There were high-level engagements in all the countries with policymakers, decision makers and top government officials. Such engagements are critical for any reforms. The above research on secrecy and openness in public institutions was an invaluable tool to popularize access to information for both public officials and the public at large. Countries have reported quick responses from public 29