cried foul about skewed coverage by state controlled broadcasters in favour of ruling parties. Governments and state broadcasters in the region should start making the necessary reforms in preparation for the next election cycle in 2014. No equitable coverage! No democracy! During 2009 we witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of civil and criminal defamation suits against individual journalists and media houses in SADC. The case of Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela, who was charged for circulating obscene materials contrary to section 177 1 (b) of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia, brought to the fore important gender dimensions. Kabwela had reportedly circulated pictures of a woman giving birth in the parking lot of Zambia’s largest hospital without the assistance of the medical personnel who were on strike at the time. Sadly these gender dimensions were overlooked by the government of Zambia who leaped at the opportunity to divert attention from its failings on health delivery. The government instead lambasted the newspaper for distributing pornography. 32 violation alerts, 99 Communiqués and 66 statements between April 2009 and March 2010. Please see the following distribution table: Country Alerts Communiqués Media Statements Total per country Angola 2 0 0 2 Botswana 7 3 4 14 Lesotho 4 0 0 4 Malawi 10 22 2 34 Mozambique 10 3 1 14 Namibia 11 4 10 25 South Africa 18 29 6 53 ACTIVITIES Swaziland 27 7 7 41 Tanzania 6 2 2 10 Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression Monitoring Zambia 27 3 7 37 Zimbabwe 40 26 27 93 MISA continued to monitor the media and freedom of expression environment in Total 162 99 66 327 Also, the right of citizens to access information held by public institutions remains a far-fetched idea in southern Africa. A research conducted in seven countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) in 2009 to measure openness and secrecy in public institutions and how it’s making it impossible for citizens to access public information. The year 2009 further brought into sharper focus the urgent need for state media to reform to public broadcasters which can give fair and balanced coverage to all political parties. Opposition political parties in Botswana, Malawi and Namibia southern Africa, issuing and disseminating alerts. This work has enabled MISA to support journalists facing challenges in the region. MISA distributed 162 media freedom and free expression 33