LESOTHO has moved two places back from position 86 worldwide in the 2020 press freedom rankings, the 2021 World Press Freedom Index shows.

The report compiled by Reporters Without Borders, shows that the country is ranked number five in the southern Africa region after Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Malawi.
The National Director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho Chapter, Lekhetho Ntsukunyane-Makhanya said this reflection does not sit well with MISA Lesotho.

He was speaking during the commemoration of this year’s edition of the World Press Freedom Day.

Mr Ntsukunyane-Makhanya said free press is fundamental in a democratic dispensation, adding that it denotes societal development.
He said the celebration comes a few days after the National Reforms Authority (NRA) adopted two policy documents that have a potential to free the country’s media sector from subjugation - draft National Media Policy and draft National Code of Conduct, Behaviour and Practice.
The media sector, Mr Ntsukunyane-Makhanya noted has been identified as one of the key thematic areas for reform in the ongoing multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral national reforms currently driven by the NRA.
He said MISA Lesotho views the adoption of the two documents by the NRA plenary, following consultations with stakeholders, as a step closer to reaching its goal, having lobbied and advocated for the government and parliament to approve and enact modern media laws for over two decades without success.