News and statements
False: Lesotho’s 2026 Census Results Have Not Yet Been Released
Viral posts claim Lesotho’s 2026 census recorded 2.1 million people, with 1.5 million women and 600,000 men. However, the Bureau of Statistics confirms no official report has been published, warning that false figures risk eroding public trust while data verification remains ongoing.
Partly False: Lesotho’s Constitution and Trade Laws Prohibit Private Land Sales to Foreigners and Reserve Small Business Sectors for Citizens
Claims that foreign nationals can freely buy land and operate small businesses in Lesotho without regulation are legally false and risk fueling xenophobic hostility. In reality, Section 107 of Lesotho’s Constitution prohibits outright private land sales to anyone, while national trade laws explicitly reserve micro-business sectors exclusively for Basotho citizens.
From Kigali to Maseru: Rewriting the ‘Invisible Rules’ of Gender, Media, and Power in Lesotho
The unwritten rules of media and society heavily restrict women in politics. Fresh from the WYDE Media Seminar in Kigali, MISA Lesotho’s Acting National Director Nicole Tau challenges the Fourth Estate to confront its own biases, tackle digital violence, and urgently reform Lesotho’s newsrooms.
PARTLY FALSE: Sherwood Gathering Exceeded 7,000, but Census Data Contradicts Claims of Millions of Malawians in South Africa
A viral Facebook post correctly reported that the number of displaced Malawian nationals gathered at Sherwood Park in Durban rapidly surged past 7,000 in June 2026. However, its broader claim that South Africa is home to “millions” of undocumented Malawians is contradicted by official census data from both South Africa and Malawi, which record roughly 200,000 Malawian-born residents in the country.
From Lipitso to Pixels: Why Lesotho’s 2026 Digital Census Needs an Access to Information Law
Lesotho’s first fully digital census has revealed surprising realities about the country’s population, but questions remain about public access to the data. As the nation embraces digital statistics, the absence of an Access to Information law risks leaving citizens counted, yet still uninformed.
The Cost of Silence: Regional dialogue on Journalist Mental Health and Media Leadership
While journalists are experts at documenting the struggles of others, 72% of them choose silence when it comes to their own. This dialogue confronts the 88% of media institutions that still look the other way, proving that protecting media freedom is impossible if the media fails to protect the storytellers themselves.
Editorial Leadership Training Programme (MISA Lesotho & UNDP)
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Lesotho, invites applications for an exclusive, high-level media training programme.
Cost of Silence: Journalists Speak Out on Threats, Trauma and the Need for Care
What happens to the storyteller when the story itself becomes a source of trauma? On March 27th, MISA Lesotho convened a groundbreaking “safe-space” dialogue that moved beyond the typical press freedom debate to confront the human cost of journalism. From the shadows of intimidation to the weight of vicarious trauma, we explored why mental health and physical safety are not ‘luxuries’ for the media, but the very foundation of a free press. This is what happened when Lesotho’s journalists finally broke their silence.
MISA Lesotho Statement On the 2026/27 National Budget: A missed opportunity for media development
MISA Lesotho expresses concern over the omission of media reform, press freedom, and institutional media support in the 2026/27 National Budget. We believe this silence represents a missed opportunity to strengthen democratic governance, accountability, and transparency in Lesotho.