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Namibia: No to a Govt-Regulated Media Body, Says Misa
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 6 May 2008
Luqman Cloete
Windhoek
GOVERNMENT'S attempt to set up a media council will not only stifle press freedom, but freedom of expression as well, the National Chairman of Misa Namibia, Christof Maletsky, said during an event to mark World Press Freedom Day at Keetmanshoop on Saturday.
"We cannot have a Government-imposed press council or regulatory body, simply because Swapo congress resolutions have called for one.
We are dealing with a wider public interest than Swapo or its Youth League," Maletsky said.
Maletsky appealed to Government to stop acting at the whim of individuals or groups.
His remarks come in the wake of a recent Government announcement that it would "assist" the media to provide quality services to the Namibian nation by setting up a media council.
"Such steps are in direct contrast to the declaration of principles on freedom of expression in Africa by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, which stipulates that any regulatory body established to hear complaints about media content, including media councils, shall be protected against political, economic or any other undue interference," Maletsky remarked.
He also noted that a media council that had existed for many years became a virtual white elephant because State-funded media and the ruling party refused to be part of it.
Maletsky urged the Government to step aside in order for the media to finalise what they had started - setting up a new media council.
"This is a process that will not happen overnight, and therefore there is a need for continuous engagement with various stakeholders," he said.
"We will consult the Government. Not the other way around," he added. He also noted that over the past months disturbing comments had been made by senior Government ministers about the media.
Maletsky singled out threats made by former Prime Minister Hage Geingob, who is the newly appointed Trade and Industry Minister, earlier this year while addressing a Swapo Party public rally in the North.
In his statement at the rally, Geingob - in his capacity as Swapo Party Vice President - warned journalists to report "the truth and nothing but the truth", or face action from Government.
"Coming from a prominent personality like Dr Geingob, we have to take them [these threats] seriously," Maletsky remarked.
In his message to mark the day, Deputy Information Minister Raphael Dinyando called for a sound relationship between the media and Government that would provide "two-way traffic".
Dinyando further commented that freedom of expression applied to all Namibians, including the Swapo Youth League and Dr Geingob.
He said the Government did not say the media should forsake their very important role of being the watchdog of society.
Dinyando added that the Namibian Government was fully committed to upholding freedom of speech and expression, saying that not a single Namibian journalist, editor, publisher or other media worker had been murdered, arrested, detained or censored.
Although access to information is not protected by law in Namibia, Government called in 1999 for the drafting of legislation and constitutional amendments to safeguard this, Dinyando said.
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"What is important is that the principle of access to information has been adopted," Dinyando remarked.
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