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the Protection of Information Act (1982) and
the Communications Act of 2009 which block
government officials from giving information to
journalists and allow for invasive communications
surveillance; the Broadcasting Act (No. 9 of
1991) which grants the information minister wide
discretionary powers to interfere with the state
broadcaster’s editorial independence; and the
Public Service Act (No. 13 of 1995 as amended),
prohibiting civil servants from disclosing any
information without the permanent secretary’s
prior permission. The country awaits the passing
of the Access to Information Bill of 2020 into
law, which will ease media access to government
information in the public interest.
Physical attacks on journalists are rare
in Namibia, however, a spate of verbal
attacks occurred, especially during coverage
of contentious issues like elections and
corruption (10). In 2019, in the run-up to the
elections in November, Vita Angula, a freelance
journalist had his licence cancelled by the stateowned Namibian Press Agency (NAMPA), after
he participated in a TV talk-show discussing
corruption. In 2020, further intimidation,
harassment from security agencies and verbal
altercations from politicians have been reported.

In 2020, Tanzania also introduced regulations
barring local media from broadcasting content from
foreign media without government permission.
Harrison Mwakyembe, the Information Minister,
argued that the government only wanted to
know which stations in Tanzania have partnered
with foreign media to air content, and that the
regulations are not aimed at banning foreign
media.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory
Authority sternly warned Radio Free Africa, a local
radio station based in Mwanza region, for “not
being balanced” while broadcasting an interview
from the BBC Swahili service with opposition
presidential candidate Tundu Lissu.
Namibia has for several years been praised for its
progressive attitude towards upholding the rights
to freedom of expression and media freedom,
allowing journalists to freely practice their trade.
This has put it at the fore in Africa’s rankings.
Despite the state’s goodwill in guaranteeing these
rights, residual restrictive laws inherited from the
apartheid era are still in operation: the Official
Secrets Act which gags the public from accessing
information considered as secret by the state;

Edward Mumbuu, a journalist at NAMPA, was
referred to as a “disparager” by President Hage
Geingob for asking a “difficult question about the
president’s associates” unrelated to Covid-19
during a presser. Unfortunately, the management
of NAMPA, instead of defending him, distanced
itself from the journalist and his questions.
During the reporting period, Zambia has been
facing acute electricity outages of up to twelve
hours a day, which have reportedly had a dire
effect on media operations and increased the
cost of production. The state has, however, been
advocating for journalism to be recognised as a
profession and this led to a widely consultative
process by the media which culminated in the
Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) Draft Bill, 2019,
establishing and recognising the Zambia Media
Council as the only media self-regulatory body
in the country. The Bill, which was submitted
to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Services, is viewed as a positive step towards
professionalising the journalism industry and
developing the media sector.
Zambia is, however, not devoid of media
attacks. The law on defaming the president has
been severally applied to gag the public from
criticising the head of state. Martin Akende, the
manager of Millennium radio station, was called
to testify in a case of defamation of the President,
following alleged defamatory remarks by a caller
on one of the station’s programmes.

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