which publishes the weekly tabloid, Informanté. This would further strengthen the monopoly of Newsprint, a division of Democratic Media Holdings, which prints the dailies Republikein, Algemeine Zeitung, New Era as well as the weekly Namibian Sun. On the media ethics front, the issues of freebies and other questionable interactions between media and business continue to arise. The media fraternity in Namibia remains divided on this matter. It was revealed that a leading cellular phone operator spends approximately N$300,000 (US$30,000) per year on airtime allowances, mobile handsets, accommodation, transport and daily allowances for sponsored events and gifts for journalists. Of relevance to the media landscape is the fact that a number of outdated and media-unfriendly laws, some inherited from the pre-independence era, are still in existence and need to be examined. These laws continue to impact on media freedoms and can be used against journalists. Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act, for example, empowers a magistrate, at the request of a public prosecutor, to enquire any person likely to give material or relevant information concerning an offence to attend before him or her for examination by a prosecutor. Section 189 of the act empowers a magistrate to enquire into any refusal by any person to answer any question put to him or her and to sentence that person to imprisonment if there is no just cause for refusing to answer the questions. The Protection of Information Act, which imposes secrecy requirements on civil servants, also inhibits the free flow of information. Even though media freedoms are provided for in Article 21 (1) (a) of the Namibian Constitution, this guarantee is subject to Article 21 (2), which provides for specific permissible restrictions on these freedoms. In addition, the guarantee is also subject to Article 22, the general limitation clause for all rights and freedoms entrenched in the Bill of Rights. Furthermore, the various acts that establish the government-funded media houses and the Namibia Communications Commission make provision for the minister to appoint the governing board. This has brought the independence of these bodies into question. So This Is Democracy? 2008 -70- Media Institute of Southern Africa