Media freedom statistics The total number of alerts issued by MISA in 2005 was 155. This decreased by 8,3 percent from the previous year (169), but as stated earlier this should not be hailed as a victory for media freedom and freedom of expression environments in the region. It is important to note that the nature and impact of the violations rather than the number is a telling statistic. How then, have things changed in 2005? Botswana no longer a shining example The expulsion of Professor Kenneth Good from Botswana in 2005 dominated regional news media for the earlier part of 2005. The Australian academic – who co-authored a paper criticising the Botswana government – was served with a deportation order in February 2005 and lost the battle late in May. In his view, his only crime was to speak out against the ruling elite. In July 2005, the Court of Appeal Judge President Patrick Tebbutt read the judgment which affirmed the ruling of Botswana’s Lobatse High Court of May 31. The High Court had found the declaration of Professor Good as Prohibited Immigrant lawful, thus opening the way for the state to deport him. Judge Tebutt said that the Court of Appeal found that Botswana President Festus Mogae had not acted irrationally in declaring Professor Good a Prohibited Immigrant. He stated that there was no procedural impropriety in the declaration. The Court of Appeal dismissed arguments advanced by Professor Good’s lawyers that sections of Botswana’s Immigration Act violate the Constitution. In August MISA was pressed to express its reservations about Botswana’s immigration laws when Zimbabwean journalist Roderick Mukumbira, who worked as the editor of the Maun newspaper the Ngami Times, was forced to leave Botswana on August 2 2005. It is believed that the government was not pleased with Mukumbira’s coverage of the statesanctioned evictions of the San people from the Kalahari ancestral homelands. MISA confirmed that on July 27 2005, the Botswana government sent Mukumbira a letter revoking his work and residence permits, ordering him to leave the country within seven days. Mukumbira is not the only Zimbabwean journalist to have been expelled recently from Botswana as Charles Chirinda, a correspondent of the State-owned BTV, was also ordered out of the country. Swaziland constitution – a waiting game On July 26 2005, Swaziland welcomed its new constitution. While the media may initially celebrate its enforcement, since it enshrines, among others, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, there are concerns as to how the principles will translate into reality. This is particularly so because the new constitution further entrenches the political hegemony with the King exercising executive, legislative and judicial authority. Although the constitution provides for limited freedom of speech, assembly, and association, as well as limited equality for women, King Mswati may waive these rights at his discretion. Constitutional experts have already indicated contradictions in the constitution, especially in So This Is Democracy? 2005 -11- Media Institute of Southern Africa