There are laws in place such as the Magistrate Court Act that could compel journalists to appear in court as witnesses by way of subpoenas. They could then be forced to give information or reveal sources of information. Refusing to do so would mean contempt of court. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 1.6 5, 2, 2, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1 2.1 Public information is easily accessible, guaranteed by law, to all citizens, including journalists. ANALYSIS: There is no Access to Information Act. People have access to certain public information like court documents but there is no law forcing the government or companies to divulge information of public interest. Government officials often make it difficult for journalists to get information in the public interest. Permanent Secretaries in the various ministries, the only persons assigned to give information to the media, do not regard this as their duty but rather as a favour they can either grant or withhold. They key to understanding this state of affairs is again the pre-independence history of Namibia. At the time restrictions on access to information were not only imposed by the South African government but also within the liberation movement which needed to maintain certain levels of confidentiality. Such old habits seem to die hard. Namibia has a “background of obsessive secrecy”. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 1.7 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 4 2.4 Civil society in general and media lobby groups actively advance the cause of media freedom. ANALYSIS: Lobby groups such as the Namibia chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the National Society for Human Rights are making active efforts to advance the cause of media freedom but civil society in general seems to be rather passive in this regard. Members of the public do speak out in radio talk shows. These are a very effective means of expression with people enquiring about and asking for reasons for certain decisions by the authorities. The quality and incisiveness of questions by listeners nowadays has improved greatly compared to when the chat shows first started. However, when media freedom has been eroded, e.g. when programmes like Press Review and the Prime Minister’s Question Hour on NBC were stopped and chat shows taken off air in the Oshiwambo and Lozi services, there was no public outcry or a protest from civil society. “The So This Is Democracy? 2005 -228- Media Institute of Southern Africa