T he year 2005 was historic as it marked the end of the 15-year rule by President Sam Nujoma and heralded a new administration under his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba. The events leading up to the handover of power and the performance of President Pohamba’s administration formed the substance of much of the political coverage. Media attention focused, among others, on whether the Pohamba administration would be one of continuity or change, and the rift within the ruling party, after sacked Trade and Industry Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, who challenged Pohamba for the presidency, and his supporters were sidelined by Nujoma. Pohamba’s declaration of “zero tolerance” for corruption in his inaugural speech, raised the question as to whether he knew of the extent to which corruption had set in during the Nujoma administration. As it was, much of the media coverage in 2005 focused on two major corruption cases, which were exposed by the media. Media attacks on the increase The independent media came under fire from parliamentarians and extra-parliamentary groups several times during the course of the year. The attacks were disconcerting as they demonstrated a lack of understanding of the role of the media in a democracy, 15 years after independence. Criticism of “white” owners bent on destabilising the government was a recurrent theme in many of these attacks, while concerns were also raised about the media’s watchdog role and the parliamentary privilege enjoyed by the media. The first swipe at the media came in February when the government lashed out at what it called “unethical, irresponsible and callous” journalistic practices. The accusation came after the Afrikaans daily Republikein published a reader’s letter critical of Nujoma. The letter was discussed at cabinet level, demonstrating the extent of intolerance to any criticism of the founding president. The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) saw this as an opportunity to continue waging a war of words against the independent media. SPYL Secretary Paulus Kapia accused The Namibian, Republikein and the weekly Windhoek Observer of being “enemies of peace and security in Namibia”. Kapia charged in his vitriolic attack that the three papers either lacked ethics or were “deliberately fulfilling the agenda given to you by imperialists”. Using his position as Swapo Party president, Nujoma lambasted the Republikein and the Windhoek Observer in late November when they published stories which differed from his version of who was responsible for the deaths of several hundred People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) fighters in the first nine days of 1989. His often-repeated threat to “deal with” his adversaries came after the debate around the debacle was reopened, following the discovery of several mass graves in northern Namibia a few months earlier. Riding on the back of Nujoma’s attack on the three newspapers, SPYL Secretary for Information Elijah Ngurare charged in early December that press freedom abuse in Namibia had reached intolerable levels. He also called on the government to enact laws to restrain those abusing the freedom of the press. Despite the fact that Article 21 (1) (a) of the Namibian constitution explicitly guarantees media freedom, the media also came under fire from MPs in both houses of parliament. Minister without Portfolio Ngarituke Tjiriange raised the question of whether it was appropriate for journalists to “monitor” MPs in the National Assembly in October. Swapo backbencher Loide Kasingo supported him, saying she felt “spied” upon by journalists. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -88- Media Institute of Southern Africa