particularly strong in rural areas where tradition dominates and prevents the criticism of elders (“It must be a brave man to say anything against elderly person”). “People are fearful of not being regarded as part of Namibia. There is fear of the ruling party [SWAPO] and an underlying fear of the former president [Sam Nujoma, current president of SWAPO].” Outspoken citizens in marginalised areas also feel that they “don’t have the right to talk”, and that their concerns are ignored within the broader community, where nepotism, favouritism and corruption are commonplace. While there are no official mechanisms to counter public criticism of the ruling party, this is more subtly and ominously done through firing and sidelining. Recently callers to the Oshiwambo service of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) asking for Nujoma to answer to claims of being linked to the CIA were threatened by an anonymous caller warning: “Your time is numbered”, thus creating a sense of fear and limiting people’s ability to express themselves (see indicator 3.5 for more detail). The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, subsequently spoke publicly about “crushing” these critical callers. It was mentioned that: “The only radio station where you can speak freely is the NBC’s Otjiherero service.” Over the last three years there has been a tendency within the trade union movement to crush opposing views, particularly in relation to the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), which is linked to the ruling party. Other panelists felt that citizens, especially those in urban areas, demonstrate a healthy expression of opinions through the letters pages of newspapers and radio chat shows, though there was a sense that even those using these avenues are practising self-censorship. A sense of increased freedom of expression was evident with the arrival of the free weekly tabloid, Informanté, in September 2006 with its bold investigative and sensationalist reporting style, as well as the proliferation of youth-driven print and Internet publications (“Very young people own little newspapers and there is no sign of fear”) as well as radio stations. The May Day 2007 celebration in Windhoek was marked by a very poor turnout, indicative of the general political and social apathy prevalent in Namibia: “People don’t speak because they don’t care.” SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 3, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3 Average score: 2.8 (2005 = 3.3) 1.3 There are no laws restricting freedom of expression such as excessive official secret or libel acts, or laws that unreasonably interfere with the responsibilities of the media. ANALYSIS: One of the biggest threats to media freedom is the sluggish pace with which outdated and mediaunfriendly legislation from the apartheid era is being removed from the statute books. There are some laws that restrict freedom of expression in Namibia, such as the Official Secrets Act, the Key Point Act and the Defence Law, but the question remains whether they are excessive. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -195- Media Institute of Southern Africa