%RWVZDQD Additionally, MISA Botswana did not welcome clause 53 which read, “The Authority may during any emergency, require any service provider to give priority to the transmission of the messages of government or any person and to intercept messages transmitted under such circumstances.” The Bill does not define the term “emergency” and by leaving it openended it also opens it to possible systemic abuse by those in authority at any given time. MISA-Botswana was not alone on this position. The civil society movement in the form of Law Society of Botswana, Botswana Council of NonGovernmental Organisations, BOSETU, Centre for Human Rights and the Press Council of Botswana issued a joint statement supporting MISA-Botswana’s sentiments. Traditional leaders in the House of Chiefs, now Ntlo ya Dikgosi, were also overly confused and kept asking the minister why the rush, why government was hastily repealing the three-tier system of broadcasting, let alone leave out “State Broadcasters” and not even work on transforming it into public service media. The thinking behind government motives remains a mystery to members of the public. In November 2012, MISA-Botswana came across an advertorial in the local media inviting applications from interested individuals and institutions to be considered for membership in the BOCRA Committee. As MISA-Botswana, we immediately made it clear that we would not be participating in such committees. 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\" It has become a commonplace in the current government that affairs of government and media always turn out to be ugly, beginning from the removal of the Department of Information and Broadcasting Services from the relevant ministry to the State ministry up to the current standoff on MISA’s Report on government secrecy and openness. In government circles the media is constantly portrayed as demanding to be treated differently from other sectors. When one looks at how the culture of media bashing has now become institutionalised in Botswana, it is not at all surprising that since he came into office in April 2008, president Ian Khama has not addressed a single media briefing. 7KH0HGLD3UDFWLWLRQHUV· $FW The Media Practitioners’ Act is also a threat in waiting. While it was been signed into a law in 2009, and it seemingly appears to be dormant, the media operates in an un-free, self-censoring environment because, however one looks at it, the fact of the matter is that it has now become a law. At a Media Sustainability Index workshop in July 2012, in Gaborone, journalists were concerned that the intention of the law was to silence and punish journalists by denying them accreditation. One of the journalists noted that he feared that some government agencies may not play fair and would apply laws and regulations selectively. “One of these agencies is against