that cannot be seized. But the essential criticism of this law is that while the National Assembly reigns supreme in the enactment of laws for the peace, order and governance of the country, the National Assembly could never hold supreme in flouting the Constitution of the republic. To underscore this point, attorney Gosego Lekgowe wrote in an analysis of the law published in Mmegi in March 2009 that although civil liberties are not ranked in the country’s Constitution, it is widely understood in Botswana that media freedom is among “the most precious of all protected freedoms (because) it lies at the very foundation of a democratic society and must be jealously guarded by the courts”. He emphasized the point that unhindered expression of opinion is the mark of democracy “even if those opinions disturb and offend”. Another contentious requirement of the MPA’s concerns professionalism of journalism. In his analysis of the MPA attorney Lekgowe concludes that the MPA seeks to impose professionalism in order to restrict access to journalism and maintain a stranglehold on journalists. “Parliament does not have a constitutional mandate to impel professionalism on journalists,” Legowe wrote. “Only a court wrapped with executive-minded judges (would) hold otherwise.” While deployment of public relations officers to all departments of state was hailed as a welcome development several years ago, there is a serious snag in that these characters act more like ‘public prevention officers’ because they are either too ignorant to be of any use or impede access to people with the information sought. At best, they demand written questions even though complying is no guarantee that the questions will be answered. The result is that in the continued absence of freedom of information legislation, the right to know is compromised because nothing can be done to compel PROs to act appropriately. LOOKING FORWARD TO 2018 This is difficult to assess. The next president, who will assume office on 1 April this year, has the appearance of a liberal and has been consulting robustly with stakeholders, including the trade unions. However, this could be misleading because Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi has also been at the forefront of marginalising the political opposition by almost any means necessary. He has also been heard in leaked secret recordings plotting against the private media. Even so, the large body of opinion is that his should be a much better administration, if only because all he will have to do is reverse some of his predecessor’s insufferable policies.