are an employee and you are a journalist. But looking from the perspective of how similar matters are addressed in other institutions, one can see that the sexual harassment allegations were not dealt with well. What we got was a quick response to get over the issue without looking at the crux of the matter,” she explained. transparent about the project and information on its implementation has been difficult to obtain. (28) Gabriel Erastus, a business journalist at Eagle FM and The Villager newspaper, says the only information that is there about the project’s Energy Investment Fund (EIF) is limited and basic. Amupadhi criticised the condemnations from NAMPU as “unfortunate and generalised comments”, made without approaching the media house in question. “There is a component of that fund under the EIF. There is something that is not clear there. You launch a fund looking for investors and most of those investors are foreign, yet you do not make most of the information about it public. This stance by editors set a dangerous precedent in that there is a knee-jerk reaction to defending media houses as opposed to investigating allegations. “If you look at when Standard Bank and MTC went public, information was there, but with the EIF there has not been any awareness for those who want to invest in it. There is very little writing that has been done about the fund itself. We only get statements once in a while,” he added. This precedent is seen in the light of a latest report of a news editor assaulting a radio presenter, resulting in media spotlight on the issue and condemnation from NAMPU. (25) The incident highlighted once again the violence women journalists are subjected to, although by the writing of this report, allegations against the editor had not been tested in a court of law. (26) In August 2023, The Namibian newspaper reported that the government had cited “confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements” as reasons for not answering questions about private meetings in Windhoek last month involving investors from Germany. Very little is being done to protect journalists against sexual harassment in Namibia for as long as editors take a defensive approach. The paper also reported that the lack of transparency surrounding the government’s partnership with Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has raised the alarm among civil society organisations. (29) Access to information on environmental reporting Despite these concerns, the government insisted that there was no cover up. (30) Generally, the Namibian media has been unrestricted in its reportage on environmental issues in the year under review. However, the secretive nature of the project was confirmed by Mines and Energy minister Tom Alweendo who in August 2023 said, “Nobody is going to invest in your country if everybody knows investment details.” (31) The media has been treated as an ally resulting in a close collaborative relationship with the Tourism and Environment ministry, environmental activists and the police to tackle the age old problem of poaching of the country’s prized rhinoceros’ population. Namibian media have not been subjected to the same information restrictions in the area of oil and gas discoveries in the Orange Basin which have been transparently reported on. (32) During the year under review, there were sustained efforts to establish the country’s synthetic energy hub and the Green Hydrogen flagship project. (27) However, journalists have not yet been given access to these sites. Therefore, it has been difficult to provide a clearer and more nuanced picture of how these activities are playing out in the area and what impact it has had on the environment. The Green Hydrogen project is a joint government and private sector-led initiative to set up clean energy generation technology in the south of the country in order to supplement Namibia’s local energy production sources from fossil fuels as well as exports from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Conclusion The death of President Geingob has the risk of throwing off the momentum Namibia’s free The Namibian government has not been 67 STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023