Botswana At the 69th World News Media Congress and the 24th World Editors Forum in Durban, South Africa in June 2017 the Board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) issued a statement calling for solidarity with “the Botswana press in the wake of attacks and the hardening government stance against independent, free media.” Reference was made to the on-going campaign by the Botswana government to attack and “intimidate the press as a means of silencing criticism and marginalising opposition voices.” Mention was also made of the “assault on the media through security agencies under the pretext of national security, nationalism and patriotism, as well as the dearth of political will to introduce legislative reform that would enable access to information and protection of journalists’ rights.” From the onset President Khama has been clear about his disdain for the media. In his speech at a graduation ceremony at the then Botswana Institute of Administration and Commerce (when he was still Vice-President), he admitted to the audience, made up mainly of students and their parents, that he did not read local newspapers because - according to him - their reportage dwelt on the negative. During one of his first speeches as the incoming President, he referred to the 4Ds that were part of his election manifesto - democracy, discipline, dignity and development. As he added the fifth D – discipline - he went on to mention the deficiencies of the media. He highlighted the social problems in society that needed to be addressed as a nation and made reference to the use of abusive language in public discourse and defamation, slander and purportedly false statements in the media. The gradual shrinking of media freedom, freedom of expression and lack of access to information was subtle and languid and comes down to the concentration of power in the Executive. But the first chink in the armour of good governance can be traced back to when President Khama established the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) in 2008 through the passing of the Intelligence and Security Services Act, 2007. Even before its enactment, the Bill was dogged with controversy as opposition members walked out of Parliament during its debate. When President Khama transferred oversight authority of DISS and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) from the Ministry of Justice, Defence and Security to the Office of the President it raised issues about the consolidation of power in the executive branch. The manner in which the two entities have operated over ensuing years endorses the perception that these agencies were created “to protect members of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) elite to protect their own partisan interests.”2 Furthermore, instead of acting as separate entities, the two agencies seem to have acted in concert to suppress some of the high profile cases involving political elites. The suppression of information surrounding some of these cases has been a contentious and sticky point between the State and the media. Investigations by journalists into some of these cases 2 A Critical Evaluation of the Intelligence Oversight Regime in Botswana - Lesego Tsholofelo So This is Democracy? 2017 31