Namibia is legislation in place, such as the Magistrate’s Court Act, that could compel journalists to appear in court as witnesses by way of subpoenas. They could then be forced to give information or reveal their sources of information. Refusing to do so would mean contempt of court. In a test case for the courts, editor of the weekly Windhoek Observer newspaper Hannes Smit was arrested and jailed in 1998 for refusing to give information about the killer of political activist Anton Lubowski. The issue of protection of confidential sources came to the fore with the inauguration of the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2006 when civil servants who wanted to act as whistleblowers found that legally they would not be protected. President Hifikepunye Pohamba has since given the green light for a law to be created to protect whistleblowers. The Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has been lobbying “for years” for a Freedom of Information Act, which would encompass protection of sources. “It’s a matter of political will. The Minister of Information seems to imply that a media council is the pre-requisite for any positive developments within the media.” SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1 Average score: 1.8 8 (2005 = 2.1) African Media Barometer - Namibia 2007