SECTOR 1 Panellists felt that there are “isolated elements in the country but no collective” and sometimes organisations that should participate in lobbying efforts fail to do so. “there are “isolated elements in the country but no collective” and sometimes organisations that should participate in lobbying efforts fail to do so.” For example, the Namibian Editors Forum was criticised for failing to take any official position or actively participating in the civil society initiative “My Constitution, My Decision”, which was formed in the wake of the government passing 40 Constitutional Amendments without public consultation in August 2014 – 3 months ahead of the general elections that were held in November 2014. Government officials, with then Prime Minister Hage Geingob at the forefront, criticised media and civil society for speaking up against the Amendments. There might also be a lack of understanding of how Freedom of Information and Expression issues influence citizen participation in democracy and development. One panellist put the point forward as follows: “We are using media just to echo what we are doing, but are not looking at the impact of Freedom of Expression issues”. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.3 (2005: 2.8; 2007: 3.1; 2009: 2.9; 2011: 2.6) 1.11 Media legislation evolves from meaningful consultations among state institutions, citizens and interest groups. The government usually does what one panellist termed “cosmetic consultations”. There will be some form of consultation but the comments might not be taken into account. 24 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2015