SECTOR 3 The nationwide ‘land protests’ led by former SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL) Spokesperson, Mr. Job Amupanda, remained largely unreported by the NBC ahead of the 2014 national elections and the subsequent inauguration of the President. In January 2015, an interview with Dr. Nico Horn11 on “Good Morning Namibia” about the legality of the rumoured plans for a Chinese Naval base in Walvis Bay was cancelled, allegedly upon request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Horn was told by the Show’s Editor that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had ‘banned’ all communication about the subject matter. The NBC Director General (DG), Mr. Albertus Aochamub, later explained that he was not aware of such a request and that in the past four years, the NBC had not received requests to cancel interviews. Lastly, neither Aochamub nor the NBC Board ever officially commented or took a position on the attack carried out by a ruling party Councilloron an NBC Producer in an NBC radio studio. 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: 1.9 (2005: n/a; 2007: n/a; 2009: n/a; 2011: n/a) 3.6 The state/public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from political interference through its budget and from commercial pressure. The NBC still receives about 80% of its budget from the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology. As mentioned earlier, there is a blurred separation between the SWAPO ruling party and the government and some politicians feel it is within their rights to try and interfere with NBC’s operations, as it receives a large portion of funding from 11 Associate Professor of Human Rights and Law, and director of the Human Rights and Documentation Centre at The University of Namibia AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2015 49