AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2009 Executive Summary Freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, is guaranteed by the constitution of Namibia and the country’s diverse, independent and vibrant press and broadcasting landscape is testimony to this. Individual freedom of expression, however, is perceived as being limited. After President Hifikepunye Pohamba took over from founding President Sam Nujoma in 2004, the political atmosphere appeared to become more open and citizens, for a while, felt more confident in speaking out. However, with elections scheduled for November 2009, the emergence of new political parties and evident divisions within the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), political tolerance seems to be wearing thin. The fear of expressing oneself freely seems greater in rural as opposed to urban areas, probably because of the inequitable distribution of resources and the vulnerability of poorer people who depend on government support and for whom basic needs, such as food, housing and water, often override more idealistic concerns. The state-owned Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and the daily New Era are at pains to assure the public that they will be impartial in covering the elections but seem to be coming under increasing pressure to toe the party line. A case in point is the fate of a hugely popular talk show on NBC’s National Radio. In February 2009 members of the SWAPO Elders Council demanded that the show to be taken off air because callers were criticising the party’s leaders and government. The following month, in March, the NBC’s Director General suspended the show. (After a public outcry it was later resumed, although in more censored fashion.) The NBC, which operates one TV and ten radio stations, is controlled by a board whose members are appointed by government. The same goes for the board of the National Communications Commission (NCC) which licenses commercial and community broadcasters. A draft Communications Bill currently under discussion and to be passed possibly during 2009, will pave the way for the NCC to be replaced by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) - also to be government-controlled. The Bill further contains highly controversial provisions that give intelligence agents the right to intercept and monitor telephone and mobile phone conversations as well as e-mail. Communications service providers will have to keep records of conversations at their own cost. 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2009