8 the Protection of Information Act (1982) and the Communications Act of 2009 which block government officials from giving information to journalists and allow for invasive communications surveillance; the Broadcasting Act (No. 9 of 1991) which grants the information minister wide discretionary powers to interfere with the state broadcaster’s editorial independence; and the Public Service Act (No. 13 of 1995 as amended), prohibiting civil servants from disclosing any information without the permanent secretary’s prior permission. The country awaits the passing of the Access to Information Bill of 2020 into law, which will ease media access to government information in the public interest. Physical attacks on journalists are rare in Namibia, however, a spate of verbal attacks occurred, especially during coverage of contentious issues like elections and corruption (10). In 2019, in the run-up to the elections in November, Vita Angula, a freelance journalist had his licence cancelled by the stateowned Namibian Press Agency (NAMPA), after he participated in a TV talk-show discussing corruption. In 2020, further intimidation, harassment from security agencies and verbal altercations from politicians have been reported. In 2020, Tanzania also introduced regulations barring local media from broadcasting content from foreign media without government permission. Harrison Mwakyembe, the Information Minister, argued that the government only wanted to know which stations in Tanzania have partnered with foreign media to air content, and that the regulations are not aimed at banning foreign media. The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority sternly warned Radio Free Africa, a local radio station based in Mwanza region, for “not being balanced” while broadcasting an interview from the BBC Swahili service with opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu. Namibia has for several years been praised for its progressive attitude towards upholding the rights to freedom of expression and media freedom, allowing journalists to freely practice their trade. This has put it at the fore in Africa’s rankings. Despite the state’s goodwill in guaranteeing these rights, residual restrictive laws inherited from the apartheid era are still in operation: the Official Secrets Act which gags the public from accessing information considered as secret by the state; Edward Mumbuu, a journalist at NAMPA, was referred to as a “disparager” by President Hage Geingob for asking a “difficult question about the president’s associates” unrelated to Covid-19 during a presser. Unfortunately, the management of NAMPA, instead of defending him, distanced itself from the journalist and his questions. During the reporting period, Zambia has been facing acute electricity outages of up to twelve hours a day, which have reportedly had a dire effect on media operations and increased the cost of production. The state has, however, been advocating for journalism to be recognised as a profession and this led to a widely consultative process by the media which culminated in the Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) Draft Bill, 2019, establishing and recognising the Zambia Media Council as the only media self-regulatory body in the country. The Bill, which was submitted to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, is viewed as a positive step towards professionalising the journalism industry and developing the media sector. Zambia is, however, not devoid of media attacks. The law on defaming the president has been severally applied to gag the public from criticising the head of state. Martin Akende, the manager of Millennium radio station, was called to testify in a case of defamation of the President, following alleged defamatory remarks by a caller on one of the station’s programmes.