Civil society feels harassed

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Namibia continue to face many challenges while facing increasing harassment and attacks by government. According to a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the legal environment for Namibian CSOs continued to deteriorate slightly in 2018, as government harassment increased and little progress was made on reforming restrictive laws.The report by IPPR director Graham Hopwood says the overall sustainability of Namibia's civil society was unchanged in 2018. “The legal environment deteriorated slightly because of increased government harassment and the lack of progress on reforming the restrictive research law and introducing access to information legislation.”Hopwood says CSOs' ability to secure funds was weaker, causing their organisational capacity and financial viability to deteriorate. “The public image of Namibian CSOs worsened slightly as the government expressed more negative views.”On the other hand, public protests, concerted lobbying and social media activism were evidence of moderately improved CSO advocacy during the year.Regarding the legal environment of CSOs in Namibia, Hopwood cites a press conference organised by the Caprivi Concerned Group (CCG) that was broken up by the police last year The aim of the conference was to seek an end to the long incarceration of individuals who had pursued the secession of the north-eastern Zambezi Region (previously known as the Caprivi Region) from the rest of Namibia in the late 1990s and early 2000s and promote dialogue on the issue. “In July, security officers arrested six of CCG's leaders during an attempted public meeting and charged them with obstructing the police, sedition, and incitement to commit public violence. The CCG leaders were initially denied bail, but a few days later the police dropped all charges and released them, citing a lack of evidence.”According to Hopwood, the police said the case could be reintroduced at a later stage.Hopwood further says that the government has pursued a piecemeal approach to repealing outdated and often discriminatory apartheid-era laws. He said a worrying precedent was set in April 2018 when, for the first time since Namibia's independence, the Namibian Central Intelligence Service (NCIS) used the Protection of Information Act of 1982 to stop The Patriot newspaper from publishing information about the service's questionable acquisition of property. “A subsequent court hearing found in favour of the newspaper, which proceeded to publish the report.”However, Hopwood said the Protection of Information Act remains on the statute books, while efforts by the Access to Information in Namibia (ACTION) coalition to lobby the government for an access to information law made very slow progress last year.He adds that the government has held no public consultations on the issue. Hopwood further points out that the controversial Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2004, which requires all organizations and individuals to apply for permits for research projects, remained in force in 2018.He also points out that CSOs face no legal limitations on accepting funding from international sources. CSOs may compete for government contracts and earn income through the provision of goods and services.“By law, charitable, religious, and welfare organisations are exempt from paying taxes on their incomes. However, concerns about churches undertaking profit-making activities prompted the finance minister to propose in March a tax on any income that charities derive from commercial activities.”According to Hopwood CSOs were concerned about the intent of this proposal, but the government undertook no follow-up action on the proposed tax during the year.Hopwood also said that the public image of Namibian CSOs worsened slightly in 2018 as the government expressed more negative views about them.“Negative views of CSOs originate primarily from government circles.”During the September 2018 visit of the delegation for the African Peer Review Mechanism, whose members emphasised the benefits of working with civil society, President Hage Geingob publicly criticised CSO leaders as “failed politicians” seeking to exert influence through irregular means. ELLANIE SMIT

Civil society feels harassed

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-03

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Civil society feels harassed

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-03

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