EDITORIAL: Let’s reclaim press freedom dominance

Seychelles has knocked Namibia off the pinnacles of Africa’s free press charts. We are now ranked second on the continent, which is not too bad a ranking - but we are used to be the kings of press freedom.

Though being second is nothing to lose sleep over, the slip still guarantees an urgent inquest.

First, even when we were ranked number one last year, we were only 24th best globally. We asked at the time whether the standards in Africa are so low even the shortest contestant can jump over them.

If the best Africa can offer to the world in terms of press freedom is being 24th, then there’s an urgent need to stop beating the drums in beer halls and pause to ask ourselves what exactly we are celebrating.

In Namibia, we brag about how no journalist was ever arrested during the course of their work as one of the reasons why we are ranked high in Africa. Why is that even a discussion? It’s treasonous that such draconian reasoning finds space in critical national discourse.

Not arresting journalists can never be the benchmark for press freedom.

To shoot to the top of the global rankings, Namibia needs to do more in terms of both policy and implementation and not simply think not arresting reporters is good enough to keep us top of the charts.