‘Messy’ year for Namibian media

From the controversial suspensions of editors to a drop in press freedom rankings and journalists entering the race to become parliamentarians, 2024 – dubbed the ‘Year of Expectations’ by late president Dr Hage Geingob – has been a turbulent year for the fourth estate in Namibia.Hailed as one of the vanguards of media freedom globally, Namibia has long been praised for prioritising press freedom and ensuring that the media can do their work in an environment free of harassment or intimidation.The country has, over the years, comfortably held the title as the freest press on the African continent and amongst the top 30 globally. It is now ranked second, having lost the top spot to Mauritania, according to the 2024 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) earlier this year.Namibia’s global ranking dropped from 22 in 2023 to 34 in 2024. The drop was ascribed to a series of incidents involving political actors having clashed with the press.Drop a concernMedia ombudsman John Nakuta said Namibia still enjoys high levels of media freedom, but “it will be disingenuous not to mention the fact that we dropped significantly in our rankings".He added: “We still do not have physical harassment of journalists – no journalist has been arrested for doing their work and the media space is still free. The government must be congratulated for allowing the media to operate in a safe space".As for the media rankings, Nakuta said the steep decline is worrisome.“Political interference, especially in the state media, has been identified as one of the causes, especially when you consider the Johnathan Beukes matter, whereby the nation is still wondering why he was suspended in the first place,” he said.He also lamented government’s failure to operationalise the Access to Information (ATI) legislation.“The importance of such legislation cannot be overemphasised. It is specifically worrisome that the 2024/25 national budget actually made provision for the appointment of the information commissioner and his/her deputy, [but] this has still not been done."He said the Act was promulgated and published on 28 December 2022, nearly two years ago, but has still not been implemented."This is a disappointment due to the fact that the information minister told the nation earlier this year that the office of the information commissioner would be operationalised this year,” he said.Editors axedThe ominous suspension of New Era newspaper’s former managing editor, Johnathan Beukes, last year and his subsequent mutual separation last month have dominated newspaper front pages, with lobby groups and the public calling for the suspension to be lifted.Beukes was taken to task by his employer after the state-owned paper ran an article that was perceived to be critical of the country’s judicial system.After Beukes’ acrimonious exit, Confidence Musariri, the head of commercial at the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa), was seconded to act as managing director at the state newspaper.However, after working at the newspaper for less than a week, his secondment was rescinded by the Nampa board, which claimed that Nampa CEO Linus Chata did not seek the board’s approval to second Musariri to New Era. Chata received a written warning from the board for his role in the matter.The board subsequently flexed its muscles and seconded Nampa freelancer Charles Tjatindi to act as the new managing editor of New Era.Last week another public media house, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), also suspended one of its editors due to remarks she made on a South African TV station related to the health of president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.Anna Nicodemus, the political affairs and investigations editor at NBC is currently on suspension.‘Mere mortals’Prominent lawyer Richard Metcalfe says Nicodemus’ suspension is a sign of journalists "being forced into silence by the political bosses where the bosses don&#039;t like what they reasonably say in expressing their constitutional right to freedom of speech.“Before she [Nandi-Ndaitwah] takes power, she needs to be reminded that there is an absolute right to freedom of speech guaranteed as a constitutional right in Namibia. What an assault on constitutional freedom of speech when the president-elect is an elderly woman of 72 who is certainly not a picture of health to any younger citizen,” Metcalfe said, adding that politicians are mere mortals subject to age, ageing and death.He added: “This [Nicodemus’ suspension] is just another case of the emperor clearly wearing no clothes and we must all pretend that madame president-elect is clothed in an aura of health. Anna Nicodemus correctly reflected the thoughts that are uppermost in our minds."Are we now expected to refrain from making comments and expressing our concerns about the health of our leader in waiting?”Media to politicsThis year also saw several journalists abandoning their pens, notebooks and cameras to join the country’s political arena.Political parties have always courted journalists for their in-depth knowledge of current affairs and research capabilities. This year saw reigning Namibian journalist of the year Sonja Smith being appointed to the Popular Democratic Movement’s (PDM) list as a candidate to the National Assembly.Former journalist at The Namibian newspaper and NBC, Julia Nekway also joined the political arena after she was elected to lead PDM’s youth wing. She is also on the party National Assembly list.Smith and Nekwaya occupy positions 11 and 22, respectively, on the PDM list, but since the party only managed to bag five seats in the just-ended National Assembly elections, the duo will not be going to parliament.One journalist who is, however, guaranteed a seat in the National Assembly is Tuulikki Abraham, who worked at the NBC and was formerly a southern-based reporter for New Era.Occupying position 31 on the Swapo Party list, Abraham will now shrug off her media tag as she braces to be sworn in as a lawmaker in March 2025.Critics have since questioned the objectivity of the group of former media personalities during their time as journalists, especially while reporting on other political institutions other than their own.

‘Messy’ year for Namibian media

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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‘Messy’ year for Namibian media

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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