Nujoma urged to rethink bans on The Namibian

An international committee of journalists has called on Namibia’s President Sam Nujoma to withdraw his “ill-conceived” directive to government ministries and agencies to stop buying the ‘Namibian’ newspaper, the paper reported on Monday. Last week Nujoma instructed that the purchase of the Namibian with state funds cease as from last Friday, adding that ministries and agencies who may have already placed their subscription orders in advance should cancel those orders immediately.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a letter dated 1 June, appealed to Nujoma “to reconsider this ill-conceived decision, which belies your Government’s commitments to press freedom as enshrined in Article 21 (b) of Namibia’s Constitution and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. On 26 April, the Foreign Affairs Ministry circulated a list of local papers with countrywide circulation in which it intended to place adverts celebrating national events such as the President’s birthday.

“The list prominently excluded The Namibian, which has the largest circulation in Namibia and enjoys a strong local and international reputation for its serious and independent journalism,” she stated.”
Ann Cooper, Executive Director of CPJ, said. On Friday the Regional Director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said in a statement that the action by government could have “a chilling effect on the environment for freedom of expression in Namibia, as citizens may become afraid of exercising their fundamental right of expressing criticism of Government.