Outcry over government newspaper boycott

President Sam Nujoma’s ban on the purchase of the independent ‘Namibian’ by government departments has been described as a threat to democracy by political parties and trade union leaders, the newspaper reported on Thursday.

This week Nujoma instructed that the purchase of the ‘Namibian’ with state money must cease, adding that government offices, ministries and agencies who may have already placed their subscriptions in advance to cancel them immediately. The directive followed an already existing cabinet decision that banned all government advertisements in the newspaper, deemed too critical by the authorities.

In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday Ben Ulenga, president of the Congress of Democrats (CoD), condemned what he termed “vile attacks” by Nujoma on the paper and “shameful attempts” by the government to “silence the newspaper and the country’s independent media in general.” The president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), Katuutire Kaura, also expressed his disappointment about the Nujoma decision saying that it had come as a shock to him.

Meanwhile, the editor of the ‘Namibian’, Gwen Lister, dismissed claims that both the ban on advertising and the boycott on purchasing the newspaper would have a seriously negative impact. “Government advertising was just over five percent of our advertising revenue; and likewise the government subscriptions are 429 per day, which is not a significant number in terms of our overall sales,” Lister said.