By Phil ya Nangoloh*

In any electoral process held under a Constitutional democracy, such as Namibia, the media ought to be the eyes and ears of the general public. The Code of Ethics for the Namibian Media requires that journalists seek out and report the truth and that they be accountable to their readers, listeners and viewers. Hence, the Namibian media is under the strict obligation to inform the voters objectively about the views and programs of the various contesting parties and candidates so that the voters can make informed decisions and or choices. However, if the media is overwhelmingly biased towards one of the competing political parties or candidates, this gives that single party and or candidate an unfair advantage over all other contesting parties and or candidates.

The State-funded media, in particular, has the primary obligation to treat all the contesting parties fairly and reasonably. The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Radio and TV and New Era newspaper are publicly funded media institutions. This means that both NBC and New Era are funded by the taxpayers, regardless of political affiliation. As State institutions, they have the Constitutional obligation to report fairly and objectively about all contesting parties and to comply with the requirements imposed by common law and statutory legislation.

However, both NBC and New Era newspaper are viewed as being highly partisan and predominantly biased towards the ruling Swapo Party. This charge is proved by the fact that the news sections of NBC Radio and TV as well as New Era are dominated by reports about Swapo Party rallies and other electoral activities. Both NBC and New Era report on facts selectively and quite often they do not meet professional standards of fair and or accurate reporting.

1. NBC RADIO AND TV

NBC TV and Radio consistently suppress all the positive news about Swapo Party critics and exaggerate negative aspects. Quite often NBC broadcast highly selective news and current affairs, which are sometimes even doctored and or deceptive reports. Examples are numerous. However, one recent particular case in point is in order: On October 19 2009 NBC Radio and TV broadcast an extensively biased report about a Swapo Party rally. This rally was held at Oshikango, in the Ohangwena Region, on Sunday, October 18 2009. The NBC TV and Radio report was compiled by recently reinstated TV reporter and cameraman Modestus Amutse. Amutse is a well-known Swapo Party activist who was also a Swapo Party delegate and candidate at the Electoral College held in Windhoek on September 4-6 2009.

Amutse does not hide the fact he is a Swapo Party activist. He is seen in the attached herewith color picture dressed in white attire and wearing a red cap with a Swapo Party flag and the "mannetjie" imprint on it. Amutse is pictured with NBC TV cameraman Martin Kandjeke. No one expects Amutse to report objectively about what had exactly and accurately transpired at the Oshikango rally and or any other Swapo Party rallies for that matter. However, NBC creates a false impression that Amutse is an independent freelance reporter, just like corruption suspect Sackey Namugongo, the other highly partisan Swapo Party activist-cum-reporter.

NSHR is here, among other things, to help ensuring that the present electoral process is not only free, transparent and credible and conducted in a fair and impartial manner, but it must also be perceived as such.

2. NEW ERA NEWSPAPER

New Era also blatantly and systematically violates the electoral code of conduct on the account of the following facts:

New Era rarely and or hardly publishes any opinions viewed as critical of the ruling Swapo Party. However, its editorial and opinion pages are more often than not dominated by Swapo Party activists. In particular, its opinion and letter pages appear to be reserved for a certain Paul T. Shipale, Swapo Party Youth League activists and a Swapo Party propagandist hiding behind the pseudonym of “P. Haindongo”. Speech analysts strongly believe that “P. Haingongo” is a pseudonym for Asser Ntinda, editor of Namibia Today. Namibia Today is the Swapo Party mouthpiece.

On at least two consecutive occasions during the last two weeks, New Era published the offensive and incendiary “opinions” and “rebuttals” by “P Haindongo” whose capacity in the Swapo Party is hidden by New Era. On Friday October 9 2009 under the title of “The Far-fetched Dreams of Hidipo Hamutenya” New Era published a more than two page vituperative article by this “P. Haindongo”. His incendiary article was called “a rebuttal of the baseless allegations of Mr. Hidipo Hamutenya, president of RDP at a rally held at the Oshakati Independence Stadium on Saturday, 26 September 2009”. “P. Haindongo” also claimed:

“Hidipo’s failed vision was a clandestine and protracted fight against the Founding President Dr. Sam Nujoma. Today he does this in cahoots with shoddy and notorious forces of the self-disgraced Phil ya Nangolo[h], some retrogressive tribal oriented clergymen and sympathetic media houses to RDP.”

On Friday October 23 2009, New Era published yet another lengthy vituperation by the same “P. Haindongo”, entitled “Nambinga’s ‘Blind Goat Beard’ Vision”.

This time around, “P Haindongo” aims at RDP spokesperson Jeremiah Nambinga attacking the latter ad hominem. “P. Haindongo”, inter alia, describes Nambinga as “a narrow minded person [who] is either myopic or to say the least tunnel visioned”. This was apparently another “rebuttal” of a speech which Nambinga delivered at a Greenwell Matongo branch rally of his party held on Sunday, October 4 2009.

According to “P. Haindongo”, the said rally was attended by “less then ten people”. However, the video images, which an NSHR team took about the same rally, show between 200 and 250 cheering supporters in attendance of that specific rally. A Swapo Party activist driving a white Toyota Corolla sedan attempted to disrupt the said rally but was instantly restrained by the Police.

However, in an apparent move to deceive its readers, New Era identified this “P. Haingongo” just as “a Namibian citizen [who] expresses his democratic right of opinion and thought as he sees the happenings in the world”.

The privately owned and Swapo Party supporting Windhoek Observer to its credit was more truthful about “P. Haindongo’s” motive for referring disparagingly to HH and Nambiga. Hence, on October 9 2009, the Windhoek Observer on page 15 published the very same vituperative “opinion” of “P. Haindongo” as a letter to the editor under the title of “Baseless allegations by RDP president Hamutenya”. Unlike New Era’s Rajah Munamava, Windhoek Observer’s Kuvee Kangueehi clearly indicated that the author of the article in question was a Swapo Party activist.

3. NSHR’S POSITION

In light of the above, NSHR holds NBC TV and Radio and New Era newspaper to be in blatant violations of the following Constitutional and local and international legal principles on media ethics:

1. Section 1.3.3 of the Constitution of Editors’ Forum of Namibia, read in conjunction with Section 1.1 of the Code of Ethics for the Namibian Media and Paragraph 3 of the Preamble to the Constitution of the Editors’ Forum.

2. Paragraph 22(b) of the AU Elections Observation and Monitoring Guidelines, Guidelines 3.7 (xi) and 4.2 (v) of the Draft AU Guidelines for African Union Electoral Observation and Monitoring Missions and Principle IV (6) and (11) of the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa.

3. Section 2.1.5 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.

4. Article 21(1)(a) of the Namibian Constitution, read in conjunction with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The Namibian people have the inalienable right to know the truth. Hence, in terms of Articles 18 and 25(2) of the Namibian Constitution, any persons aggrieved by the conduct of the NBC and New Era have the right to seek redress before a competent Court or Tribunal. Thus NSHR strongly encourages political parties or candidates aggrieved by the unfair, unreasonable and subjective reporting by NBC and New Era to so approach a competent Court of appropriate jurisdiction.

*Phil ya Nangoloh is NSHR’s Founder and Executive Director. This article was written on October 27 2009. Ya Nangoloh can be reached via e-mail: nshr@iafrica.com.na or via Mobile: +264 811 299 886