Government vs Media = Elites vs People of Namibia?

**juikk** · 23rd February 2008, 06:05 PM

I have caught whif of intended focus by GRN on Media. Any media analysts out there who can give us a better prospective on the real issue(s) on hand, because more often than not what is verbally stated has been polished to hide the real reasons behind such moves.

Lets just do a quick summary without boring any spectator of what our Government might not have achieved, may not intend to do and may have in common with the much fought against apartheid system.

Education is lip serviced to be free and for all, but reality is that there is indeed no free education in this country, and tertiary education seemingly only for majority groups .

Health sector is still a government ministry, but with little to no benefit to the people of Namibia, the elite go for private medical care, thus don't care about how really bad the status quo is with our public healthcare.

Water is a basic neccessity for all living creatures, but had been privatized, thus too costly for the majority of the people who put those whoe are in power, where they are.

Land reform is being referred to as decentralization but is in actual fact being grabbed with no due consideration to minority groups who also have a right to land, even much worst than any colonial master managed, because it is being legalized. the country has a small population with much resources, yet we have the masses going hungry.

The constitution provides for everyones rights, yet justice is only attainable by the haves and the have nots must just swallow the bitter pill of injustice. Housing is a nightmare (do we even have a ministry who takes care of this?) because squatter camps are the ordinary plight of the masses, while we have a luxury facility with never endingly escalating cost for just one man of the country.

Most importantly human rights had been violated, some leaders seem to be grossly corrupt, no political figurehead came to the front to address issues such as the Lubango cases, but drive luxury vehicles, live in mansions and send their children abroad to sophisticated private school, with tax payers money, same tax payers who dearly need answers on these war crimes.

What is the mandate of ministry of labour anyway? Jobs are reserved for chronies and Swapo cadre favorites and maybe nowadays also RDP prospect networks, while the unemployment rate escalates. We preach affirmative action, yet are increasingly committing the same crime as the former regime with extremely unequal wealth distribution and salary scales( e.g. some dude would get 80 000 per month and someone barely gets a 3 000 per month, of course even while minding the respective qualifications).

Financial institutions do not need to be subjected to transparency, for it depends on my personal banker(not all clients get the luxury of having this personal banker) to give me better interest rates, higher loans on less collateral, whereas banks recite other policies and procedures to the rest of the clients who make them stinking rich.

Furthermore, the insurance industry is still allowed to get away with daylight robbery by not being kept liable to refund some percentage of investment when they do not rpovide the promised benefits, irrespective of whether I discontinued the policy for various possible personal reasons.

The anti corruption agency is headed by people who are not so honest themselved( following media reports of them getting double salaries some time ago and not saying a word about this and using such funds)....I'd say in a country like this, the media is our best bet to keep us informed, discuss issues on forums such as these and hearing more than one persons perspective on issues of concern.....and not to forget, keeping the politicians in check and barely answerable to the people who put them in power.

So I repeat, any media analysts out there who can give us a better perspective on why now, the GRN wants to restrict them and how we as the public who stand to benefit by keeping things as they are or help improve things, can help them in the quest to avert any adverse intentions from the selfish, irresponsible politicians of this country.

Freedom of speech is gauranteed by the constitution, and should be kept as such.....give us in depth understanding and that includes The Shebeen!

**Comrade007** · 23rd February 2008, 06:52 PM

You raise some really interesting and valid points, Juikk. It makes for sobering reading!!

I think that it's a classic case of shooting the messenger, so the true mesage does not get heard. It's an old game that Governments and politicians play, and its a cynical one too. See, whenever the media reminds politicians and public institutions of their lofty promises to the tax-paying public and voters at election time, and as time passes it transpires quite clearly that these promises were are not only hollow and empty but in many cases not worth the paper they were written on, they feel hurt and disrespected and sorry for themselves and lash out at the messenger.

After all, accountability is just a word, not something that you actually practice in our part of the world. So instead of eating humble pie, being honourable and coming clean about the woeful shortcomings of their policies and administrative competencies, the politicians and public servants use their political power to try and subjugate the messenger.

And because the state of the health sector, education, housing, you name it is so far from the promises made by the politicians and Government, they deflect form it by attacking the media. After all, attack is the best form of defence, isn't it?

In many developing and developed countries politicians and public servants would actually not get away with this behaviour and would have to account fro their actions and failings.

In Nambia? Forget it: It's a free for all. Who would come and tell you if you are in the public service and tell you that you are fired because you are not doing your job, or that your performance is not up to standard? Nobody!! Not the permanent secretary, not the Minister - nobody!! And so the fairytale of accountability and efficiency of public services and delivery for the people goes on ........ UNTIL WE THE PEOPLE OF NAMIBIA SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Speak up, speak out and be counted is what democracy is partly about.

**Oneword** · 23rd February 2008, 08:38 PM

Not very much to add, really.

I still belive that our media must operate with some form of control. It should not be completely unfettered and like a loose cannon, but what they say should be marked by circumspection and self-restraint.

Whether the government should have an umbrella body called "Media Council" (or whatever) is an completely new kettle of kapana! It is debatable AND controversial in its very nature - looking at our constitution. Will it be in accordance with our "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom of Expression"?

If I look at what both "juikk"and "Comrade_007" say (maybe even between the lines) they seem to be afraid of a situation as it existed before Indepedence.

Before 1990, the SA "High Command" (the AG and his minions) wouldd in typically heavy-handed fashion put down their editorial foot on some of the issues raised - just ask Gwen Lister of the Namibian and Smith of the Observer (and others - to a lesser degree, though).

THAT WAS PURE, UNADULTERATED EVIL ... and must never be allowed to happen again!

**Oneword** · 23rd February 2008, 09:22 PM

The following, my common sense tells me, is where we may eventually end up.

I suppose one could say one never knows where government interference may, eventually end ...

Remember: I am the poster, the writer not!

Europe makes moves toward Internet censorship

Privacy advocates worry that filtering Internet sites related to piracy, terrorism, and child pornography will have serious effects on the freedom to communicate

IDG

A debate over the use of internet filtering is heating up in Europe. Privacy advocates and carriers are going head to head with authorities.

In Finland, programmer Matti Nikki is under investigation for publishing a secret list of domains that authorities had allegedly censored in an effort to stop the spread of child pornography. Nikki published his list to prove the system was being abused, and was himself censored as a result. The Finnish Chancellor of Justice has received a complaint about police handling of the matter.

The authorities distribute their list to the country's 20 largest ISPs, which then block access to the sites. The rest of Finland's 200 ISPs haven't implemented the technology, so protection is far from complete.

The problem with filtering is that it is a very blunt tool, according to Swedish Internet activist Oscar Swartz.

"I have seen the list Nikki published, and it includes links to sites with regular pornography, so they shouldn't be censored," said Swartz.

The Finnish police force is aware of the problems with filtering.

"The technology we currently use works well with sites that only include child pornography. To filter sites with a mixture of content, we need to use other technologies as well," said Lars Henriksson, chief superintendent at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Finland isn't the only country where the temperature is rising. Danish authorities recently decided to block file-sharing site Pirate Bay, after pressure from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). ISP Tele2 decided to fight the court order. They are so far the only ISP that has been ordered to shut off access to The Pirate Bay, but IFPI has plans to expand the blocking.

Other organizations are starting to show an interest in the use of filtering, including mobile network operators. They are banding together to combat the distribution of child pornography.

"We are here to tackle a very disturbing and damaging phenomenon," said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSM Association, a group of mobile network operators, launching the initiative at a conference in Barcelona last week.

The use of emotive issues to justify the introduction or extension of censorship worries some.

"It's easy to ignore the negative aspects of filtering and censorship when talking about something so universally disliked as child pornography," said Swartz.

But state censorship proposals don't stop there: The European Union's Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini called last September for ISPs to block access to Web sites hosting information about bomb-making, and U.K. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said in January that she wanted action taken against sites that encouraged terrorism, including social networking sites.

Such actions could have wider consequences: "If the E.U. starts to filter sites related to piracy, terrorism, and child pornography, it will have some serious effects on the freedom to communicate," said Swartz.

Comments on the above:

No government intervention on the internet EVER , for ANY reason. As soon as government gets involved, there's no stopping where it goes next. Sounds to me like the authorities would rather take the easy way out, block access, end of problem.

**Pietro** · 27th February 2008, 05:47 PM

Is that why we are getting a Media Council?????????????????????????????? Because we are all naughty-naughty??

See meme Nandi under "Press releases"!!!!!!!!!!!

**juikk** · 28th February 2008, 03:25 PM

One of the major concerns is WHY??? I sense a rat....I think especially with the elections approaching, and the power hungry majority factions getting worried how best they can turn the luck to their side, the Media will be in the way, I suspect they intend to commit irregularities to the demise of the Namibian people, hope I am not right, and if I am, I hope the general public put their weight behind the Media and support in principle any motions against making this so called 'watch dog' agency a reality!

**juikk** · 12th April 2008, 10:55 PM

Any development pertaining this, Shebeen, nothing posted from your side? Oneword, you have been quite an informer thus far, waht is new on this scene?

**Oneword** · 13th April 2008, 01:18 AM

juikk, thanks for the confidence, but ....................

Considering there is a new minister, Kaapanda, for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, I can't wait to see what he has up the sleeve for the poor scribblers either..........

**phelakuti** · 13th April 2008, 05:22 AM

My only wish is for more people from all walks of life to access this forum. Without it both the people as well as the government wont develop according to expectations. While all we had mustered as a political rhetoric against colonial aggression had been "...go back to Kakamas", ANC cadres could seriously addressed the effect of the 1913 Land Act that deprived the people of their lands, the Urban Areas Act which created slums, to mention just a few. The difference today is, while SA is now tackling global warming issues, we are just about to pinpoint it to now to a post-colonial government admin. Maar die agterste os kom ook in die kraal, neh. Keep up, Juikk

**phelakuti** · 13th April 2008, 05:42 AM

Nations just as persons have perculiar needs. It is the very misunderstanding and lack of common sense that for instance cause house prices and education cost in a small, developing nation as Namibia to rival those of Western nations. While population densities, etc. put pressure on those commodities' prices to rise there, what exactly causes the inflations here? With relative illiteracy a vast undeveloped, hospitable territory per capita, what make education and housing prices here rival that of Britain or the US? With abondoned natural wealths, smaller population, etc. why is unemployment so high. Could not wait for the colonial foot prints to diappear before literally start to mimicking the very act. Shame on you!!