Steering public relations as discipline

Following their Annual General Meeting in March, the local chapter of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (Prisa) announced it has elected a new 15 new office bearers of which four are Portfolio members and 11 are Executive Committee members.
Prisa represents professionals in public relations and communication management. It plays a leading role in uniting public relations practitioners and driving transformation in the communications industry.
Rhingo Mutambo was appointed the new Prisa Namibia Chairperson with Ilke Akwenye as Chairperson Elect. Other Portfolio and Executive Committee members include Joanette Eises, Teopolina Hasheela, Maria Dax, Cecilia Pretorius, Morna Ikosa, Tobias Shali, Frans Ugwanga, Ruusa Petrus, Jairus Kapenda, Paulina Thomas, Helene Meintjes, Esther Mbathera and Moses Shuuya. The committee members are elected for a period of one year and may then stand for re-election.
In a statement announcing the new committee, Prisa said plans to improve the current state of Public Relations in Namibia.
Chairman Mutambo said PR is still in its teething phase and the committee would like to put a few concrete building blocks in place in the near future to professionalize the industry and ensure that public relations practitioners in both the public and private sector get the recognition that befits the profession.
Outgoing Chairperson, Maria Dax, expressed her satisfaction with the development of Prisa Namibia’s Strategic Plan and the completion of a Comprehensive Member Satisfaction Survey. “I am proud to say we have achieved a lot last year with limited resources and I am glad that we could hand over a well conceived Strategic Plan. I am sure that the new committee will ensure implementation,” she said.
Chair Elect, Ilke Akwenye said grooming the internship programmes through the Student Chapter features prominently on PRISAs’ outreach to develop the industry. “In public relations we have a big role to play when it comes to developing our thought leaders of tomorrow” she said.
Prisa Namibia is hosting Dr Chris Skinner, best-selling author and well-known Public Relations expert, who will present a half-day Media Management workshop for Executives on 19 April and a one-and-a-half-day Integrated Communication Strategy workshop from 20 to 21 April.