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Namibia maintains freest media status in Africa – Report

Namibia maintains freest media status in Africa – Report

Namibia has maintained its position as the country with the freest media in Africa, the latest World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders indicates.

Namibia ranked 23 out of a global ranking of 180 countries over the world, being the only African country in the top 30, with Ghana ranking at 30. Namibia also held the same rating in 2019, and this is mainly because press freedom has a firm hold and enjoys solid guarantees in Namibia.

Namibia’s freedom of the press is protected by the constitution and is often defended by the courts when under attack from other quarters within the state or by vested interests.

This was evident when the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the government could not use national security as a pretext for preventing the courts from deciding whether the media could reveal certain information.

The right to information was recognized in a case brought by the Namibia Central Intelligence Service against a local daily newspaper that reported that former Central Intelligence Service members had acquired property illegally.

Reporters Without Borders noted that the country’s press freedom legal framework could be improved by the adoption of a long-promised law on access to state-held information and by recognition of journalists’ contribution to good governance and the fight against corruption.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys