An Idea Called THE NAMIBIAN!

THE scene on my mind opens with editor Hannes Smith pacing impatiently while carrying his little dog. His offices were invaded by the South African police and damning documents confiscated.

Gwen Lister was on staff at the Windhoek Advertiser and the two were in this together. I walked into their offices and saw Gwen behind a typewriter, working away at breakneck speed, with two fingers. I wondered what had impelled such a lovely young lady to ply in such a thankless and somewhat dangerous trade, only to land in these circumstances. This experience heralded the beginnings of a long road.
Gwen Lister visited New York. At the time herself, Hannes Smith, Gail Visagie, and their colleagues were under siege with a dark cloud hanging over the fate of independent reporting in colonial Namibia. My friend Mokganedi Tlhabanello and I were students in New York and we had a night out with Gwen, consulting on the viability for a newspaper to serve as medium through which the Namibian public, and no less the liberation movement, could speak. During this visit Gwen consulted with Theo-Ben Gurirab, then Swapo’s representative to the United Nations and the US.
After graduation I returned to join the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN), and consultations with Gwen Lister and Dave Smuts ensued on how best to proceed. Gwen and Dave registered the Free Press of Namibia, which was to ‘midwife’ The Namibian newspaper.
My colleague at the CCN, Daniel Tjongarero, and I, decided to render assistance to this project, and when the dummy run was out, Daniel used my Toyota bakkie to distribute the paper at designated outlets. I followed Daniel with another vehicle and after two stops a white Toyota Corolla of the then SA security police, with two occupants, joined the distribution process. They diligently followed our vehicles, stopping when we stopped at all potential outlets until we completed our run.
The newspaper developed its roots to become the best and most reliable globally in the context of Namibia’s liberation struggle. Gwen Lister became the icon for revolutionary reporting as well as the darling of international civil society and progressive journalism.
Namibia’s Independence brought about new dynamics. During the struggle The Namibian and the liberation movement, led by Swapo, had formed strategic alliances, and this in the eyes of Swapo, now as ruling party, seemed to have taken a paradigm shift.
The newspaper had restructured its approach and had equally redefined its relations to Swapo and Government. This played against the backdrop of media in Namibia eventually being perceived as ganging up against the new regime. The Namibian was seen to be indifferent, or at best, ambivalent by the Government.
These mutual perceptions gave birth to contemplations for the activation of new semi-state institutions for information dissemination. This lead to the creation of the Namibia Press Agency(Nampa), the restructuring of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation(NBC), and the organisation of New Era Publications.
The Namibian newspaper was born as the independent voice of reason then, and came to serve as cradle for the truth during the struggle for justice. In the new order of things it came to stake its claim in the arena of contemporary news reporting and information dissemination.
As things stand now, Gwen Lister is not staying young and in time the reigns will have to pass onto someone else. Evidently, the challenge is to find a firebrand imbued with zeal, to carry on, and mature enough, to balance the challenges of right and wrong, but stay the course. This could be a tall order.

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