Muzzling radio good for freedom, say SPYL

GOVERNMENT’S decision to try and control the content of national radio call-in programmes has drawn praise from the Swapo Youth League (SPYL).

Any democracy worth its name, the SPYL said yesterday, should limit freedom of expression and that of the press. “We congratulate the recent decision by the management of (the) Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to curtail abuse of its phone-in programmes which in the past months have been invaded by unscrupulous agitators whose legacies appear to solely be based on demonising and insulting our founding president and Swapo Party president Sam Nujoma,” charged the organisation’s Secretary for Information, Elijah Ngurare.Ironically, the SPYL’s comments were made in a statement on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which is marked worldwide today.What it called “the vocal minority” had allegedly been allowed to trample on the rights and freedoms of the “silent majority who are the electoral backbone of the Swapo Party Government”.This, the Swapo youth said, could not be allowed to happen.In the same statement, the SPYL said World Press Freedom Day was designated by the United Nations to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.Africa, and more specifically Namibia, the organisation said, had taught “the former colonisers” the values of such characteristics as respect for human rights, democracy and freedom of the press.Since March 21 1990, it added, “Not a single media house was bombed or closed, not a single journalist has been imprisoned, not a single human rights defender has been incarcerated for their beliefs”.The Namibian’s offices were last bombed on August 4 1991, when phosphorus grenades devastated the editorial offices, presumably at the hands of extremists.Organisations involved with protecting rights and freedoms in Namibia have slammed Government’s decision to control call-in programmes on national radio.They have said it hits at the heart of democracy, is draconian and imitates the tactics used by the former apartheid regime.Some have gone as far as saying the move militates against the very essence of the Namibian Constitution.The decision is widely seen as an attempt to sanitise and curb discussion in the run-up to the Swapo Party congress later this year, and to protect Swapo Party President Nujoma from any criticism.”We congratulate the recent decision by the management of (the) Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to curtail abuse of its phone-in programmes which in the past months have been invaded by unscrupulous agitators whose legacies appear to solely be based on demonising and insulting our founding president and Swapo Party president Sam Nujoma,” charged the organisation’s Secretary for Information, Elijah Ngurare.Ironically, the SPYL’s comments were made in a statement on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which is marked worldwide today.What it called “the vocal minority” had allegedly been allowed to trample on the rights and freedoms of the “silent majority who are the electoral backbone of the Swapo Party Government”.This, the Swapo youth said, could not be allowed to happen.In the same statement, the SPYL said World Press Freedom Day was designated by the United Nations to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression. Africa, and more specifically Namibia, the organisation said, had taught “the former colonisers” the values of such characteristics as respect for human rights, democracy and freedom of the press.Since March 21 1990, it added, “Not a single media house was bombed or closed, not a single journalist has been imprisoned, not a single human rights defender has been incarcerated for their beliefs”.The Namibian’s offices were last bombed on August 4 1991, when phosphorus grenades devastated the editorial offices, presumably at the hands of extremists.Organisations involved with protecting rights and freedoms in Namibia have slammed Government’s decision to control call-in programmes on national radio.They have said it hits at the heart of democracy, is draconian and imitates the tactics used by the former apartheid regime.Some have gone as far as saying the move militates against the very essence of the Namibian Constitution.The decision is widely seen as an attempt to sanitise and curb discussion in the run-up to the Swapo Party congress later this year, and to protect Swapo Party President Nujoma from any criticism.