NBC reporter fined by traditional authority

THE Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC)’s Rundu-based reporter Wilfred Nyambe was fined N$2 000 by the Hambukushu Traditional Authority for allegedly reporting a biased story about that traditional authority.

Chief Erwin Munika Mbambo, the leader of the Hambukushu Traditional Authority in the eastern Kavango region, ordered the NBC reporter to pay the fine on Thursday last week as punishment for a story broadcast on NBC Rukavango Radio Service last month about a resident of the Divava village, who was demanding his land back from the Hambukushu Traditional Authority. The Divava village resident, John Kashokora, said the land was unfairly expropriated by the traditional leadership. Chief Mbambo refused to speak to the NBC when he was approached to comment on the story. The NBC reporter, together with the Regional Manager of the NBC Rukavango Service, Kosmas Muyenga, was summoned to the Chief’s Palace for a traditional court hearing last Thursday. During the hearing, Nyambe was found guilty, and ordered to pay the fine within a period of seven working days. During the traditional court proceedings, the Hambukushu chief, flanked by his senior headmen, ruled that the reporter was guilty because he failed to get the views of other people, such as the village headman.The traditional court further ruled that Nyambe also did not make an effort to obtain comment from the Village Development Committee (VDC) and other residents of the village, who know more about the disputed piece of land. The chief said the reporter was supposed to put the story on hold, and to give the Hambukushu Traditional Authority enough time to carry out its own investigations into the matter.They reiterated that the concerned resident was an illegal occupant on that piece of land, and will never be compensated. Approached for comment, the NBC reporter told Nampa on Wednesday that he will never pay the fine because he was just doing his job, but has however forwarded the matter to the NBC editors at head office.Meanwhile, Media Ombudsman Clement Daniels said although he does not have sufficient information on the case, freedom of expression, including that of the media, is guaranteed in the Namibian Constitution. Daniels explained that if the Traditional Authority or any other person has complaints about the media, they should report it to the Media Ombudsman, instead of criminalising the issue.He said this is the first case in the country where a reporter is fined for biased reporting. – Nampa