The Namibian sidelined by ECN

READERS of The Namibian will be denied crucial information today after the Electoral Commission of Namibia decided to exclude the newspaper from its information campaign.

Three other daily newspapers today carry a 16-page supplement on registration of voters for the presidential and National Assembly elections, but the ECN decided not to use the most prominent newspaper to get its message across.The Namibian established yesterday that the same supplement will also be carried by two weekly newspapers later this week.Yesterday, no one was willing to take responsibility for the decision. ‘It’s a tricky situation. I can’t remember a commission resolution on it. We have not pronounced a policy resolution,’ said ECN chairperson Victor Tonchi.Deputy Director of Elections Ananias Elago, who is also in charge of operations, referred the newspaper to those under him like spokesperson Theo Mujoro and Hilda Nakakuwa, who compiles the ECN newsletter and other information materials.Both their cellphones were switched off.Elago said he only acted last week when Elections Director Moses Ndjarakana was not in.However, Elago confirmed that Ndjarakana was booked off on sick leave until Friday this week. ‘I acted last week. If you had asked me last week, I would have answered,’ he said.It seems no one is acting in Ndjarakana’s position this week and Elago opted to refer the newspaper to his juniors.The Namibian’s Editor Gwen Lister expressed ‘great concern’ about the ECN move, saying it was denying the readers crucial and important information.Lister herself tried to speak to senior ECN officials about the issue but apart from Elago, they were not available. Although it is Government and its agencies’ prerogative to advertise when and where it wishes, the decision is clearly denying readers and contradicts President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s calls for a transparent and open government. In the past there had been a veiled reference to The Namibian’s disqualification for advertisements and other crucial information being based on the ‘ban’ on advertising in the newspaper, put in place by Cabinet in 2000 on the grounds of an alleged ‘anti-government stance’.Before the last national elections in 2004, then Information and Broadcasting Minister Nangolo Mbumba made a futile attempt to get Cabinet to lift the ban in the interest of the dissemination of election material to a national audience.He did not succeed.