The Namibian Chapter of the Media institute of Southern Africa is strongly opposed to the decision by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to exclude some media houses, both print and electronic from participating in the dissemination of vital information about the about the forthcoming elections to the public.
Misa Namibia has been investigating this story for the last 2 weeks after it was informed by its members that some media houses were sidelined in the allocation of paid voter education and voter registration information produced by the ECN. Misa Namibia hereby wishes to inform the public that preliminary investigation into the matter has revealed that the following media houses have not received any paid electoral information, despite the fact that they were approached by the ECN to provide quotations for their paid information campaigns, and/or had discussions about how they could contribute to the electoral process:
a) One Africa Television
b) Community Radio Stations, namely Base FM (Khomas Region), UNAM Radio (Khomas Region), Live FM (Hardap Region), Karas Community Radio (Karas Region)
In addition to that, it has now emerged on 8 September 2009 and subsequent editions thereafter, that The Namibian newspaper, one of the biggest daily newspapers in the country has also been sidelined, albeit because the ECN as a Government agency, has committed itself to the banning of The Namibian newspaper for advertising purposes as contained in a Cabinet resolution in 2000. Furthermore, it should also be noted that the ECN is on record for announcing that a budget had been allocated for voter education, including the use of the media. None of the private media was therefore asked to carry the ECNs electoral messages free of charge. Those media not sidelined submitted formal quotations upon request by the ECN, and were approved by the ECN based on their own criteria.
According the Chairperson of MISA Namibia Sandra Williams, the ECN should remind themselves of the letter and spirit of the SADC Election Principles and Guidelines adopted by the SADC Heads of State in August 2004, which Namibia too has signed. These guiding principles, which emanate from the AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa and Electoral Observation and Monitoring Missions, are built on the premise to ensure the transparency and credibility of any electoral process namely,
a) Full participation of the citizens in the political process,
b) Freedom of association,
c) Impartiality and independence of electoral bodies and
d) Voter education amongst others
In particular, Misa Namibia wishes to draw attention to Section 7 of the document which calls for member states holding elections to ensure amongst others:
The scrupulous implementation of the above principles in accordance with the Constitution,
The establishment of impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel
Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression, and campaigning as well as access to the media on the part of all stakeholders, during electoral processes.
It is clear from the SADC guidelines on elections therefore that the inclusion of all media is implied implicitly, especially the right of citizens to receive and be educated on all electoral processes and procedures from the media of their choice.
MISA Namibia thus calls on the ECN to inform the public how about the aims and objectives of its media plan for the upcoming elections, in particular how this plan ensures access to the media (print, radio and television) for all citizens, the budget for this exercise, and the criteria used for deciding on media houses used to disseminate its information campaign, Williams says. The Chairperson emphasized that since the ECN is a public agency working with tax payers money, it should ensure at all times that there is an equitable spread of information, (paid or otherwise) among all media based on the principle of access to information, and prove that it is applying quantifiable media research in terms of media usage patterns, especially listenership, readership and viewership statistics throughout the whole country.
In addition to this, the ECN should inform the public how it intends reaching the born frees with its media materials and media selection, one of the distinct target markets identified by the ECN as key to its voter education success. Finally, MISA Namibia warns that perceived ideological or political patronage on the part of the ECN in the discourse of its duties, especially the concerning the 4th pillar of democracy (the media) may greatly affect the credibility of the institution in the long run, something that needs to be avoided at all costs if the forthcoming National and Presidential Elections are to be proclaimed free and fair, and a general success.
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