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afrol News, 30 May - Namibian President Sam Nujoma, which has been noted for furious attacks on the independent press and journalists, has issued a directive prohibiting the "purchase of The Namibian newspaper with state monies". Earlier, a government advertisement ban was placed on Namibia's leading and outspoken newspaper. Researcher Zoe Titus of the Namibia-based Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) today issued an alert on Nujoma's attack on press freedom in Namibia, attempting to financially hurt the prominent newspaper. Titus appeals for letters of protest against the decision. - This directive by the President has been issued hot on the heels of an earlier Cabinet decision to ban Government line ministries from advertising in the newspaper on grounds that it maintained an 'anti-Government stance', observes media researcher Titus. In a State House memorandum, leaked to The Namibian, the President ordered as follows: "I hereby instruct with immediate effect from May 31 2001 the purchase of The Namibian newspaper with state monies must be ceased forthwith. Government offices/ministries/agencies who may have already placed their orders in advance must ensure that those orders are cancelled immediately." Secretary to the President, Isaac Kaulinge, confirmed the authenticity of the statement on Tuesday, 29 May 2001. The President went on to say "this directive is in support of an already existing Cabinet decision that banned all Government advertisements in The Namibian". The Namibian government in March 2001 slapped an advertising boycott on The Namibian newspaper, claiming the newspaper is too critical of its policies. Government representative Mocks Shivute at the time (March 2001) did not state the motive for the ban, but the ban appeared to be aimed at throttling The Namibian financially. Government is the single biggest advertising client in the country. To the new directive, the President commented that "political office bearers and senior government officials who are affected by this directive and who are interested in reading The Namibian may buy the newspaper with money from their own pockets and not with State funds". The memorandum was addressed to all government office bearers from the Prime Minister to the permanent secretaries and accounting officers, and was dated 28 May. One member of Government who was approached as to the reason for the move, said that it was felt that the ban on Government advertising in The Namibian, in terms of a Cabinet decision taken on 5 December last year, and reiterated in a confidential memorandum in March 2001, was 'inadequate', and that a ban on bulk purchase of the newspaper would possibly 'teach the newspaper a lesson'. The Nujoma directive comes at a moment when the international society is especially monitoring the development of the human rights situation in Namibia. Earlier this month, the European Union (EU), made an official statement condemning the government's "threats and verbal attacks" and expressed "its concern about the Government's ban on advertising in the independent media." The government however blames the independent media for the country's deteriorating reputation abroad. Both Prime Minister Hage Geingob and President Nujoma have made such allegations. Recent headlines about Namibia in the international press have focused on the government's attack on homosexuals, the media, foreigners and foreign countries and on Namibia's war engagement in distant Congo Kinshasa (DRC).
Sources: Based on MISA and afrol archives
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