WINDHOEK – Following a raft of complaints from editors dissatisfied over the inability and dismal failure of some government media liaison officers to avail information of public interest to the media the Namibian government has undertaken to ‘change the mindset’ of its media officers.
Last week Friday Joel Kaapanda the Minister of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) met with the editors of New Era, The Namibian, the German daily Allgemeine Zeitung, Namibian Sun, Die Republikein Namibia Today, among others to map the way forward on how government could better disseminate newsworthy information to the Namibian public. After hearing complaints about the inaccessibility of some liaison officers and their unhelpfulness, Kaapanda who is known for his open-door policy and for being media friendly has vowed to make government more media friendly and to “change the mindset of some government officials” reluctant to interact with the media.
It is not unusual to encounter a rebuff such as, “I am not accountable to you,” by some government media liaison officers. “We want to become media friendly. We are striving towards that,” he said when he met editors of different media houses to hear their concerns. Editor of Allgemeine Zeitung Egbert Hoffman said from 2011 to date his newspaper has sent 18 written queries after being instructed to do so by various ministries and agencies among them the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, State House, the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, but its queries remain unanswered, despite resubmitting its media queries ‘repeatedly’ as requested. He said despite this treatment the Allgeimene Zeitung has not retaliated by boycotting media events organized by the culprit media liaison officials.
The editor of New Era Chrispin Inambao lamented the fact that there is a worrying trend among some media liaison officers at some ministries and SOES who spend large amounts of public funds on expensive newspaper adverts carrying responses when in the first place they could have replied to the same queries without spending a single cent. Inambao said some officials usually claim they are locked up in ‘meetings’ only to ‘resurface miraculously’ after stories have been published to try and counter allegations or perceptions.
He said it is unnecessary wastage of taxpayer’s money, since officials end up paying for costly adverts, instead of exercising their right of reply without having to fork out a penny. Inambao accused some officials of arrogance and said their attitudes are unacceptable and a disservice to their employer, the government.
Kaapanda said some officials have become ‘an embarrassment’ for government due to their reluctance to cooperate with the media and he attributed this to the fact that “some do not know the media landscape. There are a lot of public relations officers who need a lot of training.” Kaapanda, who was accompanied by Mvula ya Nangolo, his special advisor and the MICT Permanent Secretary Mbeuta Ua-Njarakana further said the majority of media liaison officers are junior officers who are not in management positions in government and are usually in the dark about certain issues. He said during a workshop held last year to discuss issues relating to media, it became apparent that media liaison officers who are supposed to deal with media are junior officers “who lack the necessary skills.”
“The media workshop looked into elevating the positions of media liaison officers and coordination between ministries to channel information to our ministry for publication,” he added, saying clerks were in most cases currently performing the task of disseminating government information.
According to Kaapanda they welcome questions from the media, because they would like to see activities of government published.
He said that after the workshop the ministry submitted a report to Cabinet, especially the need to train media liaison officers, which was approved, and added that a submission was made proposing that government media liaison should ideally have a position of deputy director.
“We want to promote investigative journalism. We can only improve if we unearth all shortcomings,” he said.
Kaapanda further said that they also addressed the issue of the chronic unavailability of government officials and that it has formed part of the recommendations to Cabinet, since it frustrates the media greatly.
However, Tangeni Amupadhi the editor of the Namibian newspaper was not wholly impressed by the discussion.
“What has been said here is hardly new,” he said and added that the media unfriendliness of some officials is discussed each year and he suggested that a hotline be established by the various media houses and the Editors Forum of Namibia to report the culprits. The forum is chaired by Hoffman.
The editor of the Namibian Sun, Toivo Ndjebela said the lack of general openness in government, especially Cabinet where major decisions are taken results in unnecessary information leaks. He urged more government openness and transparency. Kaapanda said he would like communication to improve so that journalists do not get information from secondary sources.
He praised Namibia for its impressive ranking when it comes to upholding media freedom. “This achievement came as a result of a conducive environment created by the Namibian government to promote media freedom,” he said. Kaapanda said this is an important year in the political landscape, as the country prepares for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and he called on the media to take extra caution to ensure peaceful elections by avoiding sensational reporting. “We must avoid negative reporting because it can cause voter apathy, which is detrimental to our democracy. Let us strive for a violent-free and credible election,” he added.
He emphasised the need for media to promote the nationhood and national pride campaign that has been running for more than two years now.
“I would like to visit all radio stations to convey the message of nationhood and national pride,” he said, adding that all Namibians need to emulate confidence, love, zeal and patriotism for their motherland.
By Magreth Nunuhe