Query: Minister Tjekero Tweya. Get your house in order. Where was your ministry on Independence Day? The audio-visual directorate didn’t even compile anything to commemorate the day and we didn’t see anything on television. In fact, we never see anything from them. When last did we see Namibia Review? Government Bulletin? How come these publications are not even online? Your policies are outdated. It has been literally 10 years for information policy review and we didn’t get anywhere anyway. Don’t get me started on your other policies. What do you actually do at the ministry? You don’t have a website. Seriously?
Response:
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) was part of the Independence Celebration Organising Committee. In addition, two productions of the ministry were aired during prime time on NBC 1, just before and after the news, on March 18. These two productions featured messages by President Hage Geingob to the Namibian nation. In one of the productions President Geingob spoke about the Harambee Prosperity Plan and about the concept of the Namibian House in the other. Both were aimed at highlighting the meaning of the Independence Day celebration. Furthermore, these productions have been translated in vernacular languages and are currently running on all the NBC radio language stations.
It should be noted that these productions will continue to be aired on the national broadcaster until the president delivers his State of the Nation Address. The ministry would like to encourage members of the public to make time to watch these very important productions.
With regard to information policy, the ministry is currently reviewing the 1991 Information Policy and the revised draft of 2006. Since the media and information landscape has changed drastically due to the influence of new technology and the Internet, there is a need for countrywide consultations for the improvement and enhancement of the quality and relevance of the abovementioned documents.
The publication of Namibia Review, GRN Information Bulletin and other government publications is an ongoing process, which requires a considerable amount of resources. While acknowledging the concerns raised by the reader, we wish to equally highlight the fact that the challenges faced in the regular publishing of Namibia Review and GRN Information Bulletin were not due to any isolated incident. This happened due to the rearrangement and re-prioritisation of resources due to equally pressing national priorities. However, we would like to assure the reader that the frequent printing of these two publications will be reprioritised once funds are made available particularly during the next financial year (2016/17).
Equally, we would like to remind the reader that the Namibia Review and GRN Information Bulletin are not the only national publications that the ministry publishes. The reader might be aware that last year heralded a new government administration, which necessitated the need to publish other publications aimed at popularising the new government and its mandate. Some of the publications produced include the amended Namibian Constitution, the Cabinet, government and permanent secretary posters featuring the new government, as well as presidential and ministerial portraits, booklets on the speeches of former president Hifikepunye Pohamba’s final term in office, as well as booklets on the State of the Nation Address by the former president. All these materials were availed to the public.
The GRN Information Bulletin and Namibia Review editions carrying the latest information on the new Cabinet and government were also published last year. Thus, the demand surpassed the resources allocated to the printing vote of the ministry.
However, the ministry intends to advance the whole information dissemination process by creating web-based platforms, such as information dissemination websites and mobile applications. This is planned for the 2016/17 financial year. Please also take note that the ministry’s Facebook page (Ministry of Information and Communication Technology – Namibia), Twitter handle (@NamGov) and the MICT website (www.mict.gov.na) are available and are always updated with government news for public consumption.
Media Liaison Services, the Print Media Affairs in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, 061-2839111.