Namibia’s press freedom speaks volumes - Mushelenga
Namibia’s press freedom ranking speaks volumes and the media fraternity can bear testimony to how conducive the local media environment is, compared to other parts of the world, minister of information Peya Mushelenga has said.
Mushelenga stated this on Monday while addressing the audience during the final day of the conference, held under the theme ‘Information as a Public Good’ to commemorate World Press Freedom Day and the 30th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration.
He said the hosting of the international event is a clear demonstration of Namibia’s commitment to a free, independent and pluralistic press.
“It is a poignant moment -not only to us as Namibians but to all freedom and peaceloving citizens of the world that Namibia, as a product of the global community, continues to shine as a beacon of hope and freedom, rule of law, democracy and justice for all as enshrined in its constitution, which, among others, seeks to promote the dignity, unity and integrity of all our citizens, irrespective of their colour, religion, ethnicity or tribal orientations,” Mushelenga said.
Namibia has retained its number one spot in Africa on media freedom as recently announced by Reporters Without Borders in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
The country has held the number one position in Africa since 2013, except in 2018 when the position was taken by Ghana and Namibia was second, but Namibia regained the spot in 2019.
The minister said while the media environment still allows for improvement, having listened to various speakers and interest groups, specifically to members of the local media fraternity during the event, he is convinced Namibia is on the right track to turn information into a functional public good.
Mushelenga thanked the media, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), European Union, civil society organisations, academia and judicial community for working relentlessly to ensure that Namibia rekindles its history of being the seat of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of press freedom principles produced by African newspaper journalists in 1991.
The date of the declaration’s adoption, 3 May, was subsequently declared World Press Freedom Day.