The ways forward:

Based on the above mentioned legislations giving reasonable restriction to freedom of expression in Namibia;

Access to Information Bill is, therefore, not yet a priority for Namibian media practitioners. For it to be a priority in an independent, democratic and constitutional dispensation, the Access to Information Bill should first repeal all the above mentioned Statutory Acts hindering freedom of expression and that of the press.

Thus, blanket confidentiality of Cabinet proceedings, judicial functions and the nomination, selection and appointment of judicial officers may still be hidden from the public as we witnessed it during the appointment of the new ombudsman of Namibia. Therefore, the proposed exemptions defeat the purpose of access to information in the public interest and open justice.

Restrictions and exemptions to access to information will still be used by the government to gag and deny investigative journalists access to state information, on grounds of “national security” provided that, old legislation such the Defence, Central Intelligence, and correctional services remain in force, and there is no indication yet that things may change for good.

The notion of democratic accountability espouses the idea that elected leaders are answerable to the citizens of a state in the execution of their periodic mandate. All public officers who serve under the elected leaders, including intelligence and security officers are also answerable to the people and execute their mandate for the benefit of the citizens of a state. Therefore, all their conduct including their work related emails shall be subjected to public scrutiny.

To sum up, the safety of journalists is essential to protecting all citizens’ right to reliable information during unconstitutional changes to government, and Namibian journalists’ right to provide this information without fearing for their safety should be the order of the day.