Namibia / Concern over appointment of ruling party activist to communications board
WINDHOEK, Namibia, April 27, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Cabinet recently endorsed the appointment of the controversial Editor of the SWAPO Party newspaper, Asser Landulandje Ntinda, as board member of the Namibia Communications Commission (NCC). The Namibia Sun reported on 23 April 2009.
The decision to appoint “Ntinda and Selma Tulweni Ankambo to the NCC Board was taken by Cabinet in March, but no public announcements as yet.
In his role as Editor of Namibia Today, Ntinda has never been one to shy away from controversy and has had heated verbal confrontations with colleagues in the media industry and even some people within the ruling party.
But some media practitioners and individuals involved in the communications industry have expressed concern with Ntinda’s appointment to this very sensitive body.
The Chairman of the Namibia Editors’ Forum (NEF), Eberhard Hofmann, said Ntinda’s appointment appears to have been motivated entirely by his affiliation to the ruling party.
“Obviously the NCC is a regulatory body. As such it should have people from the media industry on its board. But it is not good for Cabinet to base the selection of members on political affiliation. This was clearly a very one-sided appointment,” said Hofmann.
He said it would have made more sense for the Government to ask a representative body from the industry- such as the NEF – to propose a candidate.
“Maybe the industry would even have turned it down but that would at least have been real involvement. They could even have approached MISA but some people have a problem with MISA because it has a donor-funded organisation,” he stated.
He argued that the Cabinet should have made such appointments only on recommendations of players in the media and communications industry in similar fashion to the way that the President appoint judges on recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.
Sandra Williams, the Chairperson of MISA-Namibia said Ntinda’s appointment definitely constitutes a conflict of interest.
She said Ntinda is part and parcel of the Swapo media conglomerate which includes Namibia Today, Multichoice Namibia, Mweb Namibia and Radio Energy. “Asser represents and advocates the interest of Swapo for which he works. Therefore, Asser being put on the board of the NCC is tantamount to allowing Swapo to pursue its media interests through the regulatory structure. It is unacceptable because the NCC is a public body and we should have no people on it,” said Williams.
She said it was becoming part of the NCC while MISA is working towards established a Media Council that would enable media practitioners to regulate themselves.
Unmoved by these concerns, Ntinda told Namibian Sun that he was appointed by the Cabinet and the opinion of fellow journalists is of little consequence at the moment.
“I don’t care what they think this is appointment should go and hang for all I care. I am happy and those who appointed me are also happy.
So, tough luck!” said Ntinda. The NCC is currently busy drafting the communications Bill which would enable it to become a fully-fledged regulatory authority. If the Bill does get passed and signed, the NCC will become known as the Communications regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN).
Johannes Schutte, acting Deputy Director of the NCC, told Namibian Sun that the body has already set up pa transformation team and will soon be advertising for new staff. “We will need technicians, engineers, lawyers and marketing people to get started,” said Schutte. The NCC was established by as Act of Parliament in 1992 as a regulatory authority over broadcasting. But the NCC Act was amended in 1995 to cater for other communications sub sectors through licensing processes.
Ntinda and Ankambo will be joining a board already made up of David Imbili, Catherine Beukes-Amiss and Kombadayedu Kapwanga.
SOURCE
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
