Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

(MISA/IFEX) – Namibia’s Acting Permanent Secretary of Information and Broadcasting, Sankwasa James Sankwasa, has suspended a reporter with the state-owned “New Era” newspaper, Fred Simasiku, because of a report which alleged that Sankwasa had been aware of a Caprivi secession plot. Simasiku, who is based at the Katima Mulilo offices of the newspaper, was suspended, […]

(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, on 7 October 1998 the Minister of Communications, ‘Nyane Mphafi, instructed state-employed journalists who “were seen at opposition demonstrations” to write letters of resignation or face summary dismissal. Journalists were called to a meeting by the minister, who informed them that there was a black list of those who took […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Deputy Minister for Communications and Transport, Maua Daftari, has threatened to take the “Guardian” newspaper to court unless it recants an allegedly defamatory story about her which was published in its 28 September 1998 edition. The independent daily newspaper “The African” reported on 10 October that Daftari’s lawyers, the Tanzania Legal Corporation […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) has dumped its popular daily morning Press Review programme for the second time in eight months. The programme, broadcast every weekday morning after the 7 a.m. newscast, reviewed the major stories from the various daily newspapers in Namibia. According to sources quoted in the “Namibian” newspaper, the chances […]

(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, most of the independent newspapers in Lesotho have suffered heavy losses following the political turmoil which gripped the country earlier this month. Newspapers were affected by property destruction, looting and/or theft in the capital city, Maseru. Two weekly newspapers, “The Southern Star” and “MoAfrika”, suffered the worst losses when, after […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Tanzanian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-TAN) on 16 September 1998 lodged a petition in the High Court to challenge the legality of some provisions in the Broadcasting Services Act No. 6 of 1993. The application was lodged by three top office bearers of MISA-TAN: Joseph Masanilo, the Chairperson […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) confirms meeting with the Zanzibar Minister of Information, Culture, Tourism and Youth, Issa Mohammed Issa, in his office on Friday, 21 August 1998 to discuss the continued banning of newspapers in Zanzibar. ***For background, see IFEX alert dated 21 August 1998*** The minister gave no commitment […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, and the country’s Home Affairs Minister, Jerry Ekandjo, have served separate summonses on the weekly newspaper, the “Windhoek Observer”, for defamation claims totalling N$ 1,215,000 (roughly US$ 200,000). In the first case, on 7 August 1998, Nujoma served a summons on “Windhoek Observer” editor Hannes Smith, demanding […]