Information deputy minister Stanley Simataa yesterday said the detailed roll-out plan for the Access to Information Bill is scheduled for July this year.
Simataa said this in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by Frans Nghitila, the director of media relations in the information ministry during the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Namibia's World Press Freedom Day held in Windhoek.
Press Freedom Day is celebrated annually on 3 May, but Misa's event - which was delayed - ran under the theme "Access to Information and Fundamental Rights - This is Your Right".
Simataa said under the Harambee Prosperity Plan, government seeks to promote access to public information, address journalists' concerns about the bureaucratic nature of accessing information from public bodies and advance transparency and accessibility.
He also said in the spirit of the Harambee plan, his ministry is expediting the deployment of e-governance to cover all ministries and public agencies by 2020.
At the same occasion, Jean-Pierre IIboudo from the Unesco Windhoek office urged the government to enact a law that would promote access to information to assist journalists in their endeavours to keep the public informed.
"The fuel that drives the engine is information, and therefore access to information is critical. Freedom of information laws that permit access to public information are essential," he said, adding that this can be done if information is made available through information technology or by the sharing of documents.
Acting secretary general of the Namibia National Commission for Unesco, Rod April said the quality of a truly free press can assist with the Harambee plan, and that journalists can act as an important pillar of the plan.
European Union ambassador to Namibia Jana Hybascova said with the press freedom the Namibian media enjoys comes certain responsibilities.
Hybascova said she is impressed with what radio stations are doing to reach most parts of the country. She called on the information ministry to support the radio services, and at the same time to improve their technology to allow internet to reach all corners of the country.
The United Nations' resident coordinator, Kiki Gbeho, congratulated Namibia on being ranked number one in Africa and 17th globally in terms of press freedom.
The diplomat said this year's celebrations are also special as they coincide with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the declaration on press freedom, which was hosted in the Namibian capital and gave birth to the Windhoek Declaration.
"These celebrations are also special because of the ambitious new Sustainable Development Goals that have just been adopted and have the ending of poverty and saving the planet at their core," Gbeho said.
In a statement read on his behalf by Gbeho, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon also highlighted this year's celebration of world press freedom coinciding with the commemoration of the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration, the implementation of the SDGs as well as the 250th anniversary of the world's first freedom of information law.
Speaking on the theme of this year's celebrations, Ban said the importance of a free flow of information cannot be over-emphasised as it is necessary to inform citizens about the goals of governments, and to hold their leaders accountable for fulfilling the pledges they have made.
"I am very concerned about the increasingly restrictive environment for media workers in many countries. Constraints on freedom of expression place shackles on progress itself," Ban's statement read.
All speakers were in agreement that access to information laws are necessary for the future of the Namibian media.
Press freedom in Namibia was also largely commended and the media urged to use this freedom responsibly.
Founding editor of The Namibian and executive chair of the Namibia Media Trust, Gwen Lister highlighted that access to information in Namibia is also not where it should be. She said this at the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day in Helsinki, Finland
"Even in my home country, Namibia, birthplace of the Windhoek Declaration, and regarded as one of the freest in Africa in terms of press freedom, the messages are mixed.
The promise of an access to information regime on the one hand, is marred by government warnings to regulate media as well as cyberspace on the other," Lister said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ndapewoshali Shapwanale
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 11.05.2016
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