20th August 2020
Own Correspondent
The leader of the Alliance for Progressives(AP) in parliament has along with other opposition MP’s called for the repeal of draconian Media Practitioners Act(MPA) identifying two problematic areas.
“Section 6 of the law seeks to accredit Journalists through an Executive Committee. This simply means that Journalists who are seen to be anti-government would be denied the license to practice thereby criminalizing Journalism and resulting in self-censorship,” said Wynter Mmolotsi, Vice President of the Alliance for Progressives(AP).
He said, “The MPA act also sought to introduce a statuary Media Council to replace an already existing Press Council that currently supretends over the international acceptable ‘self regulation’ model. This move is regressive. Arguments made by some members that you cannot repeal the law and leave a vacuum are therefore unfounded because there is a self regulatory mechanism in place that is functioning now. The MPA has never been implemented and there has never been a vaccum.”
Mmolotsi was supporting a motion tabled by Selebi Phikwe West MP, Dithapelo Keorapetse, who is calling for repeal of the MPA. This motion is similar to the one initiated by former MP for Gaborone Central Dr Phenyo Butale, in 2015, calling for the media practioners act to be repealed.
“It is shocking that almost five years later the government is still giving the same reasons it gave in 2015 for rejecting Dr Butale’s motion. Even today the minister says they are still consulting. Fact of the matter is that the position of the Media Fraternity hasn’t changed since 2008. They do not want this law. Full stop,” said Mmolotsi.
He said, “It is fallacious to suggest that the law allows for self regulation as suggested by Kgafela. The Law society itself – which I would want to believe that Kgafela affiliates to, has consistently refused to honor the requirement in the Act that expects them to provide a person to chair the Appeals Committee.”
In a well publicized press release entitled ” We applaud Law Society of Botswana on Media Practitioners Act”, that appeared in the mmegi newspaper edition of 09 August 2009, a year after the law was promulgated, the late former MISA chairperson, Laona Segaetsho wrote ‘
“Following their convention earlier in July, the law practitioners resolved not to respond to the requirement in the Act that expects them to provide a person to chair the Appeals Committee. The Law society of Botswana has adopted a very brave position considering the fact that it is expected by the law to participate in the implementation of the Act. We are confident that LSB adopted this position after a thorough scrutiny of the law and having considered all other options.”
This provision says the chairperson shall be appointed by the Minister, being a ‘legal practitioner, admitted to practice in the courts of Botswana and recommended by the Law Society of Botswana’. And the law society has since 2009 refused to participate citing the draconian nature of the law. One would have expected Hon Kgafela to be alive to this fact maintained Mmolotsi.
Mmolotsi stressed his belief that the law in its entirety is at odds with the foundational and facilitative right to Free expression. Many press freedom reports have identified this act as a major threat to a free and unfettered press. In fact, between 2013 and 2018 Botswana fell eight places in the World Press Freedom Index,” largely due to this act which features prominently in all reports covering this period.
“We still have in our statutes a raft of laws that the government can tap into to curtail media freedom and these media unfriendly laws include the National Security Act, the Media Practitioners Act 1998, the Sedition Act, the Protected Areas Act and the Cybercrimes and Computer Related Act 2007, the DISS act and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes act,” said
He said, “We have seen recently these laws being used to arrest Journalists such as David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang of the Weekendpost newspaper. These journalists were arrested, harrassed and intimidated in January this year only to be charged with Common Nuisance.”
In explanatory remarks, the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Kabo Neale Sechele Morwaeng however remained impervious to criticism.
He insisted that Government was undertaking consultations on MPA with various stakeholders including the media and would not be rushed into withdrawing MPA without exhaustive roundtable discussions.
Dr. Thapelo Matsheka. Minister of Finance and Economic Development, said “We cannot deny the role of media as a source of information and a watch dog role.”
He however maintained that it was important that local media also played a role in supporting various government programmes like greater citizenship economic empowerment. He also stressed that many journalists had left the industry with nothing and that self regulation cannot be looked at in a vacuum.
Matsheka stressed that it is also a business with a number of workers with broad structures encompassing advertising whose needs would needed to be catered for.
