JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) issued a statement expressing its concern over the Namibian government’s decision to go ahead with the process of licensing the second mobile network operator before the country’s communications sector has been fully reformed.
The statement follows the recent announcement by the Namibian Communications Commission that it had appointed the German consultancy group Detecon to oversee the bidding process.
“As it is, MISA takes issue with many aspects of the draft Communications Bill, which we believe falls short of international standards, notably the SADC Protocol on Information, Culture and Sport adopted by Namibia’s National Assembly earlier in the year, governing broadcasting and the regulation of communications in general,” an MISA spokesman said.
The draft bill establishes an independent regulator, the Communications Authority of Namibia (CAN), which will be tasked with regulating telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services. However, the country’s national broadcaster, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), will not fall under CAN’s jurisdiction, and will continue to be regulated by the government.
The independence of the regulator is also under question as the authority’s decision-making board of directors will be appointed by the minister responsible for Information and Broadcasting, currently President Sam Nujoma.
