Let me begin thanking you for the kindness you have shown me by inviting me
to speak to you tonight on this auspicious occasion of MISA Botswana’s
National Media Awards Celebration for 2013. When I retired six years ago my
immediate ambition or inclination was to do exactly that: retire and find an
obscure place in the outskirts of Gaborone where I would be safe from
invitations like yours. I am sure you will understand why I should be tired
of making speeches. I was a UN man for a quarter of a century!
The theme for this Gala Dinner on which you have asked me to speak is
“Freedom of Expression and Access to Information”. That this is a topical
issue universally needs no emphasis. Everywhere in the world, be it in the
so-called democracies or their totalitarian opposites freedom of expression
and access to information by both the media and the citizenry are a vexed
issue.
Here at home in Southern Africa, in the SADC region, a region which,
thankfully, is largely democratic and relatively respectful of the rule of
law, the media is by no means without challenges. Reading your annual
publication: “So this is Democracy”- State of Media Freedom in southern
Africa 2012″, one begins to appreciate the unhappy situation the media faces
in our region.
Freedom of expression here in our beloved country is a right enshrined in
the Constitution of our Republic. Chapter 12 of our Constitution reads:
“Except with his or her consent, no person shall be hindered in the
enjoyment of his or her freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to
hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information
without interference, freedom to communicate
Ideas and information without interference (whether communication be to the
public generally or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from
interference with his or her correspondence”
This freedom belongs to all of us – it is our common patrimony as citizens
of Botswana. The right to freedom of expression entitles us the citizens,
including the media, to express opinions without fear or favour on the
running of the affairs of our country. Such opinions may not please the ears
of the powers that be which is inevitable and normal in vibrant democracies,
The paramount role of a free press in a democracy is not only to form and
express opinions but also to have an unrestricted latitude to propagate
those opinions to the wider public. The attack on journalists for expressing
such opinions is therefore inimical to the democratic credentials of a
country. In some instances journalists are not only harassed, arrested,
imprisoned and tortured, many have lost their lives in the service of their
profession in many parts of the world. I am not unmindful of the fact that
to be a journalist does not mean you have more rights than others.
Journalists must always bear in mind that in the exercise of your rights you
will do injustice to your profession and rights if you ignore or trample on
the rights of others. Nevertheless, you deserve, like any other citizen, the
protection of the law in the process of carrying out your duties as the ears
and eyes of the nation.
Freedom of expression goes hand in hand with the right to be informed. Both
are very important rights in any democracy worthy of its name. I know what
many governments’ responses are when citizens demand access to information.
The knee jack reaction is that we cannot give you secrets. Citizens are not
asking their governments to dish out secrets while at the same time the same
governments have no right to declare every information in their possession
secret. The nation has the right to know what its government is doing.
Not only is access to information enshrined in our constitution, the AU’s
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights guarantees the right of access to
information as a fundamental human right and as an indispensable component
of democracy and development. I am not aware that all these high sounding
good intentions have been translated into legal instruments enabling the
people of Africa to access information in the possession of their
governments. I understand a bill on freedom of information is yet to be
tabled before our parliament. I will not go into the politics of why after
47 years as a free nation it is only now that this wonderful and famed
democracy is debating the need for a freedom of information law.
Another curious thing about our country organically connected to freedom of
information is the fate of all the reports of the various commissions of
enquiry none of which have ever seen the light of day. Are commissions of
enquiry only for the purpose of informing the government to the total
ignorant of the citizens who are directly affected by the incidents or
happenings that are investigated by such commissions?
Botswana, this enchanting desert outpost, doubted and derided by so many 47
years ago as a stillborn country, has for many years been celebrated as a
lone shining star in the Southern African firmament. Today the challenges I
have highlighted in my speech have placed our country below newcomers around
us in freedom of expression index 2011.
Ladies and gentlemen, even though the media environment appears to be not
optimally conducive, there are men and women who have served your profession
with excellence and we are gathered here tonight to celebrate their
achievements. Master of ceremony, it is not my remit to tell you who they
are but I can only say to them congratulations and stay the course.
Thank you all.
*The speech was delivered at the MISA Botswana National Media Awards ceremony held in Gaborone
