Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ovambenderu Traditional Council says the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) should be brought to order in terms of how it addresses their leader Aletta Nguvauva.
This comes after the council reported the national broadcaster to media ombudsman John Nakuta, saying Omurari FM – the NBC Herero station, prohibits the Ovambanderu community from regarding Nguvauva as the ombara otjitambi (paramount chief) live on air.
The issue stems from the fact that the government does not recognise Nguvauva as a designated chief.
At the first public hearing yesterday, the traditional council’s representative, Mbakumua Hengari, said the disregard for their leader as the paramount chief started in 2018, but the matter was addressed with the then information minister Stanley Simataa.
However, the same issue recurred in 2020 and has since been a common practice, leading the council to approach the media ombudsman.
The group’s lawyer, Anne-Doris Hans-Kaumbi, who also spoke at the proceedings, said NBC should address the Ovambanderu Traditional Council’s leadership accordingly and not muzzle the community.
The lawyer added that the national broadcaster has no right to dictate how the community should address its leadership.
The Traditional Authorities Act does not say a leader cannot be addressed the way they want because they are not recognised or designated, she said, adding that the Regional Authorities Act also does not touch on how a leader of a specific group should be addressed if they are not recognised. Moreover, the act governing the national broadcaster does not preclude it from addressing traditional leaders on how their community addresses them.
Meanwhile, NBC snubbed the public hearing, with its spokesperson Umbi Karuaihe-Upi telling The Namibian that the corporation already responded to the media ombudsman.
NBC, on its social media platform on Monday, said it will not be attending the public hearing, maintaining that it remains consistent in how traditional leaders are referenced in its broadcasts, via all its multi-media platforms.
In the second matter slated for tomorrow, involving Canadian oil and gas company ReconAfrica, the broadcaster said it conducted a thorough internal investigation and shared the findings with the media ombudsman, along with a link to the programme concerned.
“The NBC thus believes that it complied fully with the Namibian media code of ethics and conduct,” the broadcaster said. NBC noted that it has identified participants at the scheduled ReconAfrica public hearing tomorrow.
Nakuta regretted that NBC could not attend the public hearing, which was meant for mediation and conciliation. Despite providing responses to the complaints, Nakuta said NBC needed to be in attendance, in line with the code of conduct that all media houses uphold.
“…The code is very clear. If a person complains…the media ombudsman must send the complaint to the respective media house and the media house should respond within 21 days…then the media ombudsman adjudicates over the matter. It does not say because you have responded, it is the end of the story,” Nakuta stressed.
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