Botswana Media Law Repressive - Activists

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has come under the spotlight over the Media Practitioners Act, which it is argued, undermines media freedom and allows the government to regulate the media.

"In the last few months there seems to be increasing indicators of growing intolerance of free speech, such as political parties clamping down on free-speaking members and government coming down hard on critical press," says Mogopodi Lekorwe, a senior lecturer in the department of political and administrative studies at the University of Botswana.

Thapelo Ndlovu, director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa in Botswana says the law is repressive as "one cannot practice journalism in Botswana without the consent of the Media Council, whose executive committee excludes media practitioners, publishers or anybody with an interest in the media from its decision making structures."

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