Editorial A climate of secrecyGovernment’s decision to prioritise the dissemination of information and its advertising expenditure to state-owned media houses only, should not go unchallenged. The soft ban was seemingly already approved by cabinet in September and a document containing some of the shady details were only leaked to the press this week to be followed up by the independent newspapers. It is interesting that the government is trying to block access to information by the mainstream private media, while it has at the same time resolved to come up with its own efforts to improve transparency and implement the long-awaited access to information legislation. President Hage Geingob has made endless promises regarding accountability and transparency, yet there is a growing climate of secrecy within the Namibian government. You cannot make the right noises about transparency and then fail miserably to adhere to the principles, especially when it comes to sharing cabinet resolutions with the media, which are in any case in the public interest – and cabinet members are servants of the public. Yes, we agree that not all information needs to be shared with the public, in the interests of national security, but why is this information, regarding the significant aspect of sharing information, classified secret? What are politicians working on that relate to national secrecy? It is clear that some politicians are out of their depth and will do anything possible to inflate their egos and/or heal their insecurities. There is no doubt that the directive is driven by a climate of insecurity, and subsequently, secretiveness. The media does more than educate, inform and entertain the citizenry. It plays a critical role in advancing good governance. If good governance and performance are considered the hallmark of the Geingob-led government, why is this censorship of information by his insecure subordinates allowed? Why do politicians bother to sing lofty praises of press freedom, while they are actually muzzling and damaging the free media? This is truly laughable, considering that the very same government is riding on the back of the accolades of “press freedom”, and that Namibia is supposedly the “freest nation in Africa when it comes to media freedom”.