It should be interesting to note its contents, which are not yet public. However, let’s be a little patient. Hopefully, it will be timeously shared with stakeholders for appreciation now that the OP has received it. The Task Team, appointed in March, was mandated to work with all media stakeholders in lieu of reforming legislative frameworks that impede free speech, reviewing the Media Practitioners Bill, and generally looking into issues of media sustainability and how the media as a business can be protected by either policy or law from current economic headwinds. Chaired by former Mmegi Editor, Gideon Nkala, the team comprised seasoned veteran journalists, academics, MISA and Botswana Editor’s Forum chairpersons, legal experts, among others. The team began its work with a clear mandate that its work would result in media reforms that are needed as of yesterday.
Prior to setting up the team, Minister Mohwasa had expressed the government’s intentions to start relations with the media on a clean slate following strained relations witnessed under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). The appointment of this team was therefore in the aftermath of a Media Pitso convened by the government in December 2024. Having led a team of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana, as we presented before the Task Force and having attended some of the team’s consultations with the media, many issues were at stake here. The preliminary question of who a journalist is sprang into most interactions and of course, whether one needed a qualification to be deemed a journalist. Whilst at it, opinions were divergent, and while in most cases tempers were flaring. But in the end, various views were delivered respectfully, for that matter. That’s what matters the most. Nkala and his team surely may have encountered challenges along the way.
