MISA Botswana Welcomes Minister's Retreat

MISA Botswana finds the postponement a great relief as there is now an opportunity for the media and all people who care about this Country's democracy to re-mobilise and help couch the Bill such that it reflects the true ideals of a democratic society.

We must, however, express our disappointment at undertones that attempt to cast aspersions on the credibility of the media sector and its commitment to a process of consultation. In the statement deferring the Bill, the minister makes a number of insinuations that suggest apathy and non-commitment to consultation in the formative stages of the Bill. She says she defers the Bill because: "---parliamentary debates have now created compelling grounds for the media fraternity to grant my Ministry the co-operation that it has hitherto denied us during the drafting stages of the Bill." This assertion is far from the truth. In fact, at one stage we asked the minister to convene a consultative meeting with the media sector. This was never granted.