The death of former President Dr Hage G. Geingob highlighted once again the income inequalities perpetuated by both political and economic institutions.
During the three weeks (4 February to 25 February) mourning period of the late Dr Geingob a handful of newspapers made millions of dollars through condolences message advertisements from corporate companies and government institutions.
In contrast, the rest of the media got little to nothing.
On 1 March 2024 the Government placed an advertisement in yet the same media, conveying a “Message of Appreciation” to all those who assisted during the dark period of mourning the late president.
A query sent to the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology Executive Director Dr Audrin Mathe as to whether the media outlets which made money out of the death of the president were the darlings of the Government, was responded to by Senior Public Relations Officer at the ED’s Office, Mr Shoki Kandjimi, who denied that Government has darlings in the media sector.
“The ‘Message of Appreciation’ was placed in The Namibian, New Era and Namibian Sun newspapers due to their reach and audience base,” Kandjimi said.
“Furthermore, the placement of messages on behalf of the Government is dictated by financial capabilities and thus does not always allow for placement in all newspapers.
“The Ministry would further like to inform you that any placement or conveying of information through any medium is never done on the basis of favouritism and that access to information is imperatively its mandate.”
In the photo: Third President of Namibia the late Dr Hage G. Geingob; he was leader of a country with high income inequalities, and left it in the same condition.
