Apology and Retraction: Milton Maseke

The Free Press of Namibia (The Namibian) and its former journalist Sakeus Iikela hereby acknowledge that the headline of an article published on 19 May 2018, titled “Faces behind inflated agriculture tender”, together with his photograph, was defamatory of the former chief veterinary officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Dr Milton Maseke.

The Free Press of Namibia (The Namibian) and Iikela also acknowledge that remarks made by the former acting agriculture permanent secretary and current NamWater chief executive officer, Abraham Nehemia, were proven to be false and misleading.

The Free Press of Namibia (The Namibian) and Iikela acknowledge the impact of the misleading statements on the interpretation of the article, and hereby retract the headline of the article together with Maseke’s photograph as they can reasonably be understood to mean that Maseke awarded the tender, causing him to be associated with the tender, when in fact he was not involved in the awarding of the tender and was not in the country at the time.

The Free Press of Namibia (The Namibian) and Iikela hereby unconditionally and unreservedly apologise to Maseke for any embarrassment, harm or damage he may have suffered in his personal and professional capacity as a result of the publication.