Namibian president acts against press

President Sam Nujoma of Namibia has stepped up his campaign against the country's biggest newspaper, The Namibian, by banning all government offices from buying it.

In a memo to ministers and government officials, President Nujoma says they must stop buying the paper with state funds.

The new boycott comes two months after the government banned state advertising in the paper.

At that time, a senior information ministry official Mocks Shivute said that the paper operated as if it was the country's official opposition party.

The editor of The Namibian, Gwen Lister, said the boycott was a sad reminder of the days of apartheid, when the South African Government refused to advertise in the paper and also forced private businesses to do the same.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service