The MDA acted on what is apparently a tip-off of “specific information which gives it cause for concern over foreign interest to fund The Independent.” This “specific information” has apparently turned out to be untrue, according to The Independent’s statement. The site’s shareholder’s agreement, formulated on 19 April, states that foreigners are prohibited from being shareholders of the enterprise.
As blogger Howard Lee asked: “How did he authorities receive this “specific information”, who specifically gave this information and how did MDA verify the accuracy of this information? Are our policy makers making policy decisions on information that they care not to reveal? How, then, would we know that future decisions are made with good data collection and analysis, instead of acting on a hunch, rumour or unverifiable tip-off, a practice which the Minister of Communications and Information has took pains in Parliament to weed out of citizens?” Full story
