On March 15, 2016 the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) will host Hon. Cheriff Moumina Sy, President of the Transitional Parliament (TP) that helped return Burkina Faso to democratic governance after the civic revolution in October 2014 that ousted President Blaise Compaoré.
Hon. Sy will be the keynote Speaker at the maiden West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance being organised by the MFWA. The Conference, which will be held in Accra on March 15, 2016 will bring together representatives of the leading press freedom and media development organisations from all ECOWAS member states and Mauritania.
The conference is under the theme: Promoting Professional Journalism for Good Governance in West Africa. Participants will deliberate on and identify key challenges in the areas of free expression, media development and access to information; and develop strategies in tackling these challenges to promote good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa.
Hon. Sy is credited for his astute leadership of the TP of Burkina Faso during a very challenging moment in the political history of Burkina Faso. Under his leadership, the TP facilitated key legislative processes and mechanisms that led to a successful return to democratic rule in late 2015.
He took several bold decisions to keep the transitional arrangements on course. This included his decision to declare himself interim President of the country when dissident soldiers of the powerful residential guard loyal to ousted President Compaoré staged a short-lived coup overthrowing the officially installed transitional President, Michel Kafando and his Prime Minister, Isaac Zida.
Prior to assuming the high and influential office of President of the TP in 2014 Hon. Sy had been a crusading journalist, press freedom champion and a passionate advocate for free expression rights in Africa. He held key positions in the media and press freedom community in Africa. Hon. Sy is the immediate past President of the African Editors Forum. He also founded and edited the Bendre newspaper in Burkina Faso.
During the relatively short period of his leadership the TP decriminalised media offences and passed a Right to Information Law.
“We are extremely honoured to host such a disguised person who has successfully championed both media and democratic development at national, regional and continental levels at a conference that is focusing on media and good governance in the West Africa region,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.
The Conference is organised with funding support from OSIWA, fesmedia Africa, the Embassy of the United States of America in Ghana and Global Partners Digital.
For more information about the Conference contact Programme Officer Rikke Sig Hansen on +233 545 705 454 or on email: [email protected].
