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Ghana: MFWA calls on Authorities to end prosecution of Journalist Noah Dameh

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Ghana: MFWA calls on Authorities to end prosecution of Journalist Noah Dameh

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is deeply concerned about the remand for two weeks of Noah Dameh, who is accused of defaming Ghanaian businessman Daniel McKorley, and urges Ghana’s Attorney General to intervene to end the persecution of the journalist.

Dameh, the Deputy Station Coordinator of Radio Ada, a community radio based in Ada in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, was remanded in custody on March 30, until April 13, 2023, after he appeared before the Magistrate Court in Tema.

The case began in May 2022 when Dameh was summoned and briefly detained by the Police following a complaint by Daniel McKorley (alias McDan) the founder of Electrochem Ghana, a salt factory at Ada Songor. The complaint was in connection with the journalist’s Facebook post in which he accused the police of abusing a young man from Ada at the instance of McKorley.

After a series of police summons and court appearances, Dameh thought he had regained his freedom when the court finally dismissed the case in December 2022 for lack of jurisdiction. However, it was not to be, as the police pounced on him and arrested him immediately he got out of the courtroom.

They made him write a statement and granted bail with a surety, only to call the case three times without notifying the defense. The investigator later went to swear an affidavit to tell the court that my surety has failed the bond to produce him.

“Apparently, they had appeared before the court three times. The difficulty here is that we had no notification of this second suit because if we had, we would have appeared in court, as we’ve done in the earlier suit,” Dameh’s lawyer told the Fourth Estate, the MFWA’s online newspaper.

This time around, the prosecution served notice to the surety ordering him to produce the journalist in court on March 30, 2023. When the journalist appeared, he was charged with false publication under section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and remanded until April 13, 2023.

Background

EletroChem Ghana Limited has acquired a large salt mining concession in Songhor lagoon in Ada, and has since been embroiled in a conflict with the youth of the town, who accuse the company of snatching their livelihood. Radio Ada, where Noah Dameh works, has been running a programme dubbed Manor Munyu which is dedicated to the salt industry with particular focus on the plight of the artisanal miners affected by ELectroChem’s monopoly. The station has been harassed many times over this programme.

On April 27, 2021, the station received a letter from lawyers of Electrochem Ghana Limited (EGL), instructing them to retract and apologise for some statements made on its programme. The station stood its ground and rejected the request. It received a series of anonymous threats afterwards.  

On January 13, 2022, about a dozen thugs stormed the premises of the community radio station, assaulted two of its journalists and vandalised their studio equipment. The station shut down after the attack for almost two weeks. A statement by the management of the station said “The attackers openly declared that they had come to vandalise the station because of its ‘Manor Munyu’ and other programmes discussing the recent developments in Songhor.”

On May 8, 2022 Dameh posted on his Facebook wall a picture of one Benjamin Anim, a native of Ada who was handcuffed to a hospital bed. In the accompanying write-up the broadcast journalist claimed that Anim was arrested by the police and abused. He suggested that the young man’s arrest was at the instance of Daniel McKorley, Chief Executive of ElectroChem Ghana Limited.

On May 14, 2022, Dameh received a text message to report at the Tema Regional Police Command and assist in investigations into his Facebook allegations. On May 16, 2022, he honoured the invitation by reporting to Sgt Derrick Debrah who informed him that the police had received a defamation complaint from ElectroChem Ghana Limited in connection with the said Facebook post.

Dameh’s lawyer, Martin Owusu, told the MFWA that although his client’s Facebook post mentioned McDan’s name, it did not mention EletroChem Limited. He, therefore, found it strange that his client is being harassed on the basis of a complaint from the company. The lawyer also wondered why the company decided to use the police rather than file a civil suit.

Meanwhile, the journalist received another summon to report to the Police, which he honoured on May 20. Dame was arraigned by Tema Police Command on May 24, 2022, and granted bail the same day. The Greater Accra Region Police also put him before court on August 22, 2022, and he was granted bail. As part of bail conditions by the Tema Magistrate Court, the journalist had to report to the police every other Tuesday.

The court finally dismissed the case in December 2022 for lack of jurisdiction, only for the police to re-arrest Dameh and restart the process, leading to the journalist’s detention on March 30.

The MFWA is intrigued by the evolution of this case from a defamation complaint, which should have been a civil matter, to criminal prosecution for alleged false publication. We are also intrigued by the Police’s apparent lack of interest in pursuing those who allegedly perpetrated the gross human rights violation of chaining a patient to a hospital bed, as opposed to the cast-iron determination to prosecute the whistleblower.

In view of this, we call on the Attorney General to intervene to ensure that the journalist is not made a scape goat and that justice is served for all persons involved in this matter.

Ghana: MFWA disappointed with outcome of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ defamation suit

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Ghana: MFWA disappointed with outcome of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ defamation suit

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has read the March 15, 2023, ruling of the High Court on the defamation case brought by journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas against the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, and wishes to make the following comments:

  1. As an organisation that works to promote the rights of journalists and the freedom of expression of citizens, we found the suit quite interesting, as it pitched an aggrieved journalist against a lawmaker who was exercising his right to freedom of expression. It has been our expectation that justice would be served and seen to have been served by all parties.
  2. We are informed that lawyers for Mr. Kennedy Agyapong petitioned the Chief Justice and obtained approval for Justice Eric Baah, then an interim judge, to be recalled to handle the case “to finality.” At that time, a substantive judge had been appointed to take over the case. This, we are informed, was without the knowledge of the plaintiff.
  3. Without wishing to go into the merits of the judgment, we wish to express serious concern about scathing remarks by the judge on the person and character of the plaintiff. For example, the judge described Anas as a “blackmailer, corrupt, extortionist and evil.” We find it rather worrying that a judge will formulate his opinion of a journalist’s work in such abusive and slanderous terms.
  4. We have also been educated by lawyers, who say this was a civil case, and for a judge to come to criminal conclusions is out of order.
  5. The MFWA finds it curious that even though the ruling did not indicate Kennedy Agyapong produced any evidence to back his murder accusations during the hearing, the judge dismissed the case and proceeded to award costs against the journalist.
  6. We wish to point out the interesting paradox that Kennedy Agyapong, who incited violence against Anas’ team, including Ahmed Suale, who was later killed, is rather accusing the journalist of murder.
  7. Against this background, and the decision in respect of the choice of Justice Eric Baah to handle the case “to finality” as well as the judge’s unfortunate pronouncements about the plaintiff, the MFWA feels nothing but utter disappointment.
  8. We find these developments and the eventual outcome of the case disturbing and while Anas is entitled to appeal or pursue any other judicial process, we call on the Chief Justice and the judiciary not to act in ways that undermine journalism practice in the country. While we at the MFWA will not hesitate to call out any journalist who deviates from ethical standards, we are worried that such sweeping and seemingly emotional outbursts by Justice Eric Baah have the potential to dampen the spirits of journalists who are sacrificing to uphold Ghana’s democracy and encourage detractors to attack journalists.

President Akufo-Addo’s claim about freedom of expression condition in Ghana not entirely true

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President Akufo-Addo’s claim about freedom of expression condition in Ghana not entirely true

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, delivered the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament. Among the many issues he reported on was the state of freedom of expression in the country, which he boasted has reached enviable heights.

“Today, we live in a country in which we enjoy complete freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and political affiliation. Indeed, freedom of speech has now reached such heights that even members of the diplomatic corps feel able to join in our national discourse…,” President Akufo-addo said.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) contests as inaccurate the President’s idyllic assessment of freedom of expression in Ghana and avers that the facts on the ground do not look half as cheerful as the president claims.

While freedom of expression is guaranteed under Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, this freedom is undermined when those exercising it fear retribution in the form of threats, arrest and physical attacks, as has been the case for many journalists and activists under the Akufo-Addo administration.

From 2021 to 2022 the MFWA recorded 30 press freedom violations in Ghana, with the state security agents accounting for 67% of the abuses. This is captured in our recent report on press freedom under the Fourth Republic, which was also published in the Daily Graphic (January 27, 2023 edition). We, therefore, consider President Akufo-Addo’s Freedom of Expression claim as incorrect, and the following are further reasons.

Ghana dropped from having the freest media environment in Africa in 2018 to 13th in the 2022 global press freedom ranking by Reporters without Borders (RSF). The ranking saw Ghana outdone even by strife-ridden and junta-ruled Burkina Faso. On the global ranking, Ghana dropped from 30th position in 2021 to 60th in 2022, the worst ranking the country has received in 20 years. This is obvious evidence of deterioration, not improvement.

It is under the Akufo-Addo regime that Ghana has recorded the most brazen attacks on press freedom, such as the killing of Ahmed Suale Divela. As is well-documented, Suale’s death followed a campaign of incitement against the journalist by a leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong. Regrettably, the authorities have ignored the politician’s costly incitement.

While it is obvious that Suale’s killing was because of his work, the President, at the 2019 Ghana Bar Association meeting held in Takoradi, and his Attorney-General, at a forum to mark World Human Rights day 2022 in Accra, took turns to dismiss any suggestion that Suale’s murder was an attack on press freedom.

In an operation that one could not imagine under a widely admired democracy such as Ghana’s, some heavily armed national security operatives raided the premises of two media organisations in 2019 and 2020. In the first incident, the security agents arrested two journalists of ModernGhana.com and seized mobile phones, tablets and computers. One of the victims, Emmanuel Ajarfo, alleged that he was tortured during his three days in detention over a report on the Minister of National Security.

In the second incident,  another group of armed security officers stormed Citi FM/TV in a bid to retrieve some video files from journalist Zoe Abu-Baidoo. The security agents accused Abu-Baidoo of receiving files from Caleb Kudah also of Citi FM/TV. Kudah had earlier been arrested and abused for filming abandoned vehicles at the National Security Ministry and sending the files to Abu-Baidoo.

While mass failure to renew broadcast licenses is common under all previous administrations, it was under Akuffo-Addo’s regime that over 50 defaulting radio stations were shut down; in a largely opaque and discriminatory exercise that targeted certain critical and pro-opposition stations.

In an act denounced by the MFWA as a dangerous precedent, the National Communications Authority (NCA) shut downRadio Tongu over alleged disturbing content and mismanagement. This was a flagrant usurpation of the functions of the independent National Media Commission, the body constitutionally mandated to regulate and sanction inappropriate content. It was widely condemned as dangerous because it could be politically-motivated. The board and Director General of the NCA are political appointees and are subject to the directives of a Minister of Communication with political interests.

The government is also accused of circumventing the repeal of criminal libel by using the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal Code, specifically Section 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), to go on rampage against a number of journalists and civil society activists for their publications in the media.

Indeed, between May 2021 and February, 2022, five journalists and one civil society activist were arrested on accusations of publishing false news. These include Noah Dameh, a journalist with Radio Ada based in the Greater Accra Region; Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, a radio presenter with Connect FM based in Takoradi; Kwabena Bobbie Ansah, a presenter at Accra FM; and Mensah Thompson, the Executive Director of Alliance of Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), civil society organisation.

The crackdown became so intense that on February 12, 2022, four civil society organisations, (CSOs) Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), IMANI Africa, STAR-Ghana and the Africa Center for International Law & Accountability (ACILA), jointly issued a statement demanding an end to the sneaky return to the days of criminal libel.

“Instructively, during the heyday of the criminal libel law in the 1990s, the criminal law was used in precisely the way it is now being used: to prosecute and punish journalists and public speakers for allegedly false or defamatory statements against certain family members or associates of the President”, the CSOs said in a statement.

Earlier on July 19, 2021, the MFWA mobilised 642 journalists and press freedom supporters to petition  Parliament and the National Security Minister over the wave of attacks on journalists, especially by state security agents.

In its recent report marking the 4th anniversary of the unresolved killing of Ahmed Suale, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), cited several press freedom violations against journalists in Ghana. “Since Divela’s [Suale] death, at least 30 other Ghanaian journalists and media workers have faced abuses in connection with their work, including attacks, threats, and arrests,” CPJ stated.

The MFWA recognises that the media and journalists can sometimes be reckless, unethical and unprofessional in the discharge of their duties. The laws of the country provide remedies for civil actions against journalists and media organisations. Under the Akufo-Addo administration, however, the criminalisation of free speech under the guise of publication of false news has been used to harass journalists.

Many have criticised this approach as being high-handed and in line with the manner in which intolerant and autocratic governments typically deal with dissent and press offenses. With these and other incidents under the current administration, Ghana’s press freedom record under Nana Addo’s government is far from the rosy picture the President painted in his State of the Nation Address.

Help reduce the killer tariffs – MFWA, partners petition Guinea Bissau President

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Help reduce the killer tariffs – MFWA, partners petition Guinea Bissau President

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), and four other media professional organisations in Guinea Bissau, have appealed to President Umaro Cissoko Embalo to intervene and ensure a reduction in the country’s new media licensing fees that the petitioners consider to be excessive and potentially crippling.

In October 2022, the authorities in Guinea announced the new tariffs for acquiring and renewing licenses to operate media platforms in the country. Under the new tariff regime, one will need to pay 500,000,000 CFA Francs (about USD $850,000) to acquire licence for commercial television with national coverage. This figure represents at least a 7000% increase on the previous fees which were 7,000,000 CFA Francs (about USD $10,000). The newly announced tariffs also require payment of 10,000,000 CFA Francs (USD $16,400) to acquire a license to operate a radio station with national coverage. Renewal for this category also shot up by up to 500%.

Expressing serious concern about the potential of the new fees to decimate the media and undermine citizens’ right to information, the MFWA and its partners sent a petition to President Umaro Cissoko to intervene. The petition dated February 14, 2023, was hand-delivered on February 16 and acknowledged by the office of the President.

“The media sector is already beset with issues of low revenue, low wages and generally poor working conditions. The tariff increment is therefore considered a threat to media freedom and access to information in the country,” the petitioners said.

The four other co-petitioners organisation in Guinea Bissau are Sindicato dos Jornalistas e Técnicos de Comunicação Social (SINJOTECS), Rede das Rádios e Televisões Comunitárias (RENARC), and Associação de Mulheres Profissionais de Comunicação Social (AMPROCS) and the Ordem de Jornalistas da Guiné-Bissau (OJGB),

The petitioners stressed that the media sector in Guinea Bissau is beset by a myriad of challenges, with many radio stations going months without being able to pay the full salaries of their workers. The media were already struggling to pay and renew the old licensing fees, leading to the shutdown on April 7, 2022, of 79 defaulting radio stations.

In view of the above, the MFWA and its partners called on the government and the media in Guinea-Bissau “to have a frank and constructive dialogue to discuss and adopt realistic tariffs as well as take measures to promote media sustainability and access to information.”

Read the full petition here.

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Ajude a reduzir as taxas homicidas – A MFWA e parceiros para o Presidente Umaro Cissoko

A Fundação dos Media para a África Ocidental (MFWA), e quatro outras organizações profissionais da comunicação social na Guiné-Bissau solicitaram ao Presidente Umaro Cissoko Embalo que interviesse e assegurasse uma redução das novas taxas de aquisição do alvará para a comunicação social no país, que os peticionários consideram excessivas e potencialmente paralisantes.

Em outubro de 2022, as autoridades guineenses publicaram as novas taxas para a aquisição e renovação dos alvarás para atividades de comunicação social no país. Ao abrigo dos novos valores, será necessário pagar 500.000.000 Francos CFA (cerca de 800.000 USD) para adquirir uma licença para uma televisão comercial, com cobertura nacional. Este valor representa pelo menos um aumento de 6000% relativamente às taxas anteriores que eram de 7.000.000 Francos CFA (cerca de USD $10.000). As tarifas recentemente anunciadas exigem também o pagamento de 10.000.000 Francos CFA (USD $16.000) para se ter licença para rádio privada com cobertura nacional. A renovação para esta categoria também aumentou em até 900%.

Ao manifestar sérias preocupações quanto ao potencial das novas taxas para destruir os meios de comunicação e prejudicar o direito dos cidadãos à informação, a MFWA e os seus parceiros enviaram uma petição ao Presidente Umaro Cissoko para intervir. A petição, com data de 14 de fevereiro de 2023, foi entregue em mão no dia 16 de fevereiro e reconhecida pelo gabinete do Presidente.

«O sector dos meios de comunicação social já se confronta com questões de baixos rendimentos, salários e pobres condições de trabalho. O aumento das taxas é, portanto, considerado uma ameaça à liberdade dos meios de comunicação social e ao acesso à informação no país», disseram os peticionários.

As outras quatro organizações na Guiné-Bissau que se juntaram à petição são: o Sindicato dos Jornalistas e Técnicos de Comunicação Social (SINJOTECS), Rede das Rádios e Televisões Comunitárias (RENARC), a Associação de Mulheres Profissionais de Comunicação Social (AMPROCS) e a Ordem de Jornalistas da Guiné-Bissau (OJGB).

Os peticionários sublinharam que o sector da comunicação social na Guiné-Bissau é assolado por uma miríade de desafios, com muitas estações de rádio a passar meses sem poder pagar a totalidade dos salários dos seus trabalhadores. Os meios de comunicação já lutavam para pagar e renovar as antigas taxas de licenciamento, levando ao encerramento, a 7 de abril de 2022, de 79 estações de rádio em falta.

Perante o exposto, a MFWA e os seus parceiros exortaram o governo e os meios de comunicação social da Guiné-Bissau «a manter um diálogo franco e construtivo para discutir e adotar taxas realistas, bem como a tomar medidas para promover a sustentabilidade dos meios de comunicação social e o acesso à informação».

Leia a petição completa aqui.  

Video: Message on International Women’s Day 2023

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Video: Message on International Women’s Day 2023

On the occasion of international women’s day, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) congratulates all women in West Africa.

This year’s celebrations are running under the theme: ‘DIGITALL: innovation and technology for gender equality.’ In line with the theme, the MFWA urges governments in West Africa to develop the internet infrastructure in their countries to improve access. In order to achieve digital equality and innovation among women, State authorities in the region are also encouraged to institute and strengthen media information literacy (MIL) campaigns, especially for women.

Watch below our message on the global commemoration of International Women’s Day:

#IWD2023: Gov’ts, Service providers must commit to ensuring digital gender equality

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#IWD2023: Gov’ts, Service providers must commit to ensuring digital gender equality

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) celebrates all women across West Africa.

This year, the commemoration of international women’s day is running under the theme: ‘DIGITALL: innovation and technology for gender equality.’

It couldn’t have been more appropriate for the world to adopt a call to action that focuses on technology and digital innovation as the tools for effecting gender equality in 2023! This is because, in the current digital age, studies show that 60% of the global economy is digitized.

Today, many people are embracing smart ways of living, and digital tools are the most fit-for-purpose in the majority of life scenarios. It is, therefore, worrying that women continue to find themselves at the disadvantaged end of digital gender divide.

Research, including one by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), a global coalition working to drive down the cost of internet access in low and middle-income countries, shows that there is a 30.4% average digital gender gap in which 52% of men more likely to be online than women in less developed countries.

Also, less than a third of women (29%) are likely to use the internet compared to men. To close the digital gender gap, there is a need to encourage more women to become digital citizens.

Governments, civil society organizations and women themselves have their roles to play to change the situation. However, a call for digital service providers to make their services more gender-sensitive cannot be over-emphasized.

The International Telecoms Union (ITU) prescribes that, ideally, no one should spend more than 2% of their monthly income on data.  However, in low and middle-income countries where women are most vulnerable, the tendency is for people to spend more of their income on internet data.

According to the latest World Wide Data Pricing Report, sub-Saharan Africa hosts five out of the ten countries with the most expensive cost of data. High data cost is naturally prohibitive in general terms, but because of a persistent gender pay inequality, in the world, women tend to spend more of their money on data. And this is worst in low and middle-income countries.

To remove data cost as a barrier against women participating in the digital space, especially online, digital service providers should reduce data costs, especially in low and middle-income countries.

Also, women tend to stay away from digital platforms, especially on social media, because of digital abuses owing to lack of data protection and privacy. Already, the assessment of digital literacy among men and women in Africa is disproportionate against women. Service providers’ low protection of users’ data tend to put in harm’s way the few women on digital platforms, as they are the more vulnerable group on the internet.

In line with this year’s theme, Women themselves must also make efforts to not only consume digital products but also innovate, contribute to, and compete in the digital space. Women are therefore encouraged to learn and master the many emerging digital and technology creative tools and programmes.

Governments must invest in campaigns and programs to get more women to become digitally literate and skilful and CSOs must increase advocacy.

Accountability journalism compels 294 public officeholders into declaring assets

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Accountability journalism compels 294 public officeholders into declaring assets

A count of the number of public officeholders who have lined up to declare their assets after The Fourth Estate reported widespread noncompliance with Ghana’s asset declaration law has hit 294.

From judges to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), through to Members of Parliament and presidential staffers, the officeholders who are being whipped into compliance with the law have cut across.

As reported by The Fourth Estate, an accountability journalism project of the MFWA, itself, 203 MMDCEs rushed to the Audit Service between May and November 2022 to declare their assets and liabilities in unprecedented compliance with Act 550.

Of the 203 MMDCEs, 65 have been in office since 2017, while 19 others who took office after the creation of new regions in 2018 have now complied with the law.

One hundred and fourteen (114) others appointed in October 2021 also declared their assets in the said period.

Before The Fourth Estate had started reporting the culture of impunity and blatant noncompliance with the law, only six MMDCEs appointed in October 2021 had declared their assets and liabilities.

It would be recalled that in September 2022, eight (8) judges had scrambled to declare their assets after The Fourth Estate had written a letter to the Judicial Service seeking clarity on the asset-declaration status of 15 judges, including the eight (8) who rushed to declare.

Again, in September 2022, Deputy Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had declared his assets after The Fourth Estate had published a report on defaulting leaders of parliament.

So far 20 ministers and former ministers; 48 members of Parliament; 15 presidential staffers, 6 heads of state institutions and 8 judges declared their assets after The Fourth Estate’s story.

Hopefully, more officeholders will level up with the law as The Fourth Estate continues to put the noncompliance with the asset declaration under highlight as a matter of accountability journalism.

About The Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate is a non-profit, public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). Our aim is to promote independent and critical research-based journalism that holds those in power answerable to the people they govern.

Press freedom under the 4th Republic in Ghana: Repression, redemption, depression

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Press freedom under the 4th Republic in Ghana: Repression, redemption, depression

Press freedom in Ghana has seen mixed fortunes under the Fourth Republic. While the country’s 1992 Constitution which ushered in the Fourth Republic provides strong safeguards for the freedom and independence of the media, these are not fully respected in practice.

With democracy still nascent, the human rights and freedom of expression situation remained tenuous in the early years of the Fourth Republic. The situation has since evolved from the early days of repression to a measure of redemption and slumped back into depression.

The redemption began during the second government of the Fourth Republic. The repeal of criminal libel was one of the major landmarks of the era. Laws granting the president discretionary power to ban news outlets were also scrapped. The improved press freedom situation continued under succeeding governments culminating in Ghana’s emergence as the African country with the freest media in 2018. This achievement was further crowned with the hosting by Ghana of the global event marking the 2018 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) and capped with the passage in 2019 of the Right to Information (RTI) law. This long-awaited law granted citizens a legal basis to access information from public institutions and private entities doing business with government and receiving public funds.

The bright sun of press freedom in Ghana was soon to decline at its very meridian. The killing of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale on January 16, 2019, in Accra by yet unidentified persons is the highlight of the decline. Some of the leading investigative journalists have reported receiving threats to their lives and being trailed for various reports they have published. During and after Ghana’s 2020 election, several threats and attacks were perpetrated against journalists covering the electoral process, including a crippling gunshot attack on a reporter at a collations centre.

Using the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal Code, specifically Section 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), the police have gone on rampage against a number of journalists and civil society activists for their publications in the media. In the past two years, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has recorded 30 press freedom violations with security agents accounting for 67% of the abuses. The repressive trend saw Ghana decline from 3rd in 2021 in Africa to 13th in 2022.

In response to the decline, the Ministry of Information and the National Media Commission inaugurated the Office of the Coordinated Mechanism for the Safety of Journalist on May 4, 2022, to monitor, record and validate attacks on press freedom in order to provide redress for them.

To improve the press freedom situation, the government should call the security agencies to order and ensure that they are penalised for their arbitrary attacks on, and arrests of, journalists. In this regard, an independent security services complaints unit may be established to receive and deal with public complaints against personnel of the security services. Government should also resource the National Media Commission to carry out its regulatory functions effectively and in a proactive manner that will stave off external interferences which are often hostile.

Click here to read a report the MFWA has put together on Press Freedom in the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

VIDEO: Message to the media on World Radio Day 2023

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VIDEO: Message to the media on World Radio Day 2023

February 13, 2023 is World Radio Day. The day has been set aside to celebrate the invaluable contribution of radio to humanity, development and democracy. In recognition of the ability of radio to build harmony and sustain peace in the face of tension and conflict, this year’s celebration is focused on the theme: Radio and Peace.

In West Africa, the theme is not only timely but indicative of the role radio must play in the face of military coups, democratic recession, conflicts and rising political tension.

On the occasion of World Radio Day, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) urges media practitioners, journalists, and show hosts to be professional, and ethical and ensure their platforms are used to propagate unity, peace and development.

Below is a message from the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, to the media in West Africa.

Network disruptions: How Gov’ts in West Africa violated internet rights in 2022

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Network disruptions: How Gov’ts in West Africa violated internet rights in 2022

In 2022, five African countries were plunged into spells of cyber disruptions that affected the lives and livelihoods of at least 30 million of the continent’s people.

Three out of the five countries which experienced the disruptions are in West Africa. Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone together accounted for five (5) new disruptions while a previous year’s ban on Twitter by Nigeria dragged into the subsequent year.

Between the two countries with fresh incidents, Burkina Faso accounted for the higher number of disruptions – three; made up of two nationwide internet blackouts and one social media shutdown.

Sierra Leone accounted for the remaining two which were both in the form of nationwide internet blackouts.

In both cases, the disruptions were at the express behest of their governments which had resorted to this all too familiar authoritarian tool in response to civil unrests.

For Nigeria, the disruption was in the form of the country’s suspension of microblogging site, Twitter, in 2021, dragging into early 2022.

Numerically, the five new internet disruptions in 2022 were neither an improvement nor a retrogression of the previous year’s incidence, as 2021 also recorded five incidents. However, the 2022 disruptions happened in three countries while the 2021 incidents occurred in four countries.

The four countries that recorded the disruptions in 2021 were  Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Nigeria with the disruption in Nigeria lasting briefly into 2022. This makes Burkina Faso the West African country with the most recurrent internet disruptions between 2021 and 2022, having experienced a higher number of disruptions in 2022 as well.

The 2022 incidents also accentuate the fact that State censure of the internet in response to unrest remains a stubborn challenge within the West African conjuncture.

Burkina Faso

The three internet disruptions that happened in Burkina Faso occurred on January 10, January 20, and January 23, 2022.

On January 10, mobile internet was shut down at approximately 15:30 local time without any explanation from the government or internet service providers operating in the country. Access would be restored the following day. However, Facebook remained blocked. The government later confirmed the disruption and explained it was carried out for “national security reasons”.

Then, on January 20, 2022, the government explained it had restricted Facebook access for the same security reasons.

Those security reasons were in the nature of protests in the country where citizens had been demonstrating against the government of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

On January 23, 2022, the authorities made the decision to shut down the internet after mutinous soldiers had reportedly tried to seize power in a coup.

That coup attempt had followed months of protests by citizens who demanded the resignation of President Kabore. These protests and upheavals would eventually lead to the ousting of Kabore.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was ousted from power following the military coup and protests |Source: Business NG

Following the coup, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) expressed serious concern about attendant human rights violations and urged the new military junta to uphold human rights.

The coup and the attendant violations were especially worrying because they had happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sierra Leone

In the case of Sierra Leone, the two internet shutdowns happened in the same month – August 2022.  They followed bloody government crackdown on protests against harsh economic conditions in the country. At least 21 people were killed while the government also imposed a curfew.

On Wednesday, August 10, 2022, street protests that had been called for by the opposition turned bloody when protesters clashed with security agents. The protesters had been demonstrating against what they said was unbearable economic hardships, high inflation, endemic corruption and abuse of power.

Two days earlier on August 8, 2022, citizens had responded to a call to remain indoors as part of the expression of discontent. They had deserted the streets and markets, shops and schools, leaving the national capital, Freetown looking like a ghost town. The citizens would then pour onto the streets to protest on the 10th of August and demand the resignation of President Julius Maada Bio.

In response to the protest, the government had sent in soldiers and the Police with the resultant clash leading to the killing of at least 21 people. As confirmed by internet governance watchdog, NetBlocks, the government would disrupt the internet by reducing national connectivity to about 5% of the normal level from noon. This lasted for two hours. Along with this, the government also imposed a curfew to prevent the protests from traveling into the night.

Later, the government shut down the internet overnight.

Nigeria

In the case of Nigeria, the internet disruption in 2022 was not a new episode but in the form of the country’s 2021 ban on the microblogging site, Twitter, dragging into 2022.

On June 4, 2021, the government indefinitely suspended Twitter after the site deleted a tweet by President Muhamadu Buhari in which he had made threatening insinuations to “misbehaving” people. Referencing the country’s bloody civil war, (the Biafra war) he had insinuated that the targets of his threat would be subjected to the bloody horrors of the war.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War (1967 – 1970). Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari’s tweet had read.

Following public outcry, Twitter deleted the tweet, explaining, “This tweet violated the Twitter rules.”  The government had then in response announced that it had suspended Twitter indefinitely.

President Buhari’s government suspended Twitter in Nigeria

The ban had inconvenienced many journalists who depend on Twitter for information and news updates for their work. However, on January 12, 2022, seven months into the suspension, the government lifted the ban after Twitter had agreed to a number of preconditions, including opening a country office in Nigeria.

Cost of shutdowns

According to a cost of internet shutdowns 2022 tracker by Welsh VPN company, sub-Saharan Africa lost some $244.2 million between January and August from internet disruptions in 2022 alone.

In the case of the West African countries – Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Nigeria – the disruptions cost the subregion over US$ 95 million.

Out of this, Nigeria accounted for over US$ 82 million, Burkina Faso, over US$12 million and Sierra Leone accounted for over US$300,000 (See table below).

Country Start Date End Date Type of disruption Cost (US$)
Nigeria 1 Jan 2022 12 Jan 2022 Social media shutdown 82,740,533
Burkina Faso 10 Jan 2022 11 Jan 2022 Internet blackout 2,805,854
Burkina Faso 11 Jan 2022 23 Jan 2022 Social media shutdown 3,287,350
Burkina Faso 23 Jan 2022 24 Jan 2022 Internet blackout 6,546,994
Sierra Leone 10 August 2022 10 August 2022 Internet blackout 69,326
Sierra Leone 11 August 2022 11 August 2022 Internet blackout 242,640

Table: culled from Technext | Data: Top10VPN

 

Internet like power grid

On May 13, 2022, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights released a report titled: Internet shutdowns: trends, causes, legal implications and impacts on a range of human rights. Parts of the report said Internet shutdowns “most immediately affect freedom of expression and access to information – one of the foundations of free and democratic societies and an indispensable condition for the full development of the person.”

“When States impose Internet shutdowns or disrupt access to communications platforms, the legal foundation for their actions is often unstated. When laws are invoked, the applicable legislation can be vague or overly broad,” the report added.

The observation in the report by the UN High Commission on Human Rights resonates with the position of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) that governments’ tamper with the internet amounts to violations of citizens rights. It continues to be the MFWA’s position that in the current information age, the internet is the very pulse of modern life. It is also the lifeblood of very important life activities including education, business, socialization, and entertainment.

Indeed, in the modern age, the internet is no less critical than any country’s national electricity grid. Shutting the information super highway down is often tantamount to doing something more hurtful than just inconveniencing citizens – it amounts to destroying livelihoods and even endangering lives.

In light of this, the MFWA’s numerous calls on governments to refrain from shutting down the internet at whim remain relevant.

Poor welfare biggest threat to female journalists’ safety in Nigeria

Kwaku Asante
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Poor welfare biggest threat to female journalists’ safety in Nigeria

Poor welfare has been identified to be at the heart of challenges faced by female journalists in Nigeria, according to a study by the International Press Centre (IPC) in Nigeria.

The study, which was carried out in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with financial support from IFEX, also cited intimidation, harassment, including sexual advances, threats, and prejudice as challenges Nigerian female journalists face. Most of the threats are experienced offline, with a few happening online.

The study sampled 20 female journalists who work specifically in print, broadcast (both radio and TV), online/new media, multimedia and media development agency. Fifty per cent of the respondents (40% from radio, and 10% from television) were from broadcast media. Respondents from the print media constitute 25% of the respondents while online/new media comes third with 20%, with 5% from multimedia and other channels.

Worryingly, 55% of the respondents identified poor welfare as the most formidable challenge to their safety. They explain the poor welfare to include non-provision of safe transport, especially for late commuting to home and early morning shifts in the office, gender-based discrimination as well as lack of job security. Fifty percent pointed to sexual harassment; while lack of institutional support was 35% and job security 30%. Interestingly, only 2% had experienced cyberbullying.

Other safety challenges enumerated were in connection with covering elections in volatile parts of the country; hateful feedback; threats, police brutality, bullying and frequent sexual harassment from superiors. The respondents also reported suffering patronising and condescending attitude and subtle threats from the public and superiors; and being pushed and shoved away while trying to get an interview.

Besides the threat of physical harm, female journalists are subjected to sexist treatment.  A respondent stated that “people keep reminding me that I am a woman (as if I don’t know), and that, as a wife and mother, I should be minding my home instead of jumping on issues I cannot resolve, or get solutions to.”

The study also revealed that some public information holders try to trade information for sexual favours. According to one respondent, she has had to deal with “Officers and others who believe that my body should be substituted for information. I have been denied accreditation and sometimes access to the organizations by these PROs because I refused to dance to their tune.”

The report recommends employers to pay greater attention to the welfare of their female journalists by establishing newsroom safety measures that can address sexual harassment and intimidation; providing transport, appropriate resting place, fair wages and protection during coverage in volatile environments.

It advocates for the creation of safe reporting platforms for women and forums where rights of women can be discussed and defended.  In addition to the forums, the report call for pressure groups for female journalists to be created and, where they already existent, to be reinforced and widely publicised.

 Read the full report here

What’s the cost of information under Ghana’s access to information law?

Kwaku Asante
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What’s the cost of information under Ghana’s access to information law?

A major challenge that has encumbered the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Law 2019 (Act 989), Ghana’s access to information law, is the fee burden that applicants must bear for information requests.

For a long time, the law did not specify the amount public institutions should charge. It only presented a conditionality to the effect that a benchmark of fees would be set under a Fees and Charges Act to be passed by Parliament.

The Fees and Charges Act has only recently been passed by Parliament, but it had taken forever to reach here. And even though it is a win for better implementation of the law, it has to be said that the grey area that had resulted from Parliament’s delay in passing the Act spawned a situation where institutions charged what they wanted.

The lacuna

Ghana’s Right to Information (RTI) Law was passed in March 2019 and came into force in 2020. However, the Fees and Charges Act [Miscellaneous provisions Act 2022 (ACT 1080)] was approved by Parliament in July 2022.

It took three years and four months for Parliament to approve the fee benchmarking for the law that was passed to govern the Right to Information Law (2019).

In the period, there were the most outrageous fees that were demanded by public institutions from persons who requested information under the RTI – information that ought to have been in the public domain in the first place.

Outlandish, extortionate fees for information

Between 2020 and 2022, there have been many incidents of public institutions arbitrarily charging exorbitant fees for information. Indeed, the absence of legally determined fees and their exactitudes created opportunity for some institutions to deny citizens access to information.

It began with Ghana’s election management body, the Electoral Commission (EC), in 2020. The EC declined to release information about the procedure it had used to procure the services of two consultants it was working with.  Member of Parliament of Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, who had requested the information, dragged the EC to court. In the end, the High Court directed Mr Norgbey to pay GHs1,500 (about $125) for the information.

In 2021, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) was asked by the National Communication Authority (NCA), a media regulator, to pay a whopping GHS 2,000 (about $165) for requesting information about the closure of some radio stations. In its warped defence, the NCA said the MFWA was turning it into a research unit. The MFWA disagreed. It ended in court. The High Court reduced the amount to GHS 1,500 (about $125).

Enters RTI Commission

There have been other incidents, but these two legal tussles about the fees and charges happened when the Right to Information (RTI) Commission was not inaugurated. The RTI Commission is the body mandated to mediate disagreements on requests for information under the law and give directions where necessary.

Nonetheless, when the RTI Commission came to be, public institutions did not stop charging exorbitant fees.

In June 2021, Ghana’s Minerals Commission demanded the equivalence of $1,000 to release information about companies licensed to undertake mining in Ghana to The Fourth Estate, an accountability journalism project of the MFWA.

Fortunately, the RTI Commission made a determination on the issue. In a landmark ruling, the Information Commission directed that The Fourth Estate pays only GHc1.80 ($ 0.15) per page if the information was to be printed and GHc 1.90 ($0.16) if the information was to be sent via email.

The RTI Commission’s momentous ruling notwithstanding, many public institutions continue to use the fees and charges as pretext to deny applicants information.

Parliament does the needful

But that’s all about to stop now, hopefully.

In July 2022, Ghana’s Parliament passed the Fees and Charges (miscellaneous provisions) 2022, (Act 1080).

About two months later, the Ministry of Finance directed the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to start implementing the newly passed law. The directive was contained in a letter dated September 14, 2022, and signed by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare.

“We are by this letter requesting the affected MDAs to start implementation of the fees as approved,” the letter, read in part.

Fees benchmark set by law

The Fees and Charges Act states that the cost of printing on an A4-size page under the RTI law is 38 pesewas (GHS 0.38). A photocopy of the same size GHS costs 27 pesewas (GHS 0.27). Also, a copy of a computer-readable file on an external storage drive costs 29 pesewas (GHS 0.29).

Below is a breakdown of the approved fees and charges under the RTI law.

Revenue Item Approved fees and charges (GHS)
For every photocopy of an A4 size page or part thereof GHS 0.27 ($0.02)
For every printing of an A4 size page or part thereof held on a computer or in electronic or machine readable form GHS 0.38 ($0.03)
For a copy in a computer-readable file on an external storage drive GHS 0.29 ($0.02)
For a transcription of visual images for an A4 size page or part thereof GHS 1.28 ($0.1)
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